Should I go tubeless and how much will it change the ride?

Obviously i’ve used tubes all my riding life and i’m a bit scared of getting rid of them?

As a portly crap rider, I was getting thorn slow punctures and pinch flats almost every week with tubes.

Changed two years ago. One failure when i ripped a side wall. I had no sealant in the tyre, my fault, hadn’t checked levels in a year.

Still carry a tube.

Now have lower pressure (was 40psi at back), now closer to 25/30psi) so in theory more grip, can’t say i’ve noticed but the change to tubeless was also a change in frames so had no comparison.

EDIT: Oh, and i get way more lady winks, i’m almost sure of it, probably.

To be fair i’m not bad on punctures ( now i’ve said it ill get one tonight) I want to get to a stage when I don’t need to take a pack out with me so not sure how well my set up will manage. (shcwalbe hans dampfs on hope tech enduro rims)

shcwalbe hans dampfs on hope tech enduro rims

Surprised you’ve not burst into flames already.

Can’t say I bring any less stuff being tubeless as i still may tear the tyre wall. If the hole if big enough, not much the sealant could do. Still bring a tube, pump, patches.

If you don’t try it, you’ll never know.

Then you’ll never understand the smug satisfaction of hearing a puncture self-seal mid-ride – nor find out if the saving in rotational weight and improvement in feel is tangible. (It is).

Should I go tubeless

Yes.

and how much will it change the ride?

It depends

There are lots of people who will swear it’s the best thing they’ve ever done with their bike. I’m not one of those people. Do I get fewer punctures? Yes, but I never had that many to start with. Do I get more grip? Probably. Hard to quantify. I went tubeless on a new bike so it’s hard to tell whether the improvement in the ride is down to the new bike, new tyres, tubeless or all of the above.

The upshot is that other than the relatively minimal cost and set up, it’s something worth trying to see if you like it. If you don’t, you’ve not lost much.

Still bring a tube, pump, patches.

this

Tubeless life for me. Pump and plugs on a short ride. I add tubes and shields for a longer one. Same weight as travelling with tubes in the tyres but never had to stop on a ride since changing over.
I used to commute on the Ridgway after midnight, that no puncture aspect was the key factor.

agreed – always wise to carry a spare lightweight tube and a pump for emergencies. The only time my set-up let me down was when I slashed a sidewall on a flint track, no amount of sealant was going to plug a neat slice.
On that occasion I was able to flag down another rider and I bought his spare tube.
Have carried a tube ever since.

I noticed an immediate improvement in feedback or ‘feel’ when I went tubeless – perhaps this is amplified more as a heavier rider – I don’t know – but I feel more adept at sensing grip levels when cornering now, as smaller pebbles/gravel etc are perceptible when riding over.

I also felt like I was able to spin up to speed slightly faster, and my front end felt more flickable. As mentioned above, there’s very little to lose at the minimal cost required to trial tubeless, but potentially a good (marginal) gain to be had.

One thing that made the whole process far more bearable for me however was getting my hands on a small/portable compressor for my garage. Instantly made track-pump swearing sessions a thing of the past with stubborn-to-seat tyres. Priceless.
Some of those new-fangled high volume track pumps also look like they would do a super job.

Yeah go for it

Personally I get a puncture about as often as Xmas so I’m 100% tubes

Did we not have this exact thread last week, complete with lady winks?

Go for it OP, there’s very few drawbacks and many users will find none at all. I always say it can be a faff- but it’s a faff in the garage/kitchen, with the heater going and tunes playing. Whereas tubes are no faff til you flat then they’re faff in the rain, halfway down the big descent, while your mates are waiting. Usually during a race stage too, because tubes know when to strike.

as northwind says OP, go for it
i was like you unitl i did it a few months ago
hardly ever had a puncture but when i did it was the most awkward one, in the pissing cold rain and then the pump stopped working so i ended up borrowing a CO2 cannister but i only managed to get it half pumped and had a 6 mile slog on a half flat tyre
the benefits are that you dont get punctures and if you do the sealant does its job, you also lose the weight in your back pack from not having to carry as many tubes.
it can be a bit of a pain getting it set up but once done its worth it. you also lose some weight on the wheels by ditching the tubes

if your rims are tubeless ready then its easy enough to do
if theyre not then you can use the kits or go ghetto with some gorilla tape…either way you’ll need the valve stems and sealant

tubeless ready tyres would be preferable but it can be dine using non tubeless ready tyres too

Been tubeless for ages.

Yesterday I put some tyres on rims for which I had no valves so used tubes, they were a pig to get on and the last lift of the tyre lever saw me pinch and puncture the tube so now need to remove and re do. I hate tubes, what a faff. They’ll be tubeless by the weekend.

Far less punctures now than before, it’s the only quantifiable benefit though. Improved grip reduced weight etc is true on paper but any thing I noticed back then could have very easily been placebo effect.

I will be trying tubeless after today, was on a biggish ride and had a puncture a few miles from the car.removed old tube , fitted new one then trouble struck, couldn’t get the tyre back on and snapped 3 of those super tough pedros tyre levers in the process. Luckily it didn’t happen when I was on top of the mountain miles from civilisation but on the canal heading back to the car. Big thanks to the kind gent in a van who gave me a lift to the car. Tyres and wheels are tlr but not yet set up so will be done Asap to hopefully avoid this in future.