tubeless users…

…do you also carry a spare tube "just in case" if so why bother with tubeless? i hate carrying stuff in a camelbak so in trying to less the amount of stuff i carry i'm looking for alternatives, are tubeless that much better than standard tyres and tubes to have the bother of taking a spare tube as well?*

*obviously if you don't carry one this question is superfluous

Yes and yes

– I run tubeless for the low pressures not the puncture element so still carry a tube – the sealant is good when you get a puncture but can be "defeated" by some of the stuff you can pick up – particularly when its a little old and past its best

Always carry 2 tubes – thorns and snakebite punctures are no worry when you run tubeless but if you split a tyre you're sunk – its not just the puncture thing that makes running tubeless better – I find that for the same pressure the tyre feels more flexible and gives more grip but still rolls well.

I don't carry anything. I know there is a risk of a long walk or a telephone call home, but I am confident that I can't do much about a proper flat without CO2 cartridges and I have run out of those! I can't be bothered to carry a tube and I haven't had a flat since I went tubeless.

I run tubeless and I carry a spare. It's to appease the trail gods. If I carry one as a sacrifice, I'll never puncture. If I don't carry one, the trail gods will smite me. It's a small price to pay.

No, just CO2 and a Weldtite tubeless repair kit. My theory is that I'm probably going to be walking if I need anymore than that.

..do you also carry a spare tube "just in case" if so why bother with tubeless?
Because punctures do happen. Thats like asking why bother having a sparewheel in your car.. (sort of!)

are tubeless that much better than standard tyres and tubes to have the bother of taking a spare tube as well?

Badly worded, but assume you mean are you less likely to get punctures with tubeless? Definitely, yes. I've been carrying spare tubes for the last 3+years and probably used them 3 times. Waited for non-tubeless people plenty of bloody times though. Faff faff faff.

Must add, that I am speaking of proper UST tubeless tyres, not ghetto, thin-walled, do-it-on-the-cheap rubbish.

I run tubeless to prevent the millions of thorn punctures i get from the Lincolnshire countryside. I always carry a spare tube though, as a rogue bit of brick in a path can easily cut a sidewall or make a hole that is too big to seal itself.

I carry two tubes as you just never know what might happen, I think i'm man enough to carry 300g of extra weight!

+1 for UST. No need for C02 to inflate.

My attitude to running tubeless is a bit like Vinnyeh's.

The number of thorns you pick up in a tubeless tyre without noticing has made me not bother carrying any tubes – if something happens that does make the tyre deflate, you can't 'just put a tube in' since before that, you have to ensure that the tyre is free of thorns.

This is laborious, time-consuming and messy.

I've rigged my own tubeless repair kit of CO2, tubeless repair kit, superglue, emergency tyre boots, a rag and 125ml of spooge. All in, its probably about the weight of a spare tube anyway.

If you're thinking of going tubelesss so you don't have to carry tubes, you're doing it for the wrong reasons IMO.

That said, I've had 3 memorable punctures in 7.5 years that were attributable to the trail as opposed to me experimenting with yet another tubeless permutation.

On that basis, the odds are fairly good that if you chose a robust tubeless system, you'll probably get away with carrying nothing for most of the time, if you're happy to accept walking out at some point.

I also carry a spare Conti Vert UST when we go on all-dayers in the lakes or the peak.

It packs up remarkably small and it's not unknown for a flint to put a nasty gash in a sidewall 20 miles from home.

And if I carry it, it adds less than 0.15% to my all-up weight

so the tyre could be so full of thorns that you haven't noticed that putting a tube in would be a nightmare anyway and you're all carrying, a spare tube, co2, inflator and gunk stuff to refill the tyre sealant? just one spare tube and a pump (which fits on the bike, not in my pack) suddenly seems very minimal!

Well, I'm trying out my recent tubeless conversion for the first time 'properly' when I go to Spain in a couple of weeks.

I'll definitely be taking spare tubes with me, and have decided that I'll take some spare sealant and some 'leccy tape to re-do the rims if my first attempt proves to be a bit useless…..

I have gone tubeless primarily for puncture prevention while in Spain. I'll be running a nice high pressure in the tyres to stop any problems with sidewall stiffness, tyre rolling off the rim etc. and hopefully I won't have any problems with ripping a sidewall.

i carry tubes, which i would carry anyway if i ran tubes. i run tubeless because it feels better and i get less punctures.

so the tyre could be so full of thorns that you haven't noticed that putting a tube in would be a nightmare anyway

That rather depends where you ride.

Riding around yorkshire/lakes I very rarely get thorn punctures, but snake bites were a common feature of many rides until I went tubeless.

Now I haven't had a puncture in several years.

Still carry a tube though – no problem popping it in if needed since due to a lack of thorns as mentioned above. If I noticed the weight of that in my pocket/bag I don't think I'd get very far on the bike anyway!

p.s. I don't carry anything other than the tube and a mini pump. Why would you need sealant and co2?

