[Closed] Am I the only Luddite still using tubes on MTB's ?

I am genuinely surprised how many of us luddites are here ! 45% of posters though a rather skewed question so probably not representative.

Also surprised at the lower pressures some are running tubed tyres at compared to mine. I am a little over 12 stone, so probably 13 in kit and camelbak. My 26 Soul is usually around 36 front/38 back and Anthem 27.5 a pound or so less, so around 35 front/36 rear. I very rarely get punctures but will drop pressures a little methinks.

So the answer to your question is no you are 1 of a whole group of Luddites . 😀

I don't know anyone who isn't tubeless, apart from the OP, but then I'm not a 58 year old IT manager who bimbles along canal towpaths. 😀

Hey nobeer, I'm not quite that old yet, I'm not in IT and there ain't no canals in my neck of the woods cos it's too high up. I am buying an Audi tho..... 😀

If your going to do it, save yourself a load of hassle and do it ghetto tubeless with a BMX tube. Goes up with a trackpump.

It's not you I was referring to Iain!

If your going to do it, save yourself a load of hassle and do it ghetto tubeless with a BMX tube. Goes up with a trackpump.

He has tubeless ready rims, absolutely no need for ghetto, only some decent tubeless tape and the valves that came with the wheels. And it's not the strip that dictates how easy the tyres inflate, it's the how the tyres sit against the bead.

Edit - Iain, buy a bottle of the new stans pro goo, and some tape, and I'll come up and show you how to do it. As long as you don't make me ride Cathkin.....

Nope, tubes here.
I'll go tubeless when it works properly, ta.

Have tried it in the past, but found it a bit too faffy.

Going back to tubes. Can't be bothered with all the faff and mess of tubeless anymore.

Without having read all of this, or countless other, threads, no-one is saying that tubeless is a panacea to [b]all[/b] flats and punctures. It will work for thorns and nails, shards of glass but if you put a huge tear in the sidewall or rip half the carcase away then nothing is going to deal with that.

In day to day riding the biggest advantage to tubeless is that you can ride with lower pressures so get better traction and not bounce off everything because you have to run such a high pressure to avoid pinch flats and the like.

I've had precisely one puncture with tubeless - I was on the fat bike on the road and must have picked up a thorn or something. By the time I had stopped (I was doing about 50kph downhill at the time) the sealant had done it's job and I just had to reinflate the tyre which took less than two minutes. I really wouldn't have wanted to get the tyre off, replace the inner tube, etc.

Same weight as you Iain, I was running 26-28F/30-32R tubed in my Anthem, with Spesh grid tyres. Only had one puncture, a snake bit on the rear, but there was marks in the tube from other near misses. Similar pressures on my HT, maybe a bit lower on the front as the tough Vigilante is a stiff tyre and I want it gripping in the soft stuff. Now running tubeless on the new bike and enjoying the lower pressures 20F/25R and increased grip (different tyres so not direct comparison) .

Tubeless on monstercross
Tubeless on road
Never managed to mount the Tubeless MTB tyres on tubeless rims!

Of the above two, the cross tyres are normal wire bead, the road rims are non ust. Funny how the supposedly perfect tubeless tyre/ust rim combo didn't work!

Edit - Iain, buy a bottle of the new stans pro goo, and some tape, and I'll come up and show you how to do it. As long as you don't make me ride Cathkin.....

Cheers. I have some tape that came in the bag with the valves with the Anthem, will get back to you, ta.

Tubeless for MTBs and wouldn't go back. I do tend to tear sidewalls and then it's a tube having made sure that the glass/thorns etc that have been sealed are out. Generally there's quite a lot of sealant repaired punctures that you don't notice.

A mate who rides similarly is on tubes and can't see the point of the faff. He also doesn't have a latex splosh half way up his cellar wall and is running a front tyre from some point pre 1999 -a Tioga DH.

And it's not the strip that dictates how easy the tyres inflate, it's the how the tyres sit against the bead.

Hmm not sure I agree. A good tubeless strip holds the bead in the middle of the tyre before you inflate, just enough to stop enough air leaking to let you inflate easily. Tubeless strips allow me to inflate with a track pump.

I'll go tubeless when it works properly, ta.

It really does now. Tubeless ready tyres, correct rim strip - done.

He also doesn't have a latex splosh half way up his cellar wall

Nor do I!

As I already pointed out, I'm pretty much ambivalent on this but, other than the slightly messier procedure when changing tyres occasionally I'm not sure what "faff" folk are referring to when running tubeless.

Tubes,..I can't be arsed with faff. I running spesh grid and never have a problem with flats.

edit.

