Tubeless or not

rayman1

I am looking at new wheels for my road bike and don't know whether to go tubeless or not. Probably looking at Mavics and most on their wheels come tubeless. Also a lot of new bikes come tubeless.
Is it the way to go? Are many of ye running tubeless? The advantages are obvious but what are the disadvantages? Any advice greatly appreciated.

LennoxR

I wouldn't bother. Too messy, hard to set up on road wheels and when it fails you have to stick in a tube anyway.

harringtonp

There is a great tubeless thread here which was last posted to some weeks ago. Recommend you trawl through that

outfox

On a recent spin, the guy beside me had a blow out with a tubeless tyre. That sh1te went EVERYWHERE. I'm still cleaning it off my frame, chainrings, derailleur, wheels, helmet and shoes. I swore then and there I'll never go tubeless.

Cee-Jay-Cee

After helping a mate set up his tubeless wheels and tyres I decided it’s much simpler to stick a tube in, pump the thing up and go. It’s a messy job and after we finished he said he noticed fcuk all difference and wouldn’t bother again.

My winter bike wheels are tubeless ready, I run latex tubes in them which I think gives a nicer smoother ride and I’m not confined to a limited selection of tyres as you are with tubeless tyres.

dragratchet

generally makes sense for off-road. i wouldnt bother with road wheels though. buddys tubeless tyre got torn the other day. the gunk didnt do its job and it was a pain sticking a tube in.

youtheman

In theory tubeless tyres are lighter, have less rolling resistance and can tolerate up to a 3 mm hole.  I tried them on the racer but eventually ditched them because :
1. the tyre lasted only a few hundred km
2. I broke 4 levers trying to get them on.  You have no idea how tight they are.
3. I had to use a Stanley Knife to get them off.  I couldn't even get the tyre lever under the bead they were that tight.
4. Did get a puncture on them and the sealant worked great.  But I concluded if I got a puncture out on the road that the sealant could not seal then I'd have to call a taxi to get me home.  As above, no way could I remove a tyre out on the road.
In the end I put back on my ordinary tyres and then put sealant into the tubes.  Best compromise I feel.

letape

I was reading reviews of Mavic’s tubeless open pro rims last week, as I was thinking of building a set on my existing hubs.

The reviews of the rims are terrible - focused on the impossiblity of fitting and removing tyres and the difficulty of fixing a puncture on the side of the road, if needed (basically all the points covered by the last poster). If mavic can’t get it right, I think I’d steer clear myself.

brownian

youtheman wrote: »

In theory tubeless tyres are lighter, have less rolling resistance and can tolerate up to a 3 mm hole.  I tried them on the racer but eventually ditched them because :
1. the tyre lasted only a few hundred km
2. I broke 4 levers trying to get them on.  You have no idea how tight they are.
3. I had to use a Stanley Knife to get them off.  I couldn't even get the tyre lever under the bead they were that tight.
4. Did get a puncture on them and the sealant worked great.  But I concluded if I got a puncture out on the road that the sealant could not seal then I'd have to call a taxi to get me home.  As above, no way could I remove a tyre out on the road.
In the end I put back on my ordinary tyres and then put sealant into the tubes.  Best compromise I feel.

Extraordinary tight tyres, by the sound of it. My ones come off as handy as normal tyres, and take a tube in the usual way. So experiences vary. I do think they're a bit faster, too.

Not disagreeing with your post at all...just for anyone reading it, to say that it's not always that bad!

harringtonp

Bar Brownian every response so far here has been negative.

I have used them on the race/summer bike for 15 months now and swear by them for a whole pile of reasons which I won't repeat here. If you were seriously thinking about them you really need to work your way through

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=105517656

and make your own mind up.

ford2600

https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=108911.0

Not really on topic but interesting history of clinchers & tubs.


This is on topic and long

https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=87521.0

aworthycause

I have been racing them for 8 years. 4 punctures.
Ran clinchers for most of that on the training bike, and frankly anyone who says they are easier to administer is really just saying they are more familiar with the setup of clinchers.
The training bike has been tubeless since last winter too.
Tubeless make perfect sense racing, generally the sealant keeps them up, deflating slowly, should a puncture occur. You can run them at lower pressures (have been at about 80 -85psi), they roll smoother, much much smoother.
True that over the winter, should a puncture occur, they'd be a pain to fix with cold hands.
I'm looking to switch to discs for racing now, but most wheelsets I can justify the cost of are clinchers, so I'm not changing yet.
If any of that helps...