Another Tubeless or not to Tubeless

It’s time to rebuild my Hope Pro’s and I need some opinions on how should have them built up.

A. Go for tubeless rims and tyres, which ones?
B. Go for another set of Mavic 317s and ghetto but what type of tyres, normal, tubeless ready or UST.
C. Not bother, replace with some 317’s and new rubber and just go ride.

Is all this tubeless really worth the effort, there’s no real weight gain and unless your having a zillion punctures no real advantage. I have a riding buddy claiming they accelerate quicker, but I can see.

Anyone have an opinion or have we done this Tubeless thing to death.

I’ve been tubeless for 6 years and wouldn’t go back to tubes. Main reason though is large number of thorn punctures I got – with UST & sealant I can just pull the thorns out when I can be bothered. Beyond that, no real benefit as far as I can tell, and much more trouble if you’re a frequent tyre changer.

I’ve been running 819s & UST High rollers (more money but easier to set up) for over a year on one bike & ghetto on D321s with UST Michelins (cheaper but more difficult to set up) on the other bike – I’ve not had a single puncture in that time & wouldn’t go back to tubes.

i run michelins on my play bike DH16 on an 819 and DH24 on an 823 and never had a puncture using stans sealant. Only problem i ever have is getting the DH24s on the back even with a compressor! i find it is really hard to get badly stored tyres to go up (normally bought from CRC)

Tubeless is definitely worth it. Whether you go for UST rims, or use rimstrips, or ghetto method, it’s definitely a whole lot better than using inner tubes.

Why? Well, cos if you’re using sealant (as you should be) then thorn punctures are a thing of the past!

Best bet is to use tubeless (or tubeless ready) tyres whatever method you go for, they’ve got a tighter bead which makes them easier to inflate.

Had tubes for the last year
Covered over 3000 miles off road
Not had a puncture
Change tyres quite often so wouldn’t bother unless I started having real problems.
Think the 317’s are great. Really easy to change tyres

Tubeless (split bmx tubes with latex) – it took me ages to commit, but it’s transformed my Kenda Nevegal tyres on WTB trail rims, from being one puncture per ride to none at all in 6 months. Had one burping incident in a crash, re-inflated on the trail in minutes. I typically run 25/30 psi tubeless instead of 30/35 psi tubed which helps with both grip and rolling.

I have spare wheels with fast XC tyres and tubes for occasional dry/race/enduro use. Takes a few mins to swap disks and cassette over.

I’m tubeless on all my bikes with 819s. i never got punctures with tubes, but the suppleness of the ride convinced me. Having tried with tubes again, the tyres are noticeably stiffer and don’t seem to “flow” with the bike quite as well…

been tubeless a year with no regrets, went the stans conversion kit route with standard dt 4.2 rims and tubeless ready tyres e.g. bonty mudx. at 510grams tubeless ready tyres are a whole lot lighter than a ust tyre and stans site recon most tyres are compatible. I prefer the lower pressure better traction benefits and the confidence I het when riding past hawthorne hedges was worth the hassle of seating the tyres.

About to go tubeless on the rear so i can run slightly lower pressures. Bit worried but the pro’s and con’s are all 50/50 so going to bite the bullet and just see how I find it

generally people who don’t like tubeless haven’t tried it

thefallguy – Member

generally people who don’t like tubeless haven’t tried it

And they’re generally the ones who seem to get more punctures on their innertubes than us tubeless users! This they argue is more convenient than changing tyres! 😐

Dunno about you, but whilst I’ve got 2 or 3 sets of tyres I use, generally they tend to stay on for a minimum of 2-3 months at a time (ie. summer tyre, winter tyre, spring/autumn tyre) so why does it matter that it takes an extra 5 minutes to change a pair of tyres over once every few months compared with saving punctures on every ride!

Mind you, other people puncturing does give me a nice excuse to stop and enjoy the scenery 😉

I don’t use tubeless and get a puncture every few months. Its quick and easy to change a tube.

I like to change tyres fairly often depending on where I am riding. I have seen more trailside delays and repairs to tubeless than tubes – despite most of the folk I ride with using tubes.

If you ride where there are a lot of thorns it might be worth it but it appears to be so much trouble both in set up and at the trailside that I don’t see the point.

Tubeless if you’re biking in the western world, otherwise use tubes. It’s simpler that way.

Using tubes was less of an issue with the HT with Maxxis tyres. It was when I got my FS bike with Nevegal tyres that convinced me to switch because the number of thorn and pinch punctures I was getting escalated to one per ride – it was getting annoying!

……….I have seen more trailside delays and repairs to tubeless than tubes…….

Just to balance that a bit, I don’t believe I’ve ever come across a trail-side tubeless issue. I’m sure they sometimes occur, I’ve not come across them though, that includes my 4 years of riding tubeless.

Tube or no tube is not my reasoning for ditching tubes itís the use of sealant.

I was getting a lot of thorn punctures since moving and being able to ride to my local trails along BWs/ towpaths. For about 6 monthsnow I have used 819 rims with rimstrips and normal tyres or proper USTs. Only had it go down once when it was really below freezing and it pumped up on second try and stayed up.

I use heavy tyres and still put 40psi in. I think it is smoother but itís a minor bonus.

TJ is once again talking utter shite, but hes dead clever so I must be wrong.