Its not even the horror stories. It's just something I'm really not bothered about. I'm happy with tubes.
Given up on tubeless
- Thread starter Domus
- Start date
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Its not even the horror stories. It's just something I'm really not bothered about. I'm happy with tubes.
Dogtrousers
Kilometre nibbler
Funnily enough I find the exact opposite. For me used tyres pop onto the rim and stay there. New ones pop onto the rim but as once the pressure is removed they wait a bit then unseat themselves. Probably down to my tyre/ rim combo
I'm replying to an old post because I just proved this point to myself again this afternoon.
HLaB
Marie Attoinette Fan
Ones not with the foresight to carry a spare tube and perhaps Park Patches and a tyre boot. I've had that eventuality once in four years. This is the first winter when rather than winterfying the Ti I've used my tubed commuter and I've had 4 p'tures on new tyres and with my chemo damaged hands I'd rather have no more. Lol, I was going back to tubeless and the ti yesterday but it rained Friday so I stuck with the winterfied commuter
Dogtrousers
Kilometre nibbler
Interesting thing ref. tubeless is that they've been standard fitting on cars for many years and work at a much lower pressure than bike tyres, so one would think that the crossover / adaptation would be pretty easy - ?
I think that's the problem. Road bike tyres are at a much higher pressure, which might make tubeless less effective. MTB tyre pressures are much lower.
Have to say I'm on the fence.
I run 28mm tubeless tyres on the road. I tried them just out of curiosity and I haven't had an ordinary puncture in the 3 years or so I've been using them. That's great. They are definitely more faff than tubes. That's not great. I did have a problem (my fault, not a puncture) where I had to fit a tube at the roadside and it was nothing like the messy nightmare that some people describe. I fitted a tube, the sealant stayed sloshing around inside the tyre. The tyres I use require more or less the same pressure as when I was using tubes so there's no "lower pressure" benefit.
I'll probably go back to tubes some time. Or maybe I won't. Dunno really.
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Had a tubeless tyre blow today. Normally, they deflate a bit and Seal but this just exploded with sealant everywhere. Seemed to be a 5 mm gash probably caused by metalwork in the wood deck of a bridge I’d just crossed. I tried re inflating without success, then tried to stick one of those darts in but it disappeared into the tyre, next was a worm which held in place but I couldn’t get it to inflate and the tyre started to come off the rim. My last resort was to put a tube in but I couldnt remove the tubeless valve core, I didn’t have any pliers for the nurled nut and I’d forgotten that an Allen key fits on the inside. So, I was stuck with calling Mrs G. That’s about the first time I’ve not been able to sort things out in several decades of riding.
The tyres were Panaracer gravel kings in 38 mm. They had been good through the winter and I was beginning to think my problem with tubeless was just the narrow 28 mm tyres on my audax bike. So after today’s experience I’m still not convinced by tubeless.
The tyres were Panaracer gravel kings in 38 mm. They had been good through the winter and I was beginning to think my problem with tubeless was just the narrow 28 mm tyres on my audax bike. So after today’s experience I’m still not convinced by tubeless.
Alex321
Veteran
- Location
- South Wales
Interesting thing ref. tubeless is that they've been standard fitting on cars for many years and work at a much lower pressure than bike tyres, so one would think that the crossover / adaptation would be pretty easy - ?
It is the high pressure that is the problem. The last pair of tubeless I tried were Hutchison Fusion 5, and those said both on the box and the side of the tyre that they have a minimum pressure of 75 psi.
But at anything above about 60-65psi, the sealant blows out rather than sealing a hole, and so do any plugs in a bigger hole.
- Location
- Somewhere wet & hilly in NW England.
I think this thread has convinced me to give tubeless a miss.
New tyres needed - currently considering Conti GP 4season, Schwalbe One 365, Goodyear Vector 4 Seasons (all 32mm) and a can of Zefal Spray Repair as the way ahead.
New tyres needed - currently considering Conti GP 4season, Schwalbe One 365, Goodyear Vector 4 Seasons (all 32mm) and a can of Zefal Spray Repair as the way ahead.
Seems to add weight to the idea that it polarises the situation - with a tube, almost regardless of the severity of the puncture the outcome (a flat) and remedy (patch or replace the tube) are the same. Tubeless on the other hand makes the small punctures disappear, but potentially becomes much more of a pain if the tyre sustains significant damage that the sealant alone can't plug.
Dogtrousers
Kilometre nibbler
To a degree. But anyone who's had a tube herniate and blow out and had to use a tyre boot (or give up and walk to a handily nearby railway station as I did last time this happened) will know that it's not quite true that, using tubes, "regardless of serverity ... the remedy is the same".
And on the other hand when I did have an unsealable problem with tubeless (badly positioned brake had caused rub on the tyre, making it no longer fully airtight) I just put a tube in and it wasn't quite the pain I anticipated. I just put a tube in. I got a bit of sealant on my hands, wiped them on my shorts and I was off. (I always carry a leatherman tool, so undoing the valve lock nut was no problem)
But all the same, it's probably more true than it is not true. If that makes sense. And that's why I'll probably ultimately go back to tubes. But I'm in no great hurry.
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Cool - I like to think that a tube will save all if I can't get tubeless to re-seal, however obviously that's more faff with the need to remove the tubless valve and deal with the remaining sealant. I did consider carrying a syringe with me so that it could be sucked out of the tyre; reducing mess and wastage..
Looking at my Bromton situation, something like 80-90% of the punctures have been piercings by thorns which I suspect tubeless would have seen off without incident. The 5mm long gash courtesy of a bit of sharp flint would likely have been a lot more problematic, however.
fossyant
Ride It Like You Stole It!
- Location
- South Manchester
Same here - never had enough 'events' with tubes to make it a consideration, even MTB. I maybe get two or three a year, and for the cost of a patch, the extra faff.
Also, especially with road tubeless, get a hole, and the bike and you get covered with goo at 80-100 PSI. It's much less dramatic with a MTB at 25 PSI.
Dogtrousers
Kilometre nibbler
To be honest neither did I. I was treating myself to a pair of new wheels and I thought "hmm tubelessness ... why not have a play". I wouldn't advise it to be honest. But it's not that bad so I can be arsed to change back right now.
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Alex321
Veteran
- Location
- South Wales
Tubeless just doesn't work at those pressures. Part of the reason for going tubeless on a road bike is to be able to ride at much lower pressures - usually around 50-60psi.
Dogtrousers
Kilometre nibbler
It's overstating things to say that it "just doesn't work". It does work. Trust me, I have experience (70-90psi). It's closed numerous small punctures fot me. I've had to insert a "thingy" once. It held OK (admittedly I was a bit nervous about it). It's not the ideal pressure but it's not true to say that it "just doesn't work". It's not something I'd recommend to others, but nor would I strongly warn against it.
But you're right that the benefit is to get lower pressures, and on tyres smaller than about 30mm you can't do this and follow manufacturers' minimum pressure recommendations at the same time. So you really need a wide clearance gravel-type bike to get this benefit.
