Soul 26’er with Mavic 719’s and new Anthem with carbon rims, came with a bag with tape and tubeless valves…. Got me thinking about updating….

So I need an air shot thingy probably, some rim tape and valves for the Mavic’s and some sealant…?

I realise it will enable me to drop around 10psi and get more grip, though I do change tyres summer and winter.

Any other recent converts, any reason not to ?

Yup. Tubeless for over 10 years.

tubeless on my good mountainbike ad hoping I don’t have to put my ice tyres on. tubes on the tandem as I change tyres depending what we are doing on it. Everyday riding / trail centrtes and offroad touring require different tyres

A track pump has always worked for me Iain. Having said that, I’m not a regular tyre swapper. Once I’ve found something I like I’m more likely to just keep it on.

I have a mate who is still in the dark ages. We often wait for him to mend his punctures. Not always but most of the time.

Nope.

Tubes work just fine. In TLR wheels and tyres.

26er, tubes, fixed seat post, 3×9. I’m surprised my Soul is even rideable.

Thought about updating. CBA.

I don’t know anyone who rides tubeless.

No

No

I don’t know anyone who rides tubeless.

None of those I ride with regularly ride tubeless.
One did briefly but it was that Mavic “proper” tubeless that you run without jiz (although many add jiz too to make the whole thing heavier still). He gave up, and started using tubes again.

Nope, the Luddite movement, Tubed division, is alive and well with a significant membership.

If I have to use tyre sealant, and round here when the farmers are trimming the hawthorn hedges then yes I do have to, I prefer it inside tubes rather than all over the garage.

If there is any conceivable way I can run a bike tubeless I will. Unless, like TJ states you regularly swap tyres why wouldn’t you? If you fit and forget until they’re bald its a no brainer.

Tubes all the way for me…can’t be bother with the faff. A few mates have tried them and rave about them but they’ve also had several attempts to get them sorted. Been out on rides and they don’t appear to have fewer flats than tubed riders, so I’m not convinced that the effort would be worth it for me.

I havent yet converted, but I am under pressure to.

One of the owners of my LBS, who rides hundred of kms off-road every month, and on-road every day, has never converted.

Hmmm, not just me then.. interesting…

Will have a look at some online guides (I do remember that viral YouTube clip !) and maybe try on the new bike seeing as all I need for that one is probably sealant.

I still use tubes,I’ve got a set of T/L wheels Stans Crest rims & I’ve used them a few times but I’m wary of getting a puncture with them as I can’t get a tube in them without nicking the tube so they’re just expensive ornaments really 😯

Luddite here.

Jonnystorm – I have seen so many tubeless setups fail out on the trails. usually because they are running too low pressures IMO and when they do they are an awful faff to sort.

Even on the bike I run tubeless I still run 30psi front 35 rear as anything less squirms all over the place and feels awful to me

Hawthorn hedging however would make me run everthing tubeless

I bet there’s still a few million people still riding 26 inch tubed bikes with 3×9 drive trains and no dropper posts, wide bars or Enduro colorways. And most of them are loving it.

I went tubeless in Nov for first time ever. I’ve not punctured since and both my MTBs are now tubeless. I guess that makes me a convert

I hope to try tubeless on my 29er and fat wheelsets this year and have tubeless ready tyres for both, but so far, never done it. 👿

I’m on tubes, punctures have never been an issue

When they burp the answer is to stick a tube in, so if you have received to carry tubes in the event of failure then what have you really gained?

I was unlucky enough to puncture the back tyre on my BFe on a nail badly enough to need to patch it inside the first ride out tubeless so I just stuck a tube in it. The front is still ghetto choobless and holding air ok. My FS is tubed cos I can’t be arsed to go tubeless.

So yes, but no. Meh.

I ride with tubes. Cant be bothered with the faff of going tubeless. I got 3 or 4 punctures last year, none of which bothered me. Im also happy running at 20 psi.

Even though my tyres are tubeless ready all my tubeless mates seem to end up at some point making a sticky mess of the ride.

I’m on tubes, punctures have never been an issue

When they burp the answer is to stick a tube in, so if you have received to carry tubes in the event of failure then what have you really gained?

This was me 7 years ago. Robin Seymour took the piss relentlessly for the the 3 years prior.

Then I got a hardtail with an Alfine and I didn’t realise how it easy it was to remove so I went UST.

It’s not about punctures, that’s a side benefit. It’s all about the lower pressures, increased grip and reduced rolling resistance. Not stupidly lower pressures where the tyre squirms mind.

UST is bombproof and when I did swap over tyres any latex I had added was dry. The newer systems reply on latex as the tyres are not UST thick and need it to seal properly so are messier and finickier (stans/Tubeless ready).

I’ve had 2 UST tyres blow off, pressures were stupidly low (and was on a narrow 19mm rim and I weigh 100kg) and it needed some spit to get them back on again and off I went. The only time I’ve failed, failed was with some american classic where the latex had dried and error had used normal rim tape – they had worked for a year before the gradual air loss made the pressure too low and it burped then needed inflating, but the latex had dried and the normal rim tape wasn’t holding.

