Thinking about doing it.
Why should/shouldn’t I?

You should! After four rides you can confidently gloat about how it’s the best thing in the world and sneer at people with punctures,
(this said I’m tubeless and carry a spare tube just incase)

Yes. I’ve never looked back

(Unless you change tyres all the time, then it would be a bit of a messy pain)

yes, ~2 years in now and no punctures (and I used to puncture a lot!)
no more faff changing tyres than with a tube IME, tyre on, inflate, put goo in re inflate , jobs a good un.
Can’t think why you would want to use tubes, useless things!

I went tubeless around 6 weeks ago and can’t give any reasons why you shouldn’t give it a go. A lot easier to set up than I expected, maybe I got lucky on tyre and rim choice, but I did use the ghetto tubeless inflator.

Never had problems with punctures, can’t see it offering any advantage (for me)

Absolutely – two bikes now running tubeless for 18 months and not a single puncture. Prior to that, I seemed to puncture all the time.

(As above, I still carry a tube as a get-out-of-jail-free card).

but, what happens when you need to put a tube into a tyre that’s full of thorns?

Why should/shouldn’t I?

give it a go, just don’t expect to find that all of your problems are over.

do expect to find a few new problems.

Yes. Can be a bit of a pain to set up depending on system, rims and tyres, but no punctures. My main punctures used to be pinch punctures. Tubeless resolved this. Changed wor lasses tyres yesterday, they have a thorn in them, but had maintained pressure without problems

Used to puncture every 3rd or 4th ride but since going tubeless 5 or so years ago I’ve only ever had one that didn’t seal – a 20mm gash in the sidewall (that was soon sorted with duck tape & a tube). Even survived a 3″ nail through the tread & out the sidewall.

I actually find tyres grip and roll better when tubeless too – someone did explain the physics behind it once but I can’t remember the detail. It was something to do with tubed set ups having two different rubber compounds (the tyre & the tube) that deform at different rates and therefore ‘fight’ against each other continuously.

i’ll never use tubes again.
grips and rolls betterer 🙂

Yes if you regularly get flats, especially pinch ones.

No otherwise.

I’ll never be going back to tubes.

You shouldn’t because when it all goes wrong, the tyre refuses to reinflate and you are mid ride the mess of the Stans goo is horrible as you check you tyre for thorns before putting in a tube. Also no one will help you because it is all disgusting.

You shouldn’t because sometimes it is a pain getting tyres on to the rim (how many posts on this forum about Crests with tyre x,y or z?).

You shouldn’t because you do often need to top up the air in your tyres.

You shouldn’t because Stans goop is expensive.

But it does generally work well, I don’t get nearly as many issues as I used to, my punctures generally self seal, Panarace or Weldtite tubeless repair kits are pretty good so the first issue on my list doesn’t happen that often. And it is arguable lighter and cooler.

After getting 4 pinch flats on a descent of Ben Rinnes a few weeks back I decided to give it a go. Must admit (after all the horror stories) I was surprised at how easy it was to set up (Nobby Nic tubeless ready tyres on ZTR Flow EX rims). Only had a few rides so far, so can’t really say if it’s helped, but so far, no problems.

Cheers,

Andy

I much prefer tubeless. After 2 years with no punctures, my rear tyre lost some pressure at the start of the CyB Enduro on Saturday. Sealed itself, I put a bit of air into it, and stayed up all the way around (and is still up). Wouldn’t go back.

I did do it the easy way, with tubeless rims (Mavic 819) and UST tyres (Maxxis Advantage).

Tubeless for 11 years now me! Best thing since disc brakes…

Tubeless is great, just do it properly (tubeless ready or UST tyres + proper rim strip etc.) if you want it stress-free.

Yes, definitely do it. I’ve been running tubeless for 18 months and would not go back. As everyone else has said, no punctures, grips and rolls better, no faff.

I would say this though. I’ve found it much easier to setup when using proper UST/Tubeless tyres with Flow rims. I first started with a standard High Roller/Larsen TT combo and they were a pain to setup, especially the Larsen and both popped off the rim when riding.

I then moved to tubeless specific Conti Rubber Queens. Went up first time, stayed up and on even at low pressures. For this summer I swapped out the rear RQ for an X-King Protection. It went up first time, but seems to leak air when taking hits from rockier sections. The sidewall also seems to be disintegrating.

I’ve just bought (a big wheeled bike) and fitted some Maxxis Ardent 29er LUST tyres. Mounting the tyres to the Arch EX rims took hours and lots of cursing they were so tight. Seriously tight. Amazingly though, no need for a tube (during setup as per my usual method to fill out/ straighten the tyre) and they inflated and sealed straight away without sealant.

So my next set of 26er tyres will be Maxxis instead of Conti.

Jedi, so is the ‘burp’ thing a myth, I would imagine you’d know, with all that leaping about you do!

I can’t see any reason for tubes, but was surprised to see how many on the Trans Provence were still using them.(And getting flats)

Mine have never burped but do need checking for air pressure between rides. Other than that, they’re great.

No, don’t do it.

We need people to still use tubes so those of us who’ve already seen the ‘light’ can ride past looking smug.

Myself and a few mates have gradually be going tubeless over the last couple of years or so and every single one of us says it’s a brilliant change to the bike. As has been said, no punctures and more grip plus in my instance less weight. What’s not to like?

I ride the South Downs most weekends and used to find that unless I was running at least 45psi then I’d get pinch flats at high speed. Didn’t like tyres that rock hard so now with Tubeless setup I run 30psi max, much better grip and never any punctures (stans sealant inside), although I do carry a couple of tubes in case I need them.