I don't think everyone is – I'm a belt and braces sort of bloke and I don't carry a spare tube. It sounds alot but isn't. It weighs 250g and covers me for all eventualities, everywhere. I'm not a racer or a whippet though, so I can appreciate that 250g is the difference between being 1st or last up the hill, although that's no my bag.

Those fit into my hand, so about the same as a tube. If I was running UST tyres, I'd probably dispense with the fluid, which is at least half the weight.

EDIT: I'm often running tyres with a slack bead (although less so these days) without a rims strip on Stans Flows. These usually won't mount without the sudden rush of gas from CO2 or a compressor. Also, when I've thrown a tyre, they tend to loose the sealant.

Its nigh on impossible to throw a UST tyre of a stans rim IMO(unless you're a DH crazy, which I'm not), hence my comment about dropping the sealant – I should really have said drop the CO2 aswell.

running ust tubeless.
there is always a spare tube, patches and a pump in my bag, just in case.
I dont use CO2 because i refuse to pay for air, my mini pump seats my tyres fine
i also carry a chain tool and a couple of sram links, the last time i broke a chain was 2003, but a mate i was riding with was grateful of the bits (twice) last year

Yes, I carry a spare tube.

Why is it worth it? Because I'm only carrying one tube rather than three.

For me the holes that won't seal are usually large punctures caused by rocks – so I use a gel wraper or something as a boot and the spare tube.

Where are you (scienceofficer) riding that you get so many thorn punctures? I never get them round here (SE Scotland). Anyhow, UST plus pump taped to bike plus 1 or 2 inner tubes. It's that simple – nothing complicated about it at all – improvise a boot out of a fiver or something if required.

Taking nothing at all is a reasonable option for local riding IMO – it's a few years since I got a puncture, so round the local routes you'll get away with this 99 times out of 100 if your set up is good. It would be silly to do this if you're going further afield though.

It's all about risk mitigation isn't it.
For me, the biggest risk where I ride is thorn punctures, hence tubeless is a big asset. Faffing with tubes and puncture kits, removing broken thorns from tyres (and at some times of the year there are places where ypu are going to get at least one puncture a ride) is a lot more hassle than simply not getting thorn punctures.
Co2 means I can guarantee that the tyre will be reinflated in the event that it becomes unstuck from the rimwall for some reason, whereas for me a handpump doesn't give that surety.
If I was doing a big ride in the Lakes in winter say, I'd prepare completely differently, but that would apply to all aspects of my kit.
In Surrey or Suffolk, where I do most of my riding,if I suffer a catastrophic failure and it's a bit far to walk back, my first thought would probably be to find the nearest pub where I can have a beer while waiting for a taxi to take me back to where I started. I like to travel light- a few bits in my jersey pocket, and a water bottle makes my ride far more enjoyable than carrying a loaded camelbak. It's worth it for me.

You're totally right Vinnyeh. On top of that, throw in some tubeless/tyre experimentation, which is why I pack for every eventuality.

I ride almost all the time on the Mendips and have done for a about 7 years since my kids were born. Prior to that I was away in the peaks/lakes wales etc.. about twice a month, so I can appreciate the differing conditions.

On Mendip, for example there's a healthy Hawthorn/blackthorn presence that makes thorn punctures the biggest issue, although there are enough rocks around that pinch punctures can be a problem, thorns are by far the biggest. This isn't helped by the nature of a fair amount of my riding being off-piste, where I'm rolling over a lot of dead fall or stuff that I've cleared.

I've recently changed a tyre a was using for 2 months. It had 5 visible thorns, let alone those that just protrude enough under pressure to puncture a tube, but are buried in the tyre carcass when you're looking for them.

I originally went tubeless due to punctures, but these days I'm equally keen about the gain in rolling resistance and grip.

I've been tubeless for about 2 years now. Been carrying 2 inner tubes at the bottom of my camelbak for all that time. They've never had to come out though.

Do inner tubes rot?

Thorns seem to be a location specific problem. A couple of months ago i got back from a fairly short ride and pulled 5 thorns from my front tyre when i got home. these had caused no problems on the ride. Had my tyres not been full of sealant, i would have been walking.

Of course i could just put sealant in my inner tubes…

Is the best thing not to carry a spare tube with sealent in it and either a pump or co2 depending on your preference BUT a pump never runs out.

I carry a tube, basically as good as tubeless is and has been for me (yet to have a flat with it out on the trails), nothing in life is guaranteed so why chance it?

I view it as a significantly reduced risk of flats, not a total removal of the risk…

In three year I've split two tyres and another time had the sealant go into a ball and not seal a puncture. On all day rides (30+ miles) I take two tubes. On others I take one. Don't take sealant but do take CO2 canisters, pump, puncture repair kit and tyre patch. If racing laps then just the CO2 canister to reinflate if there's a loss of air.