Bio_Carbon
Regular
I really don't get tubeless, to me it's an unnecessary load of nonsense, but I was wondering: People seem to broadly reject waxed chains, saying it's too much work. Why is that? Here's my point of reasoning: In my opinion tubeless is mostly and option in extreme cases, like cross-country or even cross-continental rides and professional bike racing, when a flat may be the difference between winning or losing, or carrying your bike 20km to the next larger city. Exceptions may be mountain biking where stopping on a trail may pose a serious safety risk.
The problem with tubeless is (in my opinion), is that you have to do a lot of maintenance. With a butyl tube, you may have to change them if they go bad, which may be after half a decade. No big whoop. A puncture is of course always possible, but what's not a possibility, but a guarantee is that your sealant will go bad. So once or twice a year, you'll have to take the old stuff out, possibly change the rim tape and fill new sealant in. I also have broken spokes more frequently than punctures and you know what that means: Taking off the tire, new tape, new sealant. My bike mechanic doesn't even do tubeless, because the money is not as good as cleaning up the mess is bad.
But if you think that's the thing for you, then that's on you. It's your maintenance and if that's fine by you, then do it. The thing I don't get is: Why, in contrast, is waxing your chains so frequently attacked and seen as a thing for pro-cyclists who have peons to do the work for them? Considering the lifespan of a waxing, that's 25km / 15miles every day for a month. It's a clean drivetrain, no de-greasing once a year and always immaculate lubrication, with no sand and other abrasives sticking to it that will grind away on your gears and chain.
The way to do it I'd figure is having 3 chains, waxing them all in one go once a quarter and just putting a new chain on once a month, which is hardly more effort than applying lube and getting the waxy saucepan out once a quarter. But at the same time, such a system would greatly decrease wear. Last time I killed a chain I also had to replace the cassette, because the new chain ended up skipping. That was after just 1000 - 1500 or so kilometers. In the middle of the pandemic, that was one annoying bill to take care of, not mentioning the hassle of getting the cassette at that time.
Why is it that more and more people are open to tubeless but flat-out reject waxing? Personally I see more upsides to waxed chains.
The problem with tubeless is (in my opinion), is that you have to do a lot of maintenance. With a butyl tube, you may have to change them if they go bad, which may be after half a decade. No big whoop. A puncture is of course always possible, but what's not a possibility, but a guarantee is that your sealant will go bad. So once or twice a year, you'll have to take the old stuff out, possibly change the rim tape and fill new sealant in. I also have broken spokes more frequently than punctures and you know what that means: Taking off the tire, new tape, new sealant. My bike mechanic doesn't even do tubeless, because the money is not as good as cleaning up the mess is bad.
But if you think that's the thing for you, then that's on you. It's your maintenance and if that's fine by you, then do it. The thing I don't get is: Why, in contrast, is waxing your chains so frequently attacked and seen as a thing for pro-cyclists who have peons to do the work for them? Considering the lifespan of a waxing, that's 25km / 15miles every day for a month. It's a clean drivetrain, no de-greasing once a year and always immaculate lubrication, with no sand and other abrasives sticking to it that will grind away on your gears and chain.
The way to do it I'd figure is having 3 chains, waxing them all in one go once a quarter and just putting a new chain on once a month, which is hardly more effort than applying lube and getting the waxy saucepan out once a quarter. But at the same time, such a system would greatly decrease wear. Last time I killed a chain I also had to replace the cassette, because the new chain ended up skipping. That was after just 1000 - 1500 or so kilometers. In the middle of the pandemic, that was one annoying bill to take care of, not mentioning the hassle of getting the cassette at that time.
Why is it that more and more people are open to tubeless but flat-out reject waxing? Personally I see more upsides to waxed chains.
