[Closed] Percentage of riders running tubeless

touch wood have had zero flats or problems since

I run tubeless on some wheels, mostly rear wheels, not bulletproof but a fair bit better that tubes.

I have been for about 18 months with no problems on stans arch flowand olympic rims. Converted only a couple of my mates so far.

Pushing 10 years tubeless now - it actually was pretty bulletproof on the FS for me. Would go years without a puncture. Switched back to HT riding recently and can see myself getting the odd one at the back - just bigger impacts.

It seems to be part of the furniture now - first 2-3 years I was running it I thought it would never catch on - the diy jobs were hopeless and the mavic offerings seemed unpopular. They stuck with it though such that there's good choice available now.

Tubeless is now superior in every way, but it's not an overwhelming advantage or anything, so I see why some people don't switch. I mean I ride my (tubed) cross bike on some rough trails and rarely get a puncture, so I'm guessing tubed mountain bike wheels don't really puncture all that much in the grand scheme of things.

About 5-6 years for me.

Gone tubeless on the rear of the XC Prongy, and after 2 rear punctures in 2 days on the AM Prongy, I can see that going tubeless too.

I run tubes.
1) I change tyres depending what sort of riding I am doing
2) punctures are rare where I ride - few hawthorn hedges
3) I like to run highish pressures - I hate squirmy tyres

thus tubeless has little advantage for me and some disadvantage.

About 5-6 years for me

blimey, early adopter or did you invent it...

1.5 years for moi, no complaints so far

I tried it on standard rims and it wasn't up to much IMO, you just swap punctures for burps, and I know which I'd prefer. But then I got some nice wheels that just happened to be tubeless rimmed, and it made sense to try it. Done right, it's lighter and more durable than tubes, after all.

But TJ makes a good point, it's slower to change tyres over. My rigid bike doesn't get that much use and it's kind of frustrating that I seem to spend about 20 minutes changing tyres every time I ride it (it's been ridden about 4 times this year, twice in snow, once at glentress and once for an XC race so there's no "one tyre to rule them all".

But on the bigger bikes I don't change tyres much so that's OK.

I've gone tubeless on the Stumpjumper, but this was purely to combat the thorn punctures over in Spain when i was out there last July.

I've had some issues with the front burping & the front washing out as a result, when I first switched. I think I'd lost pressure due to thorns & hadn't topped the tyre up.
I've had to re-do my front tyre as it kept losing pressure, but I am using a bit of a sketchy electrical tape conversion. It lasted a year before needing attention so not too bad.

On my Inbred, I still use tubes. I don't tend to puncture that often so it's not much of a priority.

I don't change tyres, I change wheels, expensive but convenient, not all tubeless though.

I have seen a fair few flats amongst people I ride with who have tubeless and in one case an absolute pain to repair

Pre stans days (I think).Saw mavic ust and thought 'thats a good idea'...too bloomin expensive though.Found a thread on mtbr about using bmx tubes and art latex.Been sans tubes ever since.

I think the lack of pinches keeps me running tubeless on both my HT and FS - a few niggle now an again but otherwise nowt - no regrets esp now I run my Stans rim with just a bit of tape and a valve 🙂

About 5-6 years for me

blimey, early adopter or did you invent it...

1.5 years for moi, no complaints so far

Mavic UST rims were fitted to off the shelf bikes as far back as 2001! Time flies, but that's 10 years ago...

I've been tubeless on all my bikes (except the road bike) since 2003, used everything from full UST setups, Stans rims with yellow tape, Stans rimstrips, and of course the Ghetto method. All work, some are easier to setup than others but that mainly depends on the tyres you use.

The only downsides to tubeless are it takes longer to setup than a normal tyre with an inner tube (though can be done quickly when you've got used to it), and your tyres will lose a bit more air so you need to just check them with a pump before most rides (which I've always done anyway). Other than that it's win/win for tubeless IMO.

Put tubeless on my Stumpy for a trip to Spain, and have noticed the improvement in grip (I just converted my existing tyres).

