Going Tubeless?
Discussion
Had my first puncture on my 2021 Trek Domane, sorted it out at the side of the road but wouldnt mind trying tubeless, is it really the answer to no punctures or should I just persevere with carrying pump, tyre levers etc ?
Or maybe, some better tyres ? the ones that come as original equipment always seem to be more puncture prone than anything you buy, like Gatorskins etc.
Or maybe, some better tyres ? the ones that come as original equipment always seem to be more puncture prone than anything you buy, like Gatorskins etc.
I’ve had very little issues.
Puncture rarely but when I have I’ve carried on training/racing and got home.
Though I have had problems with the seal staying in place and had a later failure. Therefore if I’ve had a fairly big puncture, I generally treat that as a new tyre.
The big benefit is running lower tyre pressures.
If I were buying new wheels, I would continue with tubeless.
One thing I bought that has made things easier is the inflator units, where you pre-pump it and then inflate the tyre using that with the greater volume of air. I was fine with a track pump on 25s, but going to 28s needed the inflator.
Puncture rarely but when I have I’ve carried on training/racing and got home.
Though I have had problems with the seal staying in place and had a later failure. Therefore if I’ve had a fairly big puncture, I generally treat that as a new tyre.
The big benefit is running lower tyre pressures.
If I were buying new wheels, I would continue with tubeless.
One thing I bought that has made things easier is the inflator units, where you pre-pump it and then inflate the tyre using that with the greater volume of air. I was fine with a track pump on 25s, but going to 28s needed the inflator.
Had a set of Mavics that are tubeless on my old bike but I run a higher pressure as I'm not light anyway. Was never convinced by them. New bike is tubes and I'm happy enough sticking with that for now and changing a tube is fairly quick with practice. Rims are tubeless ready should I ever change my mind.
My bike came with tyres that punctured if you looked at them, so I swapped them out for Marathons which are generally regarded as puncture proof or as close as you can get. I later found out the OEM tyres were meant to be ran tubeless and that was why!
Anyway cool stary bra aside, fast forward 1000 miles cycling later...
I managed to royally pee off the puncture fairy somehow and I have actually punctured the marathons on 3 occasions but every time it was a slow so it was a fix at home job. My cycling buddy who is tubeless has not had a single puncture in that time. Not even when he forgot to top up the sealant for over a year!
The only downside I can see to going tubeless is that the tyres tend to be a tight as hell to get on the rim.
Anyway cool stary bra aside, fast forward 1000 miles cycling later...
I managed to royally pee off the puncture fairy somehow and I have actually punctured the marathons on 3 occasions but every time it was a slow so it was a fix at home job. My cycling buddy who is tubeless has not had a single puncture in that time. Not even when he forgot to top up the sealant for over a year!
The only downside I can see to going tubeless is that the tyres tend to be a tight as hell to get on the rim.
Tubeless is probably the best thing to happen to bikes imo. That and hydraulic disc brakes.
The only time punctures have ruined rides is once when I got a new bike and hadn't converted it to tubeless yet and out with the Mrs and hadn't converted hers. Since then no punctures. Plenty of nails, thorns etc but just pull them out and carry on.
I ride a wide mix of downhill, trail centres, off piste, railway lines.
The only time punctures have ruined rides is once when I got a new bike and hadn't converted it to tubeless yet and out with the Mrs and hadn't converted hers. Since then no punctures. Plenty of nails, thorns etc but just pull them out and carry on.
I ride a wide mix of downhill, trail centres, off piste, railway lines.
Evanivitch said:
All the tubeless road/gravel blokes I know carry a tube "just in case" 
So do all mountain bikers. Tubeless is one of the best things to happen to mountain biking in ages, it allows you to run lower pressures and deals with almost all small to medium punctures. It won’t help if you rip a massive hole in the tyre though…….For road use, the case is less black and white, tubeless isn’t great at higher pressures so I know plenty of road riders who haven’t bothered or who have switched back.
For commuting and gravel, I think it makes sense. Recently I had to replace a worn tubeless tyre on my commuter after a few 1,000 km. Never had a puncture but had replaced the tubeless goo 2-3 times a year as expected. When I inspected the tyre, it was full of small rips, tears, glass and thorns. And a small screw! That’s where tubeless shines
Total f
k on when you do puncture (on the road). I'd rather swap a tube now and again as opposed to the possibility of being stranded. I gave up this year ... fitting a tube in an emergency would have been virtually impossible out in the wild.
