Hondo Gravel

I still have all my bikes tubed. I guess I’m stubborn I just don’t want to mess with tubeless. Some bikes will sit for awhile before I ride them and the sealant will harden etc etc. I carry CO2 and a pump on rides and if the ride is in the middle of nowhere I have two extra tubes. My wheels are are tubeless ready so maybe someday I will give tubeless a try.

Kapusta

Quote:

Am I the only tubeless holdout?

Yes. You are the only one.

Hondo Gravel

Yes I got kicked out because they found out I had tubes in my tires. My bike got egged and someone spray painted “ Rides With Tubes” on my mailbox. Those mean tubeless biker gangs.

wsteve464

It depends where you ride. I was getting a flat about 1 in 2 rides due to goat heads on the street or in the dirt, one ride I had 3 flats when I ran tubes one was a piece of glass the others were goatheads. I have read on here that others go all year without a flat.

Tubless can be a pain to maintain and costs more than tubes, but for my riding the maintenance out weighs fixing flats every other ride.

PickleRick

Wow, you're lucky you only got egged and painted. I hear those Tubeless gangs will do business with anyone; The Bloods, The Crips, Hells Angels, even The Somewhat Upset Fat Bikers. Sounds like you got off easy!!

Hondo Gravel

they said this is warning next time will be worse.
I guess I ride forgiving roads and gravel. I understand it depends on terrain.

ThermionicScott 

No, I'm still running tubes in everything. I average about 1 flat per year, and fixing flats isn't difficult. If I lived in an area with goatheads I might have a different take.

Darth Lefty 

For me it's about compatibility and calendar life vs service life. I converted my old MTB ghetto style but it was annoying enough it gave me no extra desire to convert any other bikes. My new MTB came with tubeless rims and so it was easy, and it's in constant service so it's easy to make it part of the routine. My tandem and my old steel roadie aren't compatible AND they tend to sit for a while, don't want to take the effort and don't want cured-up sealant.

mstateglfr 

None of my bikes are tubeless.
I don't get flats often enough to care to switch.

Gravel bike, mtb, touring bike, road bikes- all tubes.

I also run a higher pressure in my gravel bike thst is popular. Eek!

katsup

I run modern mountain bikes tubeless mainly for the lower psi. I never bothered to convert my Vaya as I don't get enough flats to warrant it, it see 90% road anyway.

rosefarts

I currently run tubeless on my good wheels and tires on both my road bike and cross. The extra wheelset always has tubes. Sometimes with slime.

When my road tubeless tires wear out, I will probably replace them with tubed. For gravel, i don’t trust tubes for long rides.

randallr

Saw recently where those folks who test rolling resistance were showing a tire w/latex tubes with lower rolling resistance than same tire tubeless. Bought me three latex tubes!

rosefarts

That’ll get you 10 miles.

randallr

We'll see. I'll have a butyl one in my kit in case.

Koyote

And I hope you enjoy pumping them up before every ride.

There's a big intimidation factor in getting set up with tubeless, but it's not really a big deal with most tire and rim combos.

RocThrower

I was hold out too until I bought a bike that came with tubeless tires. I threw those on my Grails, which were already taped, and had no problem setting them up, even with just my floor pump. While the flat protection is certainly nice, I think it is the improved ride quality that I really noticed. Very supple and smooth. I still run tubes in my road bike, but for gravel I don't see any reason for going back from tubeless.

redlude97

Meh, my first season of cyclocross I raced on all latex since I didn't have tubeless compatible rims and tires and I only pinch flatted twice, once on butyl and once on latex, and in cyclocross you are constantly bottoming out your rims @<30psi. Latex is harder to set up but more puncture and pinch flat resistant. Also similar in suppleness to tubeless.

unterhausen

there is a Stan's office near here. I even see a Stan's truck driving around from time to time. I have heard they stop people on the forest roads around here and make them convert to tubeless on threat of violence.

I had 20 flats on my gravel bike the year before I switched to tubeless. I would never go back. Still riding with tubes on the road though, but I have been thinking about changing.

bobwysiwyg

"Am I the only tubeless holdout?"

No you are not.

pbass

My #1 ride is my first tubeless rig and I'll never go back on that one--Road Plus, tubeless, crazy low psi---it is cushy! More comfy, I feel like I'm glued to the trail/road more, and no flats at all since I switched over about 7 months ago (late to the game...)
My knock around flat-bar, urban, rim braked, beer run, whatever bike is still tubed. For some reason it just makes sense to leave that one as-is.

diphthong

still rocking tubes as it seems that tubeless still has its' pricing/reliability/installation issues. maybe one day. maybe soon. but not today.

Witterings

Still on the fence but I've been experimenting with different tyres recently and the Vittoria Hypers I've just put on my gravel bike for the summer aren't tubeless friendly I don't think and the same with the Conto Sped rides I've just put on the 29er

RicePudding

I tried and tried with tubeless!

I was convinced that it was an improvement being able to run lower pressures and reduce rolling resistance but I think I ended up spending more time fixing punctures and trying to reseat the tyres when they went completely flat than actually enjoying riding my bike.

In the end I've gone back to tubes, mainly because my current wheelset aren't tubeless ready but I haven't had many punctures since and my bike is comfortable enough for me anyway.

That said, I have put a little bit of sealant inside my tubes just in case.

IronM

My road bikes are all tubes. My MTB also uses tubes (but I haven't ridden it in years - it needs a whole new set of everything).
My grave bike is tubeless, however. I was getting way too many flats, and finally had a tubeless wheelset built up.
Since then, zero flats. My last rear tire probably had 20 or 30 punctures but never flatted. It could hold pressure for maybe a day, but that's plenty long enough for any ride I'm doing. I justt carry a spare tube or two just in case I rip up the tire too much for sealant to hold.

sputniky

Two years tubeless on my gravel bike. Multiple punctures, no flats.

7 years tubeless on my mountain bikes, multiple punctures, one flat due to a 1/2" x 1/4" granite stab wound.