Faff= Getting covered in sealant whilst attempting trailside repair, Co2 inflators, repair worms, etc

Given tubeless tech has been around for a while now, I have to wonder why bikes are not being sold with tubeless installs when supplied with tubeless ready tyres, even even if it is "ghetto" tubeless.

Schwalbe and alike keep going on about the reduced rolling resistance of running tubeless, plus the virtual elimination of snakebite punctures and reduced odds odds of ride ending punctures from thorns etc., yet tubeless ready tyres are being supplied on new bikes with tubes installed.

http://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/specials/tubeless-latex-butyl-tubes
http://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/specials/fat-bike-tubeless-vs-tubes
http://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/specials/schwalbe-one-tubeless-clincher

Faff= Getting covered in sealant whilst attempting trailside repair, Co2 inflators, repair worms, etc

Worms? They're there to prevent you having to remove the tyre - or even the wheel. How us that more "faff"? You mean it's just something new you'd have to learn.

I have to wonder why bikes are not being sold with tubeless installs when supplied with tubeless ready tyres

Tubes work for me. Don't get that many flats, and when I do it's a few minutes to fix, even if out.
I don't like the feel of low pressure, so don't need that advantage of tubeless.

I'm really surprised at how many are still on tubes. You'd have thought the performance advantages of lower pressures would have seeped through to riders.

But hey ho.

None of which has happened to me.

Not to you, almost certainly will happen to clumsy, hamfisted idiots..Like me.

Sealant, valves, tape, Co2 inflators, worms etc all cost money...I don't think it necessary for my riding.

Reggie - no performance advantage in lower pressures for me. I weigh 80kg and anything below 35 / 30 feels so horrible its unrideable to me. The tyre simply does not hold its shape and rolls around the rim. I do have a bike set up tubeless but I run the same pressures as I did with tubes.

It's not about getting or not getting punctures the self sealing quality of latex is just an added bonus. It is about weight and rolling resistance and if you can't notice a difference then tubeless is not for you. Personally I find it a vast improvement.

I'll go tubeless when it works properly, ta.

,..I can't be arsed with faff.

MIke - no weight loss with tubeless - sealant is the same weight as the tubes I use.

Scotroutes - I am with you on the faff factor - the one set I did went up really easily and that is without them being tubeless tyres.

motorbikes don't require tubes, so why do bicycles?

Worst case scenario, you need to occasionally add a bit of air to your tyres if leaving them in the garage for weeks at a time. And maybe carry a spare back up tube in case of emergencies. Hardly a killer.

Hearing numerous punctures literally self seal whilst on the fly is worth the faff alone. I also enjoy the weight saving and an increase in feedback

The tyre simply does not hold its shape and rolls around the rim.

That's what happens when you have too narrow rims for too big tyres. I'm on 2.35s and my rims are slight wider than usual, 28mm internal, and at 88kg I am happy to run 30. 25 works too off road but I get slight squirm on road corners.

Wider rims would sort that.

I went through a phase of thinking it was all a huge faff. That lasted a while, but I persevered. I feel like I've been [i]basically[/i] puncture and faff free for a few years now.

Not 100% - some tyres have got me pretty aggravated trying to get them to seat, I've had a couple of annoying punctures which have nearly-but-not-quite sealed where it'd have been less infuriating to have put a new tube in - but not far off.

I don't know whether I've gotten better at it, or whether things have improved gently. Either way, I'm glad I stuck with it.

MIke - no weight loss with tubeless - sealant is the same weight as the tubes I use.

The rim strip weighs more than standard rim tape for tubes, so you have to add that in if you are using it. But yes it is somewhat lighter too.

@tjagain - I'm 86Kg and run with 25psi on the front and 28psi on the rear and don't get any squirming - if anything they are still too high. It does depend on the tyre to some degree - just couldn't get on with Ardents despite all the lurve they get on here.

I think I may be especially sensitive to tyre squirm because of my past riding motorbikes where a squirming tyre usually means a puncture and you will be lucky not to fall off if its the front.

Only ever experienced squirming using 2.4 on 19mm rims. Which is to be expected.

2.4 on 30mm rims now is a different animal. 20f 25r and I'm a big unit. I use sensibly tough tyres now too, nothing under about 900g now, I want to hammer a rocky descent and trust the only thing between me and the geology.

The rim strip weighs more than standard rim tape for tubes, so you have to add that in if you are using it. But yes it is somewhat lighter too.

