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Cubist
Still wavin'
- Location
- Ovver 'thill
Touch wood I haven't had a trailside flat since going tubeless. When cleaning one of my bikes I saw that the rear tyre had literally scores of healed cuts and nicks, with evidence that they had been punctured, then the sealant had done its work. That's scores of times I haven't had to stop and repair.
My lad once hit a square edge and pinchflatted. We had to tube that one as the cuts were too big to repair themselves at the rate we could pump air into the tyre.
I'll take the weight saving and increased grip through lower pressures any day.
My lad once hit a square edge and pinchflatted. We had to tube that one as the cuts were too big to repair themselves at the rate we could pump air into the tyre.
I'll take the weight saving and increased grip through lower pressures any day.
mjr
Comfy armchair to one person & a plank to the next
- Location
- mostly Norfolk, sometimes Somerset
That might be scores of times where a sealant tube or more stab resistant tyre wouldn't have flatted either, though.
How much weight saving and what pressures, real world?
How much weight saving and what pressures, real world?
HarryTheDog
Guru
- Location
- Basildon Essex
I started running tubeless last year, my intial experience was that it was a complete waste of time, my specialized traction control tyres seemed to sweat sealant all the time and the valves took a while to stop leaking around the seal. despite putting loads of sealant in they would just go down overnight all the time.. Then my front burped air in a race and I was ready to give up. However I suspected the bike fatory installed rim tape was not the best and re-did the wheels myself. 7 months on and a lot of miles on the bike, no burps no punctures on or off-road, tyres seem to fly along. Also when I bought some spare wheels and put specialised Storm control on the front conti mud king on the back, the specialized sweated sealant again ( just appears through the sidewalls, very wierd) the conti behaved itself straight away. A lot of other people I speak to say you have to ride on tubelss for a while to bed them in properly.
This weekend went for a ride with a group, a guy with tubes had a thorn puncture, a guy running tubeless, had not used his wheels for months and his tyres just leaked air all over the palce and he had to re-add sealant and blow them up with gas. Most people in the club run tubeless but agree they do need work, ie you need to go for a few rides on them before they are reliable, replace the sealant ever so often and if you do not use them for a while blow them up hard the night before you want to use them to ensure they are leak free, but nearly all agree the difference in speed and grip is worth it. ( quite a few XC racers in the club)
This weekend went for a ride with a group, a guy with tubes had a thorn puncture, a guy running tubeless, had not used his wheels for months and his tyres just leaked air all over the palce and he had to re-add sealant and blow them up with gas. Most people in the club run tubeless but agree they do need work, ie you need to go for a few rides on them before they are reliable, replace the sealant ever so often and if you do not use them for a while blow them up hard the night before you want to use them to ensure they are leak free, but nearly all agree the difference in speed and grip is worth it. ( quite a few XC racers in the club)
MarquisMatsugae
Guest
No,no point at all.
IMO they could mask a potentially dangerous cut in the tyre without people realising it,and it goes unnoticed.
You could also have a tyre like a pin cushion getting filled with sealant time after time.Again not good.
Ironic that people who run tubeless carry a tube "when all else fails "
IMO they could mask a potentially dangerous cut in the tyre without people realising it,and it goes unnoticed.
You could also have a tyre like a pin cushion getting filled with sealant time after time.Again not good.
Ironic that people who run tubeless carry a tube "when all else fails "
Motozulu
Über Member
- Location
- Rugeley, Staffs
I'd take tubeless over tubed anytime - definite gains in speed through weight and pressure. The obvious one being the lack of flats too. Last tyre I took off I stopped counting at 20 thorns that were sticking through the tyre into where the tube would have been - that's 20 less trail side swearing, sweating and cussing sessions.
Absolute no brainer.
Having said that - I cannot for the life of me convert my fat bike into tubeless, which has more gains than a normal mtb, apparently, so I'm having to ride tubed on that - just riding along dreading the inevitable flat is bad enough on it's own.