The only time I'd consider tubeless is for racing, generally no neutral service so its game over anyway if I flat.
There's no argument off road, tubeless 100%.
k on when you do puncture (on the road). I'd rather swap a tube now and again as opposed to the possibility of being stranded. I gave up this year ... fitting a tube in an emergency would have been virtually impossible out in the wild. The only time I'd consider tubeless is for racing, generally no neutral service so its game over anyway if I flat.
There's no argument off road, tubeless 100%.
Like several above, I’ve been totally tubeless for 10+ years, and I don’t carry an inner tube. I’ve had to insert one bacon strip and had maybe eight punctures (that I’ve noticed), and just put the leak at 6 o’clock and set my watch to wait 5 minutes (patience helps) and reinflated. I’m a heavier rider and pinch flats were always the problem, needing 110+psi which is crap for rolling resistance, comfort and grip in the wet.
Master Bean said:
fk off. Twistingmymelonman will understand that reference. That's my immediate reaction to the phrase "go tubeless."
To answer your question. No. Don't waste your time.
I'm with master bean on this.k off. Twistingmymelonman will understand that reference. That's my immediate reaction to the phrase "go tubeless."To answer your question. No. Don't waste your time.
Having been stranded once when a tyre wouldn't seal, and the valve wouldn't come out, and then had two further experiences of non sealing tyres, I went back to tubes and haven't had any issues since.
Tubeless is great for low pressure, high volume MTB tyres, and might be fine if you're a 60kg Whippet, but my experience of high pressure low volume road tyres with a heavier rider is, it just doesn't work reliably.
sociopath said:
Master Bean said:
fk off. Twistingmymelonman will understand that reference. That's my immediate reaction to the phrase "go tubeless."
To answer your question. No. Don't waste your time.
I'm with master bean on this.k off. Twistingmymelonman will understand that reference. That's my immediate reaction to the phrase "go tubeless."To answer your question. No. Don't waste your time.
Having been stranded once when a tyre wouldn't seal, and the valve wouldn't come out, and then had two further experiences of non sealing tyres, I went back to tubes and haven't had any issues since.
Tubeless is great for low pressure, high volume MTB tyres, and might be fine if you're a 60kg Whippet, but my experience of high pressure low volume road tyres with a heavier rider is, it just doesn't work reliably.
For tubeless to work effectively, you need a volume of air, to push the sealant out and effect a seal.
On large volume tyres, this works effectively, as for most punctures the air lost during the sealing process is a small percentage of the overall volume of the tyre. So in short, MTB and gravel it’s fully suited.
On road tyres, due to the lower volume of the tyre, you’ll use a greater proportion of the air available, which then means you need to top up again.
A couple of the guys in my road club run tubeless, and every time they puncture we have to stop to allow them to top the tyre back up. In some instances they have put a tube in as it won’t seal.
So in summary;
MTB / Gravel - yes
Road - no
troc said:
Evanivitch said:
All the tubeless road/gravel blokes I know carry a tube "just in case"
So do all mountain bikers. Tubeless is one of the best things to happen to mountain biking in ages, it allows you to run lower pressures and deals with almost all small to medium punctures. It won’t help if you rip a massive hole in the tyre though…….For road use, the case is less black and white, tubeless isn’t great at higher pressures so I know plenty of road riders who haven’t bothered or who have switched back.
For commuting and gravel, I think it makes sense. Recently I had to replace a worn tubeless tyre on my commuter after a few 1,000 km. Never had a puncture but had replaced the tubeless goo 2-3 times a year as expected. When I inspected the tyre, it was full of small rips, tears, glass and thorns. And a small screw! That’s where tubeless shines
From a gravel perspective, I don't see the benefit. But that depends what gravel you do. I do mostly forestry fire roads so I really don't need the lower pressures that some need for muddier green lanes and bridleways.
sociopath said:
I'm with master bean on this.
Having been stranded once when a tyre wouldn't seal, and the valve wouldn't come out, and then had two further experiences of non sealing tyres, I went back to tubes and haven't had any issues since.
Tubeless is great for low pressure, high volume MTB tyres, and might be fine if you're a 60kg Whippet, but my experience of high pressure low volume road tyres with a heavier rider is, it just doesn't work reliably.
