I rode the Brecon Beast yesterday and reckon I saw at least 20 riders mending punctures.
They were all on the rocky bits with no thorns around, so I they must all have been pinch flats.
Assuming it takes 10 minutes to mend a puncture, that means I only saw the ones that happened up to 10 minutes ahead of me. If you add in the ones who were further ahead and those who were behind, there must have been hundreds of pinch flats throughout the day.

Why, oh why, doesn't everyone run tubeless ?
I asked one guy if he was OK as I rode past. He said "Yes, this is my 4th puncture." Crazy. Without those punctures he would have been half an hour ahead of me.

Why, oh why, doesn't everyone run tubeless ?

It's a solution without a problem for me. I run my tyres at the correct pressures so don't puncture often, despite being not exactly the lightest of riders.

I've got a couple of sets of tubeless wheels and some tubeless tyres but can't be bothered with the hassle of actually going tubeless.

Not had a puncture for two years since going tubless, its a no brainer really. Mavic st wheels with proper ust tyres though. No hassle, easy to change tyres, only thing is you get cold waiting on mates to fix punctures.

2 punctures on tubeless yesterday – flint slashes – they are not perfect!! But yes I have not had pinch flats or thorn flats 🙂

I tried it but I like to change tyres a lot. Too messy.
If I go somewhere gnarly I just put in DH tubes

Hooning down the gap yesterday, hitting and pumping all those square-edge rocks thinking ain't tubeless great 🙂

Not had a puncture for two years since going tubless, its a no brainer really.

Would it still be a no-brainer if you hadn't had a puncture for say 3 years while running tubes though?

I run my tyres at the correct pressures so don't puncture often

so what magic psi is that to stop thorns and the like?

ooOOoo – Member
I tried it but I like to change tyres a lot. Too messy.

Then you're doing it wrong.

so what magic psi is that to stop thorns and the like?

Don't get thorns where I ride so not an issue – hence why I said it's a solution without a problem for me.

The OP also said:

They were all on the rocky bits with no thorns around, so I they must all have been pinch flats.

do you have rocks where you ride or are they not a problem either?

hang on, are you on a turbo trainer?

I have tried it and tubeless is not for me. I won't post my full opinion because undoubtedly some religious tubeless zealot will be unable to deal with my opinions, and think I want to enter into a debate.

I only swapped to tubeless to avoid thorn punctures while over in Spain.

I very rarely get punctures while riding in the UK and am undecided whether to keep the wheels tubeless or convert them back…

do you have rocks where you ride or are they not a problem either?

Plenty of rocks here – doesn't seem to cause punctures though. I'm realistic about what tyre pressures I use though.

hang on, are you on a turbo trainer?

I don't own a turbo trainer.

I ran tubeless on my DH bike for over a year without one puncture. Stans Flow ZTR rims with tubeless tape, valves and sealant, on 2.5" Maxxis UST tyres. Amazing setup, light and not one puncture after riding DH for 3 weeks in the Alps and racing all season.

I also run tubeless on my 4X bike in the summer (2" Maxxis Larsen UST Tyres).

If Maxxis offered 2.35" UST Minions then I would run my 4X bike tubeless all year.

I think the main reason people are so reluctant to go tubeless is for the following reasons:

– Initial Setup Cost (Tape, valves, sealant, tyres)
– Setup (Can be tricky to install for the first time)
– Tyres (Not such a wide range of tyres available for UST)

Until you try tubeless, you really won't understand the benefits.

🙂

It's a bit "horses for courses" – I have 3 bikes with tubes and one tubeless. The tubeless one will most likely never go back to tubes and two of the others will probably never be tubeless the 4th bike is potential for either way.

There are no perfect solutions.

It's a bit "horses for courses" – I have 3 bikes with tubes and one tubeless. The tubeless one will most likely never go back to tubes and two of the others will probably never be tubeless the 4th bike is potential for either way.

There are no perfect solutions.

Is that because you can't actually be bothered to run/change the other bikes to tubeless, or because you genuinely don't rate tubeless?

10 mins to fix a puncture, are you doing it blind fold? 😆

i like the idea of tubless but cant be arsed with the faff. i have tubless on my front tyre. its a swampthinng and been on there all summer purely as changing it is a ballache. the rear has been swapped out a few times but is tubed.

Is that because you can't actually be bothered to run/change the other bikes to tubeless, or because you genuinely don't rate tubeless?

The 4X and the road bike have tubes and I wouldn’t want them tubeless due to set up cost and regular tire changes (time and cost of sealant).

The trail bike is tubeless and it's excellent. If I still rode DH I’d run that tubeless as well.

The XC-HT is tubed, I would consider changing it to tubeless but it is used the least so the cost currently out ways the inconvenience.

I defiantly recommend it but will concede that in some cases it's not the right option. (money no issue, I’d always fit it)

Are we talking about the benefits of tubeless here or the benefits of latex solution? I've run slime filled tubes on 3 bikes for 2 years and haven't had a puncture. I know they're working because I swapped tyres that had been on the slimy tubes onto another bike and used standard tubes – the tube was riddled with punctures as soon as I inflated it from the thorns that remained in the tyre.

I've only just gone ghetto tubeless on one bike and love the lack of rolling resistance and the way the tyres seem to grip more than they did with tubes. But I didn't do it for puncture protection as I've had that for years.

10 mins to fix a puncture, are you doing it blind fold?

I was trying to be generous. If i only saw the punctures that happened up to 5 minutes ahead of me, that makes it twice as bad.

I should have made it clear from the start that I run ghetto tubeless and it's the latex that I think makes the difference for both pinch flats and thorns.