Absolute no brainer.
Having said that - I cannot for the life of me convert my fat bike into tubeless, which has more gains than a normal mtb, apparently, so I'm having to ride tubed on that - just riding along dreading the inevitable flat is bad enough on it's own.
Motozulu
Über Member
- Location
- Rugeley, Staffs
No,no point at all.
IMO they could mask a potentially dangerous cut in the tyre without people realising it,and it goes unnoticed.
You could also have a tyre like a pin cushion getting filled with sealant time after time.Again not good.
Ironic that people who run tubeless carry a tube "when all else fails "
You're entitled to your opinion, but what a very silly thing to post. Obviously, all of the riders that swear by it, haven't been killed yet and will never go back to tubed, are wrong then. I'm betting you've never done it and are just anti - as the comments above couldn't be more misinformed and ignorant.
Not having a go at you - but have you tried running tubeless?
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MarquisMatsugae
Guest
Yes I have .
And in no way was it beneficial.
You are within your rights to try the latest fads,I know I have .
Fortunately I haven't been sucked in by unnecessary "add ons" that seem to have crept in over the years.And you can count dropper posts into the equation.
Something tells me that I have been MTBing longer than you(25 years) ,but I'm guessing of course.
I'm not misinformed or ignorant,just been there and wore the t shirt in regards to a lot of things being brought out over a quarter of a century.
Let the doubters commence
Yes I have .
And in no way was it beneficial.
You are within your rights to try the latest fads,I know I have .
Fortunately I haven't been sucked in by unnecessary "add ons" that seem to have crept in over the years.And you can count dropper posts into the equation.
Something tells me that I have been MTBing longer than you(25 years) ,but I'm guessing of course.
I'm not misinformed or ignorant,just been there and wore the t shirt in regards to a lot of things being brought out over a quarter of a century.
Let the doubters commence
Only 25 years, a mere newbie, I like the benefits of tubeless over tubes.
MarquisMatsugae
Guest
Fair do's ,how long ?
I know I'm in the minority but we will agree to disagree eh ?
It's my opinion and respect it or not it won't change,I do try these things out before I give opinion btw.
And don't get me started on mudguards on MTB's
Motozulu
Über Member
- Location
- Rugeley, Staffs
Yes I have .
And in no way was it beneficial.
You are within your rights to try the latest fads,I know I have .
Fortunately I haven't been sucked in by unnecessary "add ons" that seem to have crept in over the years.And you can count dropper posts into the equation.
Something tells me that I have been MTBing longer than you(25 years) ,but I'm guessing of course.
I'm not misinformed or ignorant,just been there and wore the t shirt in regards to a lot of things being brought out over a quarter of a century.
Let the doubters commence
I respect that and you are quite correct in that you've been at it way longer than me. Fair enough if you've tried it, we all have to make these calls, as you say - same with dropper ( I don't ride without one of those, either
).Rather than falling for fads, as you put it, I'd prefer to say I like to experiment - believe it or not, I'm a natural cynic, which drives this. I like to try stuff myself and then judge if it's just hype or not.
Got to say, tubeless, droppers, 1x10/11..... I am a big fan of, but we all have different ideas on what works or doesn't.
All the best.
Another long time MTBer who is a tubeless fan, I also run them on the CX bike, the rims will take a road tubeless so that might be the next experiment, never got on with dropper posts, currently trying 1 x 11 need some more miles (and long uphill drags) to decide if I stick with it or not.
I did an MTBO event a couple of years ago, there had been a lot of hedge cutting going on, I passed a lot of people mending punctures, back at ride HQ there was not one person who was running tubeless who had punctured, I had one of my best results that day.
I did an MTBO event a couple of years ago, there had been a lot of hedge cutting going on, I passed a lot of people mending punctures, back at ride HQ there was not one person who was running tubeless who had punctured, I had one of my best results that day.
