Gonna go tubeless for the first time tomorrow, just for the sake of it really (got nowt else to tinker with!) ive bought a Joes Tubeless kit from CRC, read the instructions and watched the video… my rims are TLR and my tyres are Hans Dampfs so should be straight forward but i know ill make a disaster of it..

Anyway, i have no real idea about the pro’s and cons, but i know a few of my mates went back to tubes after not very long on tubeless? Suppose i might as well go through the motions… advice welcome.

i wont use tubes again.
they roll betterer, grip betterer and no puntures.

i dont have tubes on my car either 🙂

I have been running tubeless for years, first ust tyres on mavic 819 rims and now Shwalbe tlr tyres on flows. I would never go back. I find using an inner tube to seat the tyres is the easiet option.

What jedi said. I’ve been tubeless since 2001 8)

Yep same here, been tubless for about 18 months, no punctures to date, although don’t be tempted to run really low pressures as your at more risk of burping the tyre…oh and carry a co2 pump just in case yea do burp one!!

All three MTBs running tubeless here.

Pre-tubeless, I had one memorable day where I pinchflatted THREE TIMES on a single descent!
Now running tubeless and hit stuff a lot harder with impunity. I wouldn’t go back to tubes.

It seems like pretty much every time i ride with a tube offroad, I get a puncture now. With tubeless I think I’ve had 3 failures in about 4 years and both of them would have taken out a tube too. I can’t really see past that, yes it’s occasionally a faff but it’s a faff on my timescales, whereas punctures always get you at the worst possible time.

The main drawback is that I’m now really intolerant of other people’s punctures!

Flints are the only thing that ruin the experience but it’s a hazard for where we ride and would wreck a tubed tyre combo anyway… It is amazing how many thorns you pick up that would have been a trailside stop and repair job.. I wouldn’t go back to tubes now.

Been tubeless for 2 years. No issues at all for the first year, then I got a bit lazy, and didn’t refresh the jizz, and had loads of problems. New gunk every 3-4,months, and don’t run really old tyres, and its a breeze.

Tubeless do seem to roll & grip better,but I still get flats with them.Probably not as many as with my tubed wheels,but they still happen…..
You’ll also get a rubber alien type thing grow in your tyres over time with tubeless,I can hear mine bouncing about in the front wheel when I spin it………

bloody hell, alot of tubeless love there!

is it easy enough to set up with a track pump? all the vids have blokes with compressors!

Agree with all above, been tubeless for two years. However you can still puncture, got a big hole in a Ust Rubber Queen on tuesday night which the Stans could not fix. Went to get an emergency tube from my camelback only to remember I gave the last one to a buddy last Saturday. Since replenished my emergency stock and got a tubeless repair string thingy. If it’s a big ride I still take two tubes just in case.Have you got the valve with a removable centre? Much easier to put the latex in with, but you need the valve core removal tool as well.Tubeless is brilliant but you still need a back up for a long ride. I use a Co2 cartridge to seat the tyre then let the air out put latex in and pump with track pump.

hate tubeless. hate tubes.

local flints make a mockery of the ‘no puncture’ claims. will goo seal a 5+mm slit? no.

i`ve swapped thorn/pinch punctures for something new only to find it is much more faff to fix!

to not puncture i need a heavier/reinforced tyre which kind of defys the point of tubeless.

I do like the ride though. The main beef i have is when i puncture tubless while out i bung in a tube (as you cant re-inflate trailside) then finding the 5mm slit to fix later is virtually impossible. I’m running tubless tyres with tubes at the mo as i’ve no way of (or inclination?) finding hte hole again!

tubes suck also though

My Hans Dampf’s went on tubeless with a track pump – only annoyance is that the valve core in my Easton valves is not removal so I inflated them, then used a tyre lever to open a small gap to squirt some wheel jizz in.

I’m a convert – been running them since April this year and have had no issues at all (although I did burp the tyre running sub 20 psi).

I found the best way to get my Hans Dampfs on with a track pump was to fit them with a tube first to ensure that one side was seated properly. After taking the tube out, a bit of frantic pumping and the other side seated first time with no leaks.

