Rob_E

I think my only time riding out west was with tubes, but I've been mostly tubeless in the east for a few years now. The set-up was a pain, but with an air compressor, it goes much better. Once it's set up, it's been pretty bulletproof. I had two flats so far, and both were from failing to refresh the sealant in a timely fashion. I need to add a little more through the valve stem every few months. Both flats were slow leaks where I could pump up the tire enough to ride for a couple of miles. And both were addressed by adding a little more sealant when I got home. Unfortunately one of them I tried to fix with a tube so I wouldn't have to pump it back up every 15 minutes. The tube I was carrying was for a much narrower tire, and it was useless, and once I had pulled the tire off the rim, getting it back together tubeless was not going to happen until I got home. Other than that, it's been great. When I'm touring, I carry a small bottle of sealant and a spare tube, just in case. I've only seen it in action one time. I don't know what I hit, but I heard the tell-tale spurt of air. I saw a brief, orange mist erupt from my front tire. Then nothing. I just kept going. I didn't even lose enough air to justify stopping to pump up. I'm sure there have been other times because I've seen the telltale orange spots show up on my tire, which is the color of the sealant. But seeing it in action that one time had me sold.

One caveat is that I've seen some tests with higher pressure tires that didn't look quite as reliable. Sometimes it worked, and sometimes it just made a mess. My tires pretty much max out at 40psi, and it works great. If I were running my old, 70psi touring tires, I'd have some reservations.