Tubeless

[l4dva]

Quick question for you guys.

Is it sensible if running a tubeless set up to have a pair of slick / semi slick road tyres for my on road commutes, and then have a set of more aggressive knobbly tyres for weekend rides on muddy trails etc.

So the question is how much of a head ache would it be to swop the tyres for a weekends worth of riding and then put back. With inner tubes it would be pretty straight forward, but I presume with tubeless sealant that wont be an easy task? so would it be worth it?

Thanks

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Separate set of wheels if you want to do that

 

[Yellow Saddle]

It isn't a headache at all. The ache will present lower down. Yukon man presented you with the only viable alternative.

 

[Milkfloat]

I am a big tubeless fan, but even if would not even consider swapping tyres around weekly. Even without the faff factor it will cost you a fortune in sealant over a couple of years. Swapping wheels on the other hand, easy as long as the spacing is right for any disc brakes.

 

[matticus]

Some might say that this is a disadvantage to tubeless.

But there aren't any disadvantages to tubeless, so they'd be wrong.

 

[BigMeatball]

Much easier to have 2 sets of wheels with different tyres on, given you have space for them.

 

[Venod]

Two sets of wheels is the answer, I have three sets all tubeless, one with 32mm Specialized Roubaix Slicks, one with 36mm Panaracer Gravel Kings, one with 40mm Schwalbe G Ones, the all come up 2mm wider on the rims, I prefer the 40mm over the 32m on the road, they are a good all round tyre also suitable for light offroad use, these are all used on two bikes.

 

[lane]

No it's not sensible.

 

[l4dva]

Ok sounds like that's a clear no then.

I have a new set of mavic all road wheels with the supplied all road tyres. out of interest, with no sealant in when the tyres are fully pumped up should they loose pressure? I tried to pump them up without the sealant just to see how easy it would be to pump them up. I managed to get them to hook in and pump to 60psi very easily actually. It all looked well and the tyre seated nicely, but after a couple hours they had gone flat. Is that normal?

I see how I get on with the mavic all road tyre at first, if I feel its lacking i'll invest in a good tyre that can handle a bit of both on and off road. Maybe the schwable G and just run them all the time.

 

[Milkfloat]

A tubeless tyre that goes flat without having sealant in over a few hours is normal.

 

[figbat]

My solution is different - ride the same tyres everywhere. I know this means I'm sub-optimal is certain scenarios but riding knobblies on the road just means putting in a bit more effort - admittedly my time on-road is limited and rarely am I time-constrained.

 

[l4dva]

My solution is different - ride the same tyres everywhere. I know this means I'm sub-optimal is certain scenarios but riding knobblies on the road just means putting in a bit more effort - admittedly my time on-road is limited and rarely am I time-constrained.

Sounds like this is the way to go. Its more likely the opposite for me, most of my riding is the commute to work which is on road. There is a very long detour via canal path that I plan to use on special occasions (when I can get up early enough), but otherwise it will mostly be on road. At the moment however during lockdown I have been doing the occasional hour ride around local park with wood trails. Its fairly minor off road but some sections are very bumpy and muddy. Places I would never usually ride but I'm loving it. Lets hope I can do more of this and in different locations once the virus situation settles down.

Thanks all for your help!

 

[boydj]

There is a difference between properly tubeless tyres which have a rubber layer inside the tyre and should hold pressure without sealant. Tubeless-ready tyres will be slightly porous without sealant.

I've got the former on one bike and I always use sealant in case of puncture - though I'm not aware of ever having had one.

It's certainly not a trivial job to change a tubeless tyre - I've had to do it once when a rim had to be replaced. Unless you have a way of blasting the air in to get the tyre seated (and a CO2 cyclinder won't do it), it's a real pain to do this.

 

[Ajax Bay]

There is a difference between properly tubeless tyres [and] Tubeless-ready tyres will be slightly porous without sealant.

Please could you give an example (or two) of a "tubeless-ready" tyre? 'Tubeless-ready' rims: yes.

 

[Milzy]

2 sets of wheels is the way.