Went tubless a week ago – quite easy to do with Stans – recommended by STW forum – I had tubless 2 years ago but swapped out d.t tin slash in tyre on a ride. Went tubless again d.t. soooo many pinch flats.

So apart from the initial outlay, replacing sealant and BIIG holes and need a tube (although if that big needs patching or replacement) anyone got any reason not to go to tubless?

It’s a little messy if you do need to put a tube in, but no where as messy as the nay sayers claim

I can’t think of any reason not to

I’ve been tubeless & punctureless for 2 years – I won’t be going back.

If you are a big lad, then not a great idea. Sorry uplink, I beg to differ. It can get very messy. I have had 2 too many crashes based on burped tyres that fail, and leave me in a tangled mess of bike, tyre and wet sticky and not very tasty latex.

If you change tyres a lot then it could get messy/faffy…

Seen too much faffing about when someones tubeless won’t seal a puncture and a tube has to be put in, very messy. It can be very messy too for anyone following behind someone with a rear blowout!

Using rims and tyres designed for tubeless use I’ve never had any problems with burping. The only reason I can think not to is if you need/tend to change tyres regularly – it’s certainly more of a hassle than with tubes. But then you’ve got a good reason for another pair of wheels 😉

Using sealant its a massive faff and you can’t swap tyres in a moments notice. Otherwise brilliant.

Been tubeless for 4 years – never had a problem although my mate did burb one of his on very square edged rocks in Italy. When I removed my winter tyres I found 6 thorns in the tyre, but hadn’t even noticed it when riding.

Watching a down hill at Cwm Carn put me off. In about an hour at one spot I saw 4 nasty off’s. Everyone was caused by the tyre rolling and loosing air quickly. Nothing was the result of a tube blowing. Of course there may of been pinch flats but they don’t drop you on your face. Equally many tubeless riders probably got away with it but seeing is what makes you think. I like the idea but change tyres with the weather and venue and the cost would be silly.

Serial tyre changer here and no problems with punctures. so a solution in search of a problem for me

anyone got any reason not to go to tubless?

Ease of getting your tyres on and off the rim…
Less spares to carry for fixing flats…
No sealant required…
If you haven’t got a shower…(sorry about that one)

well I have clusters of punctures – mainly a trade between tyre pressures and gips – normally 40psi but still get flats so went tubeless and non so far!

It will make your bikes rolling weight less and you won’t be able to use it as an excuse for being slow… 😉

when it does pop, you’ll be left kicking the bike in anger of only having plastic levers and no tube.

you’ll need to carry a tube with you meaning you have no faith in the product

Been super-ghetto tubeless for 6 months now. No punctures and no burping for me. Definitely wouldn’t go back to riding with tubes. Too many brambles and too much hawthorn around here.

The only reason I would use tubes again is if I wanted to run my tyres at some insanely low pressures as you are asking for trouble then.

How is there a weight saving? Is the weight of the sealant and valve and rimstrip not similar to the weight of a tube?

you’ll need to carry a tube with you meaning you have no faith in the product

But Sharki, assuming you’re using tubes, you’re carrying spare tubes which means you also have no faith in the product. 🙂

I think faith in the system comes from use. Some people have setups that work flawlessly for them and some don’t. It works for me.

Because change is bad and anything new is scary and rubbish.

How is there a weight saving? Is the weight of the sealant and valve and rimstrip not similar to the weight of a tube?

For my XC race ghetto setup, no weight saving at all, but the tyres work much better at a given pressure, rolling resistance is fantastically reduced, nil chance of a pinch (my usual problem), won’t puncture due to thorns, unlikely to be throwing it sideways with enough force when racing to burp them.

For the trail bike that I have to run DH tubes in to stop me pinching the damn things getting all over enthusiastic, you start to save a good chunk of rotating weight.

If you are a big lad, then not a great idea.

Quite the opposite in my experience and opinion. Tubeless using normal tyres on conversion strips or ghetto may be unreliable if you are weighty but proper UST is far more robust and makes pinchflats (curse of the ‘big lad’?) a thing of the past as there isn’t a tube to pinch.

Not as many v’s the advantages.

Like already said, messy when switching tyres, but get yourself a big fat syringe and you can suck up most of the fluid (and reuse).

I took a back tyre off once, can’t remember why, peeled all the dry latex off the inside becuase it was fun! When I stuck it back on there must have been 15 – 20 punctures in the tyre that I’d never know I’d had, they all sealed again too 😆