On the other hand…I’ve had tubeless on a road bike for more than 4 years and 6000 miles now. Been well sprayed with latex a couple of times and used one sardine, but never had to put a tube in. The old steel tourer used for commuting, and the odd long ride when I feel like it has had three punctures in that time and the hybrid (pub and shopping) has had two. Both do much less mileage than the road bike.Having been stranded once when a tyre wouldn't seal, and the valve wouldn't come out, and then had two further experiences of non sealing tyres, I went back to tubes and haven't had any issues since.
Tubeless is great for low pressure, high volume MTB tyres, and might be fine if you're a 60kg Whippet, but my experience of high pressure low volume road tyres with a heavier rider is, it just doesn't work reliably.
The sealant (orange seal endurance) seems to remain fluid for at least a year - I suspect the ‘change every month’ thing is put about by the sealant manufacturers - and the tyres are a gargantuan struggle to get on, until you read the instructions….
I use latex tubes on my road bike. Last puncture was a huge slice from a single sharp rock, about 4 years ago. Nothing since.
I got a free set of tubeless wheels/tyres from a friend 2 years ago. I rode them and noticed the bike vibrated a lot. Had a look inside the tyre and saw that the sealant was caked into one area.
I‘m not convinced they are smart for my needs. For MTB, where there is a high risk of puncture… brilliant idea.
I got a free set of tubeless wheels/tyres from a friend 2 years ago. I rode them and noticed the bike vibrated a lot. Had a look inside the tyre and saw that the sealant was caked into one area.
I‘m not convinced they are smart for my needs. For MTB, where there is a high risk of puncture… brilliant idea.
Another vote for tubeless = more faff than they're worth from me. All my riding is out doors, on-road. ~150000 km on strava of which about 1000km was on tubeless. I don't puncture that often, and when I do its no big deal. Tubeless seemed a lot of faff to fit and maintain, and didn't free me from carrying a pump and tube. I probably see as many tales about tubeless failures as I do about them doing what theyre supposed to do. I never had a puncture with tubeless, but I feared fixing it at the roadside if I had to.
I found them to be fast though if thats important.
I found them to be fast though if thats important.
stargazer30 said:
My bike came with tyres that punctured if you looked at them, so I swapped them out for Marathons which are generally regarded as puncture proof or as close as you can get. I later found out the OEM tyres were meant to be ran tubeless and that was why!
Anyway cool stary bra aside, fast forward 1000 miles cycling later...
I managed to royally pee off the puncture fairy somehow and I have actually punctured the marathons on 3 occasions but every time it was a slow so it was a fix at home job. My cycling buddy who is tubeless has not had a single puncture in that time. Not even when he forgot to top up the sealant for over a year!
The only downside I can see to going tubeless is that the tyres tend to be a tight as hell to get on the rim.
How on earth did you puncture a Marathon Plus?! Have had big tears through to the blue layer and it still refused to puncture! Wore them out with zero punctures on urban, glass and screw - ridden roads!Anyway cool stary bra aside, fast forward 1000 miles cycling later...
I managed to royally pee off the puncture fairy somehow and I have actually punctured the marathons on 3 occasions but every time it was a slow so it was a fix at home job. My cycling buddy who is tubeless has not had a single puncture in that time. Not even when he forgot to top up the sealant for over a year!
The only downside I can see to going tubeless is that the tyres tend to be a tight as hell to get on the rim.
JD82 said:
stargazer30 said:
My bike came with tyres that punctured if you looked at them, so I swapped them out for Marathons which are generally regarded as puncture proof or as close as you can get. I later found out the OEM tyres were meant to be ran tubeless and that was why!
Anyway cool stary bra aside, fast forward 1000 miles cycling later...
I managed to royally pee off the puncture fairy somehow and I have actually punctured the marathons on 3 occasions but every time it was a slow so it was a fix at home job. My cycling buddy who is tubeless has not had a single puncture in that time. Not even when he forgot to top up the sealant for over a year!
The only downside I can see to going tubeless is that the tyres tend to be a tight as hell to get on the rim.
How on earth did you puncture a Marathon Plus?! Have had big tears through to the blue layer and it still refused to puncture! Wore them out with zero punctures on urban, glass and screw - ridden roads!Anyway cool stary bra aside, fast forward 1000 miles cycling later...
I managed to royally pee off the puncture fairy somehow and I have actually punctured the marathons on 3 occasions but every time it was a slow so it was a fix at home job. My cycling buddy who is tubeless has not had a single puncture in that time. Not even when he forgot to top up the sealant for over a year!
The only downside I can see to going tubeless is that the tyres tend to be a tight as hell to get on the rim.
Gassing Station | Pedal Powered | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff