Originally Posted by
zacster
Some day I'll have to have a lesson in all the tubeless variations. I never understood the need, a tube is just so easy to replace on the road if necessary.
For my usage, tubeless is probably overkill. Most of my riding is on streets and sidewalks - but I’ve always found tubeless interesting and have always wanted to do a tubeless setup on a bike. Tubeless allows you to run lower pressures without having to worry about getting a lot of pinch/snakebite flats. (However, if you go too low then you may burp the tire or unseat it.) Which is why tubeless is usually found on mountain bikes and fat bikes rather than road bikes. I’ve also seen some street trial and BMX bikes setup with tubeless, and most people love them. Also, some cyclists (definitely not me) are overly concerned about saving every gram of weight, and going tubeless shaves off the weight of two tubes.
Here’s a good video talking about tubeless:
There are some obvious downfalls to tubeless. As you mentioned, repair is more difficult. But most small punctures (i.e. glass, thumbtacks, etc.) will be sealed easily with the sealant. It’s always a good idea to carry a spare tube just in case a bigger puncture happens or the tire is unseated.
The variation I’m running is the ghetto tubeless - which allows you to make any ordinary “tube-type” rim and tire combination into a tubeless setup. The split-tube method involves taking an undersized tube (in my case - a 20” BMX tube for a 26” wheel) and splitting it down the middle, unfolding the sides and installing the tire on top of it. I got lucky with the Schwalbe Marathons - they have a (mostly) tight fit to the rim, and I had no problems running them
without sealant at even 60 PSI. However, with ghetto tubeless it can greatly vary - different tire/wheel combinations have different effects.
In my experience (and many other’s experiences) ghetto tubeless is a good compromise for having a tubeless setup without paying out the $$$ for a proper UST (Universal Standard Tubeless) setup. The problem I’ve found with the split tube method is that while it works great with my tire/wheel combination, the only complaint is that it’s “one-and-done.” I have to repeat the whole process with a new 20” tube if the tire bead separates from the rim. There are other methods out there (Gorilla Tape, etc.) but I plan on sticking with the split-tube method as it’s easy and quick.