I use one wrap of stans tape with tubless compatible rims, probably weighs a few grams. My Nukeproof had tubes fitted from new, saved 120gms an end going tubless.

tubeless for ages now. (at least 10 years) I think I've had maybe 2 or 3 punctures since I changed, and think I've had to use a worm once which added maybe a minute onto inflating the tyre back up again after a thorn fest DH, and had to use a back up tube once as well. Normally run 2.35 minions at 20 front and 25 rear.

Wouldn't go back, and tyres and tubes and wot-not are anything I pay attention to at all any more.

Tubeless for the last 4 years, got fed up providing the midges with a free meal. Not had a "normal" puncture since though I did get an almighty slash in the sidewalls twice that turned me into bug fodder again. I've found that Maxxis are easy to fit whilst Contis make for a good workout. Both are fine once on and sealed.

I still ride with tubes on my Foxy R. Tyres are Conti Mountain King and l run them at 25psi.
Not had a puncture for months. My friend runs tubeless on his Kona, and he's had to walk home twice with punctures that didn't seal. Then we found that the sealant had dried out but we couldn't get the tyre off, so had to take it to tbe LBS.
They sorted it but when the sealant needed to be changed again we got the tyre off OK but then it wouldn't seal.

I'm a serial tyre swopper so no I haven't changed to tubeless yet. Never found a tyre combo yet that I'm happy with all year round.

Tubeless on all my bikes running Stans & Halo rims, have been for the last 3-4 years with only 1 puncture last year. On our recent night ride out of 15 riders the only one who got a flat (twice) was riding tubes, it was on a trail where they had cut the hedges.
At the end of the year we have an awards dinner and one of the prizes is a tubeless kit for the guy who is still riding in Black and White and got the most punctures 🙂

I had a stack of 26" tyres and maybe 50 tubes I rotated, fixing punctures. Made the leap to 29er 2 years ago, fitted tubeless shortly after that, haven't had a problem yet. Chose a nice mid range tyre. (top end Hans dampf). Fit and forget.

I'll go tubeless when it works properly, ta.

It does work properly! I've been tubeless for four years now and won't go back to tubes because I think the bike feels better tubeless. I had to pop a tube in the back of my Demo recently and it felt awful; dead and sluggish. It feels so much better tubeless. Tubeless transformed my old SX Trail raft I used as a trail bike.

I don't get the faf factor either; my tyres all go up with ease and hold air fine. Conti tyres were a bit squiffy, but everything else has been fine including my nobe tubeless Minion DH tyres on the Demo.

 

Haven't read the whole thread so sorry if I'm repeating others..

Iaian, I converted 5 years ago for all of my bikes (except my road bike) including the wifes. I had my first puncture that didn't seal itself about a month ago... in 5 years!

When I pulled the tyre off there was in excess of 20 thorns in it that had sealed never causing a puncture. The only reason it didn't seal that time was I hadn't topped the fluid up in 6 months.

It is literally in my opinion the best advancement in mtbs in the last 15 years along with dropper posts.

Punctures in the cold dark and wet are just no fun, so much so that the club I ride with every Tuesday night has pretty much banned people from riding with us if they are running tubes. Often in excess of 20 people out and we've had 2 punctures that I can recall across the whole group all winter. 1 of those was a guy who's bike had come tubeless ready and he didn't realise it had tubes in lol.

If you have proper tubeless rims and tyres then just pull the core out of the tubeless valve and use a compressor and they'll generally go straight up unless your tyre is really baggy.

Also helps with one of life's joys. Cold winter night rides without a pack, or indeed any spares. Or even a water bottle.

Danger rides - brilliant!.

Also helps with one of life's joys. Cold winter night rides without a pack, or indeed any spares. Or even a water bottle.

Just started doing this myself, very liberating!

Tubeless on everything except my commuter, which I might convert

In 8 years of running tubeless I've had 3 "flats" It happens so infrequently I can remember them pretty well.

Tore a tyre at Innerleithen (it was a stupidly light Specialized Ground Control and i was riding like a fanny over a rock section)

Tore a tyre at Fort William (it was a Nobby Nic and i was riding like a fanny over a rocky section)

Unseated a tyre at Carron Valley (It was an Ardent and I was riding like a fanny on a 29er hardtail using a tubeless set up i knew was suspect as I'd mangled the rimstrip changing tyres).

Punctures are so infrequent that on short rides I don't even bother carrying a tube. I go out with a mobile phone and a water bottle.

It's really not that big a hassle to set up. I'm not a serial tyre changer but I do run "Summer Tyres" about 4 days a year or change to faster rubber for a race and its not really any harder than changing any other tyre

I can't see a downside to tubeless