After my disastrous attempts to fix a puncture in tubeless compatible system that had a tube in it I’m going to change to a tubeless setup.

Not a happy commute

Has anyone done this and regretted it?

Has anyone suffered a puncture that the tubeless system couldn’t cope with and also struggled to get a tube in?

Please convince me that going tubeless will be a Road to Damascus moment, but not in a “getting strafed by Russian fighter bombers” stylie.

Currently I am of the opinion that it is all a colossal waste of time and money and that a simple tire and tube system is a lot less faff. But as my bike has a tubeless rim and tire and I don’t want to be stuck in the middle of nowhere again on a dark night I feel that I have no choice. I would also very much like to meet the person who specced this out for Cannondale and insert a couple of bent tire levers into him.

You could just learn how to change tyres properly?

Thanks for your helpful insight 🙄

Going tubeless was probably the best thing I ever did in my life, and that includes meeting my wife, having children and going to Thorpe Park when I was 12.

That’s more like it. 😀

Wow, even better than Thorpe Park!

I faffed around for a whilw with tubeless ready etc. Eventually went for UST tyres on UST rims – the combo works so much better, you can get special repair kits but havent needed to use mine yet.

i have some and i have some that are not tubeless- basically winter MTB Is tubeless as i dont eant to be tryign to change an inner tube in sub zero temps

TUbeless gets far fewer punctures so it does work but if you do get one its much more annoying and the tyre – as you discovered- is really beaded on to the rim and very hard to move off.

The deciding factor is how often you get punctures

I dont very often so not all my bikes are tubeless

I’ve got a pair of hardly used pair of tubeless as I wondered how I’d ride home if I got a major puncture in them, seeing as my attempt to get a innertube into them resulted in failure (Stans Crest).
Also they deflate over a few days,seem to be leaking from where the Stans valves seat into the rim,not very confidence inspiring..

I’ve never had an issues with tubeless.

I seem to be able to set them up within a couple minutes. The only issues I’ve come across was that I needed to build up more tape to make it tighter. Once the tyres seated I just add some stans and swish it round.

Never had any issues trailside beyond the norm. I’ve had a few punctures and snakebites that sealed. I’ve also had 2 tyres where flint slit the sidewall and so didn’t seal. I just popped one side off and add a tube till I get home and then fix the sidewall.

The one thing is that they do require maintenance. Every 3 months I pop the one side of the tyre off to clean out the stans monsters and add fresh stans. Only takes a couple of minutes though.

Yeah, tubeless is far better than Thorpe Park and Blackpool Pleasure Beach 🙂

Not regretted it and never had a normal thorn/glass/small sharp thing puncture that I knew about. But have slashed tyres on the sidewalls and once on the tread too. But this wouldn’t have been any difference with tubes – same outcome needing tyre boots and a tube in.

But the main benefit is lower pressures, better grip and a faster/smoother ride overall.

Well, from reading your other thread, that did seem to be what the problem was…… 😉

The deciding factor is how often you get punctures

In all seriousness, it’s more the sort of punctures you get that make a difference, rather than the regularity. If its lots of pin pricks, thorns etc. Tubeless with sealant will reduce the count. If its huge bits of broken glass, slashed sidewalls, it won’t help as much…….

On MTB, everything is tubeless, except my hack bike as its the bike i most regularly change tyres on (twice a year) and my winter tyres are all but impossible to tubeless (and they weigh nearly a kilo each!)

On road, i have too much invested in standard and tubular rims to make the switch worthwhile, and i very very rarely puncture, and ~200gram tyres with latex, or very good butyl tubes, perform as well as i need (the tubeless i’ve tried haven’t surprised me by their performance).

If i was commuting on the road bike, i’d probably get some tubeless wheels sorted, as thats where i feel i would find the benefits.

Not sure how much help this is, but I converted my bikes to tubeless fairly recently (a mix of rims – UST, tubeless ready and non tubeless conversion using a rim strip) all of which worked fine. The tubeless ready were actually the hardest to get the tyres to seat on, but worked after a liberal application of washing up liquid.

I still have slight paranoia that I’ll get a puncture that the system won’t seal and will be unable to fit the spare tube I carry around (though it’s been fine so far), but I’m not sure that it would be any harder than fitting a new tube into a non tubeless system. I’m tempted to buy a tubeless repair kit though, rather than rely on using a spare tube.

But in any case, that’s only going to be a worry for fairly serious punctures where you tear a sidewall, for example – which is a risk I’m willing to run as it’s not something that happens frequently (well not to me anyway). Everything else, I think the system should cope with.

I don’t think tubeless is really more faff though – maybe it can be when you first set it up (though not always – it seems to depend on rim/tyre combinations as some inflate super easily) but then it’s pretty much faff free, so far as I can see.

I do think tubeless improves the ride quality, too, so that’s an additional factor to take into account.

Exactly as Yak, especially his last line.

Get a Weldtite tubeless repair kit and carry a spare tube with some stans in it and that should cover all eventualities.

That nick in your tyre, superglue on the outside and a glued on patch on the inside should repair it nicely.

Oh- this is for road?