Yeah I’ve got half a dozen unused tubes in the shed and two in the pack. Only me on 650b so won’t be dishing them out either. That joes kit has all the removable valve gubbins. Looking forward to it now

I fit the tyre with a tube and put sealant in. Pump up to 40 psi. Leave a few hours. Then pop the bead on one side remove defeated tube then pump up. All with track pump. Just swapped my tyres over this morning. Once the tyres have had this action done once then it’s easy to swap over, as I’m a serial tyre changer. Swapped my tyres over this morning in less than ten minutes.

Only me on 650b so won’t be dishing them out either

26ers fit fine in 29ers, so I’m pretty sure 650b won’t be incompatible!

Joe, I guess the tube does a good job of smooshing the sealant round the tyre?

“remove the defeated tube” 😀

Converted earlier this year using Eclipse rim tapes on DT 5.1d rims, stans fluid and normal Bonty tyres. Lighter, faster, livelier ride, and no punctures!
Going to convert the other mtb in the near future. And as soon as Conti bring out a tubeless version of the GP 4 season, I’ll do the road bike too.

to not puncture i need a heavier/reinforced tyre which kind of defys the point of tubeless

No it doesn’t. Well, not in my opinion at least.
The point of tubeless for me is to avoid punctures.
Dual ply Minnion, tubeless on Flow EX with Stans tape and fluid, is a really good set-up for me.

Yes you can still cut a dual ply on a flint but, as said, that would likely take out any tyre/tube combo too.

I always use the ghetto split tube method, much easier to get a seal with a track pump. I use Schwalbe 20″ bmx inner tubes with Schrader valves.
I have Ringle Radium rims and have got Hans Dampfs and Maxxis Ardents to seal easily with a track pump.

Tubeless since 2003…

joeelston – Member
I fit the tyre with a tube and put sealant in. Pump up to 40 psi. Leave a few hours. Then pop the bead on one side remove defeated tube then pump up. All with track pump. Just swapped my tyres over this morning. Once the tyres have had this action done once then it’s easy to swap over, as I’m a serial tyre changer. Swapped my tyres over this morning in less than ten minutes.

Sounds like an unbelievable faff to me , first you have to leave the tyres with tubes in inflated for hours and then when you take the tube out you will get sealant everywhere and then have to pump them up again . I just put the tyres on with sealant in and pump with a track pump which works fine . Love tubeless btw.

local flints make a mockery of the ‘no puncture’ claims. will goo seal a 5+mm slit? no.

Actually I’ve found it does, though generally more in a get you home with a few pump stops then a permanent fix sort of way. I’m in the North Wessex Downs and we essentially have mud, thorns and flint as our off road surface.

Very very sealant dependant and after 10 years of fiddling, I’ll always pay that bit extra for Stans now, it just works better.

Generally touch my tyres twice a year now to swap mud for normal tyres over winter.

You definitely want a ghetto tubeless inflator bottle.

You can do it with just one valve if you struggle to get two valves in one top.

been tubeless for a few years and wouldnt consider going back, local riding results in thorn punctures.

set up is more of a faff, so its not for everyone.

doing a set of bontrager duster rims for a mate tomorrow.
got the strips, valves and some maxxis highroller 2.1s – fingers crossed.

Ramsey Neil. I couldn’t get my tyres on without first stretching and seating them. However I have only recently switched to TLR tyres and rims from UST, so still mastering the art.

Van Halen – Member

i`ve swapped thorn/pinch punctures for something new only to find it is much more faff to fix!

to not puncture i need a heavier/reinforced tyre which kind of defys the point of tubeless.

It sounds like you needed a tougher tyre with tubes, too? Tubeless won’t make a too-delicate tyre work.

doing a set of bontrager duster rims for a mate tomorrow.
got the correct bonty strips, some universal valves and some maxxis highroller 2.1s and a bit of stans no flats gogo juice

strips are a perfect fit, suggest you align the valve holes and secure them with the valve before you fit the strip fully.

maxxis lust tyres, tightish fit as ever with a new ust tyre
then used the spray bottle to get some sudsy bubbles round the rim and it went straight up with a track pump

the new tyres, 50psi, damp roads, new kevlar pads nearly put me on my arse on the test ride tho 🙂