I’ve got Crank bros Iodine 3 wheels and Schwalbe Hans Dampf tyres and bloody love them. Mavic Crosstrails on my other bike with Nobby Nic’s for summer, mud x for winter. All of which were a doddle to fit and never had any problems.

And I’ll be smug, knowing that I’ve changed my tyres in maybe 5mins per end, and will be back surfing the net in the evening.
Of course, safe in the knowledge that half the tubeless “light seers”, will have done exactly the same thing of using a tube to make the tyre seat, but still have the job of taking it all apart again and then faffing for a bit more on each wheel. Oh and then they will be surfing to post a new “help I can’t seal my tyres” thread.
😉

2 punctures since 2007. With Conti tubes. Both in Morzine this year. Not smug, but my total outlay there was about €6, and that was because I cba to patch them.

I’m a born-again tube user. About 5years ago after an incredible spate of punctures I bit on the bullet and went tubeless at some cost. All went well apart from the usual gymnastics and swearing at tyre change time. Eventually I got a huge puncture and had to put a tube in miles from anywhere which was aproblem as there was loads of sealant gloop in the tyre. It was a weekend away so I didn’t have chance to reseal the tyre but next day the tyre sidewall split spectacularly, beyond any tyre boot type fix, again miles from anywhere so I had to wait while some kind soul rode back the 15 odd miles to fetch a car and rescue me.
When I got home I persevered with a new tubeless tyre which refused to seat despite a mornings work and eventually wrecked the valve. At this point I thought Huck it and put a tube in.In the year since I have had one puncture fixed very quickly.I don’t think I will be going back to tubeless.

I bought a set of Stans Alpines last week as I wanted a set of lighter wheels and to give tubeless a go.

I bought them from Evans (yeah I know, but they had them in stock, and have found the staff in the Kingston branch very helpful in the past) and picked them up in store. As they didn’t have any Stans fluid I bought some of the Bontrager stuff instead.

I used the set of Racing Ralphs I had been using on my old wheels since March and was surprised how easy it was to inflate. Just used a track pump, but found you really do need to use soapy water to get them to pop into place.

They did take a lot to get the tyres to seal, lots of foaming from just above the bead, but riding them does seem the best way to get them to seal. To be honest I didn’t find the ‘magic’ ride to be any different to when you use a set of latex tubes. But perhaps they give better puncture protection than latex, although I find latex puncture less than butyl tubes in my experience.

All in all though I’d say it’s worth the hasstle if you already have wheels that don’t need any conversion kit. If I had a set of wheels where you have to spend £50 on a conversion kit and still have all the faffing, I’d say don’t bother!

Thanks guys some good points to take note.
Like the idea of being able to run slightly lower pressures to add grip.
So I just brought some Flows:) and will be using them with 2.2 RQBC.
Hopefully this will be hassle free.
Is this right for my first attempt
Seat the tyre pour in 2oz of stans sealant (1 in each wheel)then pump it up till it pops?

I finished building up MrSchmancy last weekend and decided to go tubeless (I have to confess here my old Gunnar 29er was setup for me by my whippetmate, never had a puncture in 2.5years) MrSchmancy has Stans and some Spec’s 29er X-Controls (which I’ve used before) and followed the instructions to the letter about rim tape and bead sealing and I failed miserably. Even copius amounts of soapy water and furius track pumping failed to seat the beads, 1.5hrs in and I bailed for some tubes. At least I got out to ride rather than faffing about.
I am going to take the wheels to my LBS to get them to do it, I simply don’t have the faff induced patience ratio dialled.

Faff’idge on a large scale. I’d say plan out a long weekend, no maybe take Friday and Monday off too just in case a full 8hours faff’idge isn’t enough to get them to seat properslike.

🙄

having a small compressor in the garage is handy if you want to avoid faff

I’ve put tubes back in and can’t tell the difference. I can mend a puncture if I get one in a few minutes.
I have wasted weeks trying to get tyres to seal.
So staying old school.

If I run below 2.5 bar on the rear or 2 bar on front they burp!

So I got my wheels – only one valve (if anyones got a spare:))
Is it worth doing on Flows with Non UST tyres?
Do they roll off while railing a corner
Do I put the gunk in RQBC non UST tires or wait till next month for the Butcher controls 2bliss to come out.

Tubeless – yes
Tyre Milk – No

You’ll just swap PITA mid-ride trail passion-killer faff for potential and/or predictable faff in the garage. There’s some trial and error in it.

My std tips learned so far – don’t take shortcuts with ghetto set-ups if you want a simple life (but they can work well), always clean dry sealant off tyre beads properly before re-fitting, do a dry-fit check before adding sealant, leccy tape can fine-tune the fit easily / cheaply, it’s not worth worrying about any added weight, and home-mixed sealant saves £ when you swap tyres a few times a year (winter, mixed and summer conditions, got maybe 3 different tyre combos to cover that – so I swap maybe 5 times a year based on conditions and trips away)

So

Is it worth doing on Flows with Non UST tyres? – No imo, use TL tyres for the stronger casing or ease of use
Do they roll off while railing a corner – Not unless you use non-UST / TLR stuf at lower pressures or are super-fast / heavy
Do I put the gunk in RQBC non UST tires or wait till next month for the Butcher controls 2bliss to come out. – as above – 2bliss is really good ime, wait for the proper tyres

ahwiles – Member

but, what happens when you need to put a tube into a tyre that’s full of thorns?

You will be glad that you didn’t suffer all the punctures the thorns would have caused.

Thanks jameso you just saved me from probably a lot of faff.
I’ll run tubes till next month.
One more question
With 2bliss, UST tires do you need to use the gunk ?
Or is it for puncture prevention.