More grip and easier to cycle, why wouldn’t you?

If one slathers an inner in KY jelly, does it reduce the frictional losses twixt the tube and tyre?

I bet there’s still a few million people still riding 26 inch tubed bikes with 3×9 drive trains and no dropper posts, wide bars or Enduro colorways. And most of them are loving it.

😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀

Some of my bikes have tubes, some are tubeless. Can’t tell the difference except the tubeless ones sometimes go flat in the garage for no apparent reason.

I won’t bother doing any more.

If one slathers an inner in KY jelly, does it reduce the frictional losses twixt the tube and tyre?

Not tried that, but talc works very well.

My one concession to modernity. Too many flailed hedgerows around here.

kBarton – Member

Tubes all the way for me…can’t be bother with the faff.

obviously if your happy with tubes carry on. But honestly it isn’t a faff once you’ve got the technique sorted. I can’t remember the last time I had a puncture, saves a bit of weight, and how and were I ride I needed 40psi to avoid pinch flats 🙁 running high twenties now and my bikes feel so much better 😀

A thick luddite with thick inner tubes here, not had a puncture in years (slaps head for tempting fate)

Works well for me. I don’t get burps or failures on the trail, but then I know what I am doing.

Only once ever saw sealant, having ridden over a big chunk of glass. It sealed itself before I had the chance to slow down and stop. Shortly after when I ran over another piece of glass having lost sealant already, that was the only time I ever needed a tube or to do anything to them on the trail. That was 7 years ago.

It made a huge difference to the sluggishness of the Patriot with its sticky tyres and thick tubes. Made it from a bit of a dog into an all day machine.

As a misty eyed follower of the heard I have been rather pleased with tubeless tyres for several years now, I haven’t had a flat when out riding for at least three years… Before that I can’t really remember but tubeless tyres have probably only let me down three times that I can remember, always due to 1/4″+ cuts that would have easily have cut a tube…

So Just how infrequent are flats for you tube loving luddites? One failure in 36 months between two bikes (4 wheels) using tubeless tyres sort of reinforces my faith in it TBH, but if you’re all,doing better I suppose I would have to question the choice…

I tried and failed a couple of times on previous bikes with various ghetto methods. Finally done it semi properly on the current bike as it’s got tubeless ready wheels and thought it was a shame not to have a go.

The main driver was getting a rear flat tyre every time I rode Mabie 3 years running. Although didn’t really have an issue locally.

Current wheels went up with a coke bottle inflator piece of cake and since then I’ve had no problems, other than 3 faulty frames 2 snapped chains and a temperamental dropper. All in about 10 rides 😕

had 1 puncture with tubes riding in Morzine a few years back. that was an odd one, since it was just wheeling the bike those few paces between the top of Super Morzine gondola and the Zore chair.

1 puncture between 3 of us on the last trip there (year before last).

More than happy to remain a luddite with stats like that. It’s not a no brainer.

My bikes/wheels are about 50:50 tubes and tubeless. The last time I had a puncture on a MTB was over a year ago on Skye and that was caused by riding waterbars with too low a pressure. As has been said, I don’t see puncture resistance as the reason to be tubeless.

26
Tubes
Slime

No problems.

You’re not alone. Alot of people still ride tubes. I’ve considered it but they don’t seem to offer me any advantages. I don’t suffer punctures and don’t like riding particularly low pressures – I don’t like the squidgy feeling, the draggy feeling and the horrible feeling of feeling rims bash against rocks. I prefer the wheel to feel firm under me so ride about 30 – 35psi, maybe a bit lower in the front. None of my riding mates ride tubeless and don’t suffer alot of punctures either. Was on a Cotic demo day last year and someone was test riding a 650B+ Rocket Max. They were the only one that punctured and guess what, the sealant failed to seal it so they ended up putting tube it. Didn’t seem to be a particularly nasty puncture or a split or anything.

I had a skills day a couple of years ago too and the instructor was an ex-DH racer and also didn’t like running tubeless, again didn’t like the squidgy feeling and got sick of them burping. Didn’t seem to hold him back any.

I’m all for giving something a go, but there has to be a perceived benefit.

I have been riding my main mountain bikes tubeless since about 2004.

In that time I think I have only stuck a tube in half a dozen times, although I’m not the most frequent rider and I run sensible pressures but lower than with tubes.

Before tubeless I would on average pick up a puncture or more every ride from pinches or brambles/cut hedgerows.

Yes a tube change is quick but when the tyre and rim are slathered in mud or scrambled dog “egg” or its persisting down with rain and blowing a hooly then I’d frankly rather not.

Better tyres and beads probably help re pinch/snakebite but tubeless solves the other issues just fine as well as feeling better with a few psi less in.

I’m more out in the hills / trail centre oriented rather than Enduro/huck/downhill so your needs may vary.