I doubt I'd have bothered if I wasn't going somewhere thorny, but I think given how painless the setup was I'll consdier it again in the future.

Oh and I find that even at the same pressure as a tubed tyre I got slightly better grip, so tubeless don't necessarily mean squirmy (but I see what TJ means).

Be interesting to know the stats, but my guess is a niche minority of users of enthusiast forums, and a negligible percentage of all other MTBers.

All I know is... I'm in the overwhelming majority that have not swapped. And at €3 for a tube (or effectively €0 for a tube when you buy them to get an online order over the free delivery threshold) vs €many for a bottle of slop and a compressor, I think I've saved a good handful of € and maintenance faff/time.

andytherocketeer - Member

€many for a bottle of slop and a compressor

Compressor not needed, and a pint of sealant does 6-8 wheels so works out cheaper than tubes 😉

For me its the lack of on trail/race/ride faffing that matters to me most running tubeless? and I don't get through much sealant TBH prob every 4-5 months I topup so the initial cost with a valve core, tape and gloop is about £15 and probably lasts the easily 2 years per set of wheels unless your tyres wear our faster?

Tubeless systems are so much better than they used to be, but I still run tubes.

I agree with many of TJ's points (now there's a thought). There are no thorns here, I'm not that rad a rider so I rarely pinchflat (even when I was running 20psi with tubes as an experiment) and every tubeless fan I know has had some sort of 'latexplosion' at some point in their life. It also irks me that if you do puncture a tyre, it's an arse to fix.

I'm also far too lazy. Luckily we have some bona fide rubber sniffers here who love fiddling with tyres and solutions. (And as any latex solution that gets sent in to test disappears immediately, that may also explain why I never get round to it)

Been Tubeless on various bikes for about 5 years, never a puncture. Always used Tubeless specific tyres however, that might well have helped

Used Stans tubeless since 2001. It's fantastic. I would imagine that approaching 100% of riders in an Elite xc race would be using tubeless.

GB

Having ran a variety of tubeless setups I've found I've just swapped one set of problems for another. No more punctures but more burping etc. I'm running tubeless again now (ust) but will probably go back to tubes shortly.

I certainly don't think tubeless is on a par with the 2nd coming of Christ which is often the impression you get from some mags etc.

chipps - I work here
I agree with many of TJ's points (now there's a thought)

Yippeeeeeeeeeee! *runs around in delight*

I shall save an treasure this post for ever

Compressor not needed

I certainly don't think tubeless is on a par with the 2nd coming of Christ which is often the impression you get from some mags etc.

I think its personal taste - Adv and dis-adv of both systems but I don't think its a major issue to rant and rave about - just do what you want surely? Try it or not? Does any one really care what everyone else does?

I agree people get very carried away with it btw. I think the disadvantages are overstated too though.

chipps - I work here

It also irks me that if you do puncture a tyre, it's an arse to fix.

Don't really understand this one tbh. I've had a couple of punctures and it's a case of remove valve, check for punctury things, fit tube. ie, all but identical to a standard puncture. The latex can be a little messy if you're careless.

andytherocketeer - Member

Lots of stories here and elsewhere would suggest otherwise

If you're using one of the half-assed options it's a big help to have a compressor, but done right, a good trackpump does the job (emphasis on good here btw, I've tried to do it with a low-end Joe Blow and it was very hard work, with my Airtower it's much easier). If you want to fit slack or very tight non-tubeless tyres, that's harder.

Don't get me wrong, I use my compressor normally! No reason not to after all, I use it to fit tubes too 😉 But I've made sure I can do it with a pump.

Oh, tubeless sealant is reusable if you're tight- though some always gets wasted.

been running tubeless on all of my bikes for about two years now, one small issue in that time but apart from that all good. Really doubt I would want to go back to tubed (always carry a spare tube out ont he trails though - just in case..)

Early days for me(only 6 months "gettoing")but up to now I'm v. Impressed. Used to get a pinch pucture on everyride due to the low pressures I like to run. Can now run the same pressures and I haven't had a flat yet.

I run tubless. Its great for XCriding/racing as you can get away with using light tyres at low pressures. Not so good for your rims though... 🙂

Tubeless on mtb, it's brill.

Still tubes for me mainly because I seem to average around 1 to 2 punctures a year and I'm light enough and enough of an xc mincer to run down to 30psi without ever getting pinch flats.

I don't change tyres, I change wheels,

I change bikes, I have one for wet muddy conditions, Rohloff hub Pace RC31 forks Mud x tyres and hideous mudguards and another bike for nice days. I'd be tempted to go tubeless on that to save weight but I won't do that till I've worn out the heavy wired tyres that came on it.

Have been using Mavic 819's on my FS for about 7 years and only 1 puncture in that time and that was my fault for not changing the sealant - It was a about 12 months old and just didn't quite hold it.

My HT and CX bike are both tubed and both are sat in the garage with front and rear punctures, i'm fekkin sick of fixing them. Need to go UST on the HT and some tubeless bodge on the CX ASAP

Cripes. I've just worked out I started experimenting with tubeless 8 years ago.

Initially various DIY iterations - I did alot of learning in the first few months, but eventually settled on some stans rims when no-one really knew who they were - did some more messing about with rim strips on 519s but now all I run are stans rims with mostly tubeless ready tyres.

IME you swap faff time in the garage with downtime on the trail. I know which I'd rather. If done carefully you'll save a bit of weight too, but reliability has always been my priority. In 8 years I had probably 4 or 5 punctures and they were so severe I've had to repair or discard the tyre. The last time I actually looked inside one of my tyres, I counted 7 visible thorns. Lord only knows how many of the tyre you can only feel, or those ones that sit in the carcass of the tyre and give your tubes slow punctures.

Tubeless for me always now. I actually struggled to find an inner tube the other day (needed it to make a new weather seal for the car!)

yep I'm running nobbys tubeless ready on shimano mt65 wheels - great no real probs. still seep sealant through the side walls though

Not for me. No one in my group either. One guy had it on new bike but he's switched to tubes after a couple of punctures.

I converted one bike a few months back and it being a doddle, have since concerted two more including my cx. the mtbs have been perfect and I've not had a flat since and I know at the bbf that it sealed a puncture. The cx took more time to get right presumably down to the higher pressures. I did get a flat at honc due to a ripped sidewall but that's no more hassle to fix than if you have tubes.

I'm certainly converted.

for the record, no compressor, no burps and no explosions.

TandemJeremy - Member

I run tubes.
1) I change tyres depending what sort of riding I am doing
2) punctures are rare where I ride - few hawthorn hedges
3) I like to run highish pressures - I hate squirmy tyres

thus tubeless has little advantage for me and some disadvantage.

Apropos of nothing at all, it's interesting that in Central Asia, trucks still run tyres with tubes - and you'll fairly often see a truck pulled over with the driver repairing the tube, reinserting it and pumping up the tyre again.
I'm not sure if it's 'rough roads'->punctures->tubes or tubes->punctures, but it's a noticeable difference.

nicko74 - Member

Plus with tubes it's fairly easy to just swap them out if you get a puncture trailside.

Exactly the same with most tubeless methods 😕

I get pinch flats pretty often so always have to run at pretty high pressure. Seems to make it slightly rarer but still happens too much and has caused problems on slippy tracks with high pressure.

Switched to Flows the other week, only rode GT7 on them but found the bike felt the same up the hills and a lot more planted when it got muddy, never felt the tears welling up like usual and the moaning about not having mud tyres!

It did look like the tyres were a bit flat with the recommended 38psi but never felt out of control.

Managed to inflate it with a standard Halfords track pump, no problems at all.

Only thing I'm not convinced on yet is if there's enough pressure in them to protect the rims on a big landing or hitting a rock. May have to switch to UST instead of just a tubeless ready as I presume they're stronger?

Still have my old wheels with DH or mud tyres if the need arises.