Mrs Yak switched to tubeless on her road bike and hasn’t had a puncture since. Also again lower pressures, also helped by wider rims. Having said that, her tyre/rim combo is so tight that a puncture that didn’t seal would be a right faff. (fusion 3’s and pacenti SL23s)

If I was ever to replace my winter hack, then I would go road tubeless too, but maybe a different rim. Archetypes maybe.

If I was ever to replace my winter hack, then I would go road tubeless too, but maybe a different rim. Archetypes maybe.

Archetypes are not tubeless though. Although some people have done it you are taking a big chance going tubeless with them with the higher pressure involved with road tyres.

I’m guessing you might get away with it with larger volume touring/commuting type tyres (28mm +) running sub-70 psi maybe but I wouldn’t chance it.

Archetypes are not tubeless though

oh, my mistake – thought they were. I would pick a proper tubeless rim then like a SL23, but not them. Not going to risk any kind of tubeless cock-up on the road.

The biggest problem is the faff setting it up. Get yourself a beer or three, be patient, and try to look at it as a test of skill and endurance. Then once it’s set up, try not to as I did and slash the tyre on the first ride, rendering all the pain and frustration completely redundant.

Yak – Member

Archetypes are not tubeless though

oh, my mistake – thought they were. I would pick a proper tubeless rim then like a SL23, but not them. Not going to risk any kind of tubeless cock-up on the road.

From what I have read the Pacentis are very tight. They have reduced the diameter slightly in the latest version to make tyre fitting easier but at the expense of a narrower braking track.

I have Stans Grail rims on my new GT Grade and although I’m not running them tubeless at the moment, I’ve had no problem fitting two different sets of tyres (with tubes) on them. They are a disc only rim though admittedly but it does show that tubless rims don’t have to be mentally tight. Maybe it’s the lack of brake track which governs this.

Tubeless….DOOOO IT. I’m a recentish convert and can’t believe how easy it was after reading scare stories of needing a compressor etc. Honestly…TR Tyre off, old rim tape off, Stans tape on, insert valve, remount tyre almost completely leaving a little bit to close, pour in sealant, “roll” tyre bead over rim and inflate with a floor pump….No sh*t first time no bother – there’s plenty on interweb to show you how but it’s easy – in fact easier than mounting tyre with a tube!!!
PS Mine were Stans Crest / Arch Ex and Schwalbe Nobby Nicks & Racing Ralph

Harry – i’ve just gone tubeless. had a similar issue a few weeks ago when i got a snakebite on my rear wheel (first puncture on the mtb for 8 years). getting the tube in was easy but the pump stopped working properly so i had to borrow a mates CO2 cannister.
then i got hold of some lighter wheels and swapped the tyres over…the front tubeless tyre was an absolute pain to get on and i ended up pinching 2 tubes with the levers and at that point i thought sod it time to go tubeless so i went and got a tubeless conversion kit
i did the conversion last week and followed the instructions when i realised Stan’s had pulled a fast one…the instructions said insert a minimum of 60ml into each tyre…the 2 bottles with the kit were 59ml… 😯
anyway everything seemed to go well…they tyres inflated and held the air for a few hours before deflating again as there wasnt enough sealant in there to do the job…so having got my new batch of sealant yesterday i finished the job off last night with another 60ml of sealant in each tyre…checked this morning and there was no loss of air.
the wheels will now get their first run on Sunday at lee quarry

wheels now feel much lighter without the tubes in…

I always say the same thing, tubeless is a faff but it’s a faff when you want it, in the garage/kitchen, in the warm. Tubes might be less faff but they’re faff when you least want it, at the best bit of your favourite descent, in the rain.

But you do still get flats, and repair kits aren’t perfect either, so you do still need to be able to remove the tyres at a pinch. If there’s some issue with you/your setup I’d work to fix that too, one’s not a fix for the other imo.

In the old days it was a right old faff, before tubeless ready tyres were invented. But now it’s a piece of cake. Tyre on, sealant in, pump, done. Although I’d still be doing it before a ride so the tyres have a chance to fully seal even though that may not be nececssary with the tubeless ready tyres.

I’m currently using Specialized tyres and they are fine.

I only once had to put a tube in. Ran over a big piece of glass on a cyclepath, big loud hiss, sealant sprayed everywhere, but amazingly it did seal, had to top up with air. Only when it happened again several miles later did I have to put in a tube because I’d lost too much sealant. Took no longer than changing a regular tube, but it was messier.

Contrary to what’s reported above I never have any trouble getting tyres off the rim. Just prise the bead inwards with thumbs and it comes off only slightly more difficult than with tubes.

Deleted

Just to reiterate, the OP is actually talking about road tubeless.

Just to reiterate, he isn’t. They are off my 29 FS.

Carry on.

Harry_the_Spider – Member

Just to reiterate, the OP is actually talking about road tubeless.

Just to reiterate, he isn’t. They are off my 29 FS.

Carry on.

In that case I agree with ghostlymachine’s sentiments.

Just to reiterate, he isn’t. They are off my 29 FS

🙂 😳

Ah well.
Interestingly, the local bike fit/ bike builder has commented that the uptake of road tubeless he’s seen is predominantly by mountain bikers who also ride road. Of the traditional roadies he’s had through the door, there’s been almost no take-up of road tubeless. (not tubs) So I suspect the overall market is still very small for road tubeless.