I live in Worcestershire where there's very few rocks poking through the surface and those that do are nice soft round sandstone.
For somewhere like the Brecon Beacons, tubeless is essential.

Are we talking about the benefits of tubeless here or the benefits of latex solution?

I was talking about tubes v latex filled tubless. Does anyone still run tubless without latex? (not counting XC racers)

I actually like getting punctures. I like the enforced stop in my ride, i like the act of fixing them and I like to see how many patches i can get on one tube. Over the years Im up to nine on one tube.

I almost never get pinch flats – I run enough pressure to avoid it. I sometimes get thorns, but perhaps one a month. I ride Tue + Wen ever week and once or twice a weekend.

One of the last punctures I had to fix.

Cold, so cold, snowing gently, shivering, not had enough to eat, wet snow down neck, tyre filling with slush – gloves off, run hand round cold wet inside to try to find thorn. Never again.

Always wondered, if running tubless and you ding the rim will the seal break and loose all the air. I'm also assuming getto tubless or stans wont work on a dinged rim.

Iain

One of the last punctures I had to fix.

Cold, so cold, snowing gently, shivering, not had enough to eat, wet snow down neck, tyre filling with slush – gloves off, run hand round cold wet inside to try to find thorn. Never again.

That's nothing to do with tubes v tubeless and everything to do with not preparing properly for the conditions.

Always wondered, if running tubless and you ding the rim will the seal break and loose all the air. I'm also assuming getto tubless or stans wont work on a dinged rim.

Iain

My Stans Flow ZTR wheels took a beating in France, and the rear had lots of dings/dents. It was being run tubeless the whole time and did not leak air. Running 20 PSI it was fine. On big hits they do burp though, you'll get to a bottom of the run with dirt/dust stuck to the side of your tyre where sealant has spilled out. Not really an issue though tbh.

🙂

I'll probably get round to it at some point but have had only one puncture in the last year and am light enough and cowardly enough to ride with sub 30 PSI without getting pinch flats.

Iain,

If running UST tyres and rims then the answer is no IME. Put a massive ding in my XM819 rim a while ago and only noticed it when cleaning the bike! No obvious loss of pressure at the time either.

It's UST or not at all IMHO.

Having worked on one of the stages at the K100 I'd say 85% of the guys asking for more tubes ran tubeless. They'd already used up their tubes or were so superior about their tubeless being fine they not followed the rule of carrying spare tubes and had needed to ride with a flat until the could get a tube. The gravel sections were ripping through the walls of the tyres spraying latex everywhere. Tubed guys could just stick a tube in or were ok as it hadn't sliced the tube. All the people who asked for a replacement tyre were tubeless.

There's advantages to both, it's personal choice I'd say.

I've spent hours and ££ trying to convert my HT to tubeless without success 🙁

One thing that's nasty about tubeless is that the gloop contains ethylene glycol (antifreeze). So we're happily spraying this toxic chemical around the countryside.

I've been running tubeless quite a while now and have no plans to go back to tubes however I don't think tubeless is everything some people make it out to be.
– It's not usually any lighter
– Changing tyres is more of a faff and although I don't coat my garage in sealant doing it it's still has to be tipped out somewhere and the inside of the old tyre cleaned (assuming you want to use it again)
– You can still cut the sidewalls (I've stopped using non-tubeless tyres now as I'd rather the additional weight to have beefed up sidewalls)
– If you do only want to use tubeless ready tyres than choice can be a bit more limited
– Sealant does dry out after a while and need replacing (although mine lasts around a year)
– You still need to carry spare tubes on rides just in case
– They can burp if you run low pressures

That said I'm a muppet when it comes to this sort of thing and even I can manage to set a tubeless tyre on and sealed (with a track pump) in about 10 minutes so it's not exactly difficult or time-consuming. I also have two sets of wheels so rarely change tyres these days.

Someone mentioned the run tubed at the correct pressure so they didn't pinch flat – that's the thing though, I doubt you are running at the correct pressure. What you mean is you're running with them pumped up hard enough that you don't pinch flat but given some tyres can behave completely differently with only a 10psi difference in pressure (e.g. 30 vs 40psi) then pumping them hard enough in order to avoid pinch flats might mean you're running them so hard they give a fraction of the grip/performance they're designed to.

Well put comments on Tubeless FuzzyWuzzy. Most people dont have a track pump so never know what pressure they run. Until I bought one I was always getting flats. Now I dont get many.

Some people seem to hate flats so much they put up with all the issues you listed out in order to avoid that.

To the OP – me and my riding partner, gave two of our tubes away for people with tubeless. More hassle than there worth in my opinion.

My mate has a full sus, me with a hard tail. Overtook everyone on the gap run down with no problems. I saw a torque rider with Rocket Rons 😀

No wonder people were getting pinch flats. Although I was on Maxxis small block 8's – no problems.

running 40psi front and rear.

I love my tubeless, wouldn't dream of getting a bike with tubes – but then I'm a pretty crap rider and was pinch-flatting the back tyre with monotonous regularity before switching over.

Janesy – Member
To the OP – me and my riding partner, gave two of our tubes away for people with tubeless. More hassle than there worth in my opinion.

My mate has a full sus, me with a hard tail. Overtook everyone on the gap run down with no problems. I saw a torque rider with Rocket Rons

No wonder people were getting pinch flats. Although I was on Maxxis small block 8's – no problems.

running 40psi front and rear.

That's the thing, though – at 40psi I probably wouldn't pinch flat either, but then I'd be pinging off every rock on the trail. That's fine for XC riding, but you're missing out on a lot of grip when things get a little hairier.