Will just have to see if I end up with tubes in 6 months or not!

UST on MTB for last 3 years.
Tubes on road/commuter.

I mainly changed because I am seemingly incapable of fixing punctures on the first attempt (not a good trait for a mechanic i know).On the very rare occasion that I get one that won't seal I just use a tubeless repair 'plug/strip' thingy.You don't even bother taking the tyre off!!!If the beads don't unseat so you can re-inflate with a mini pump....winner!

I don't run tubeless because it appears to address a problem that I don't particularily have where I ride, as I don't get punctures very often. I'm struggling to think of the last time I had to fix a mountain bike puncture when out on a ride - might have been when I was in France last year and was due to a thorn (which I don't really encounter round here).

Tubeless for me, no problem seating any of the spesh 2bliss tyres ive tried, they blow up easily every time with a track pump, easy to change over too, had 1 puncture on a rocky singletack in italy, torn sidewall, put a tube and fixed the tyre when i got home, with a standard repair kit and its been fine since, and it has saved quite a bit of weight, as i used to use slime tubes for riding where i live, and dh tubes in tPeak district and rocky areas.

Tubes all the way. I've dabbled with latex but found it more hassle than mending punctures.

Been tubeless in various guises for about 4 years & no problems - despite the best efforts of a 3" nail that went thru the tread & out the side wall.

Never used a compressor, never failed to get a tyre seated & don't get where all the faff references come from. Admittedly it's a doddle with proper UST rims & tyres but still found it ok with standard tyres on 717's with either ghetto or stans kit.

Was given one good piece of advice by LBS when I first changed over - make sure rims & tyres are clean and stick the tyres in a bucket of hot water 5-10 mins before installation.

I probably only change tyres 2 or 3 times a year so it's not a big inconvenience but used to puncture regularly before hand and almost always in the freezing cold/shitty mud/pouring rain etc

I cant really see the point myself, expense, hassle etc

I feel the same way about suspension.....and gears.

Nobby - Member
used to puncture regularly before hand and almost always in the freezing cold/shitty mud/pouring rain etc

Or bang in the middle of the awesome descent you've been toiling up a mountain for an hour to get to... Or in the middle of a race... Punctures can smell fear.

Run both.
Puncture very rarely on hardtail with tubes.
Had one in the last year tubeless on FS which was a monumental PITA to fix in bloody cold weather, raining, latex everywhere cos was a sidewall problem. Saying that it would have been a pain with tubes, but probably less so as i woldn't have bothered trying to seal it first and i wodn't have got as covered in latex either.
Saying that - still tubeless on FS, still tubed on HT.
It was a pain to set up tubeless though - that's another thing. But used to it now.

Tubeless on 80% of bikes in the house including my 700 x 28 commuting tyres. The one that isn't tubeless is only waiting to wear out the existing tyres, then it will be.

I feel the same way about suspension.....and gears.

well said that man

oh and tubeless for years, and it's a doddle to do as long as you follow instructions and prep well.

Nearly all the woes ever posted on here are through buffoons trying to bodge it with duck tape, half a baboon and felt tip pen and then wondering why it hasn't worked.

Changed back to tubes today after the other day - landed a drop that saw the front tyre burp / deflate. It hurt, I stuck to the sheets that night 🙁 and I don't want to do that again.

9 years tubeless here - still yet to even get half as many "punctures" where I've had to fit a tube than I got in the 1 year before I switched (a couple in one event which cost me the win - definitely worth switching on that basis). I don't run that low pressures - though lower than I used to - so never had an issue with burping, even back when I was using DIY methods for the first few years. Also don't feel the need to switch tyres that much - have run Racing Ralphs year round (once used Conti Double Fighters through the winter - now that teaches you bike handling!), though I have 2 sets of wheels now, so tend to have NNs on the other set for when it's muddier.

every tubeless fan I know has had some sort of 'latexplosion' at some point in their life.

I've had a couple of punctures and it's a case of remove valve, check for punctury things, fit tube. ie, all but identical to a standard puncture