Planemaker

LBS suggested after I wear out the clincher tires on my new bike that I consider tubeless tires (the wheelset is tubeless ready).

What are your thought?

Retro Grouch 

My son used to run tubeless tires on his road bike but I don't know if he's still using them or not. I'll have a better answer for you later today.

Whatever his answer is, keep in mind that we live in St Louis which is out of the goat head thorn belt so we puncture nearly as frequently as some other folks. I'd think that frequency of punctures would be a big factor in that decision.

Looigi

Yes. IMO you should give tubeless thorough and thoughtful consideration, then stick with tubes.

mprelaw

Watching a guy repair a tubeless flat on a group ride kind of soured me on the idea. Sealant all over him and the bike, and the real joy was watching him seat the tire back on the rim with a temporary tube inside. There was a pretty good gash in the tire. He booted it to get it back to the shop (it was a shop sponsored group ride) but methinks the tire was toast.

But they do have some advantages, so weigh the pros and cons carefully. Flats will still happen eventually. And I'm sure that as is the case with clinchers, some tubeless go on the rim easier than others.

Dunbar

IMO, tubeless w/ sealant are good if you get a lot of puncture flats. Otherwise, the best clincher tires are better than the best tubeless tires and wide rims will allow one to get a similar ride quality on clinchers.

Retro Grouch 

My son has used them on his mountain bike for years. The faster and harder you mountain bike, the more apt you are to pinch flat. No tube means the tube can't pinch flat.

A few years ago he started using Stans on his road bike. He says he's not using tubeless right now but his next set of tires he's going back. He likes being able to run lower air pressures for better ride quality. He says the downside is that if you get a big enough puncture the sealent will seal it up initially but it unseals if you hit a bump.

Hope you find his experience useful.

Artmo 

No personal experience, but a guy I ride with who does 300 mi per week (I don't) had them on his new Trek Domane for a few weeks, but had nothing but problems, so he's back to tubes.

jolly_ross

I've used both extensively and have no religious affiliation with either. Tubeless is about as much total maintenance time as tubes - the difference is that mostly you choose where and when you do it. I choose in my warm workshop (as opposed to changing tubes beside the road in the p!ssing down rain). You still need to carry a tube because sometimes you will get a puncture too big for the sealant to heal - this is rare, messy, and not the end of the world. When it happens, all the tube users who are with you will snort and howl with glee - this is terribly unfair because when you get little thorn punctures that seal themselves as you ride along, it is completely unknown to them (and maybe even you).

mkane77g

Running tubeless since they were introduced. I'll never go back to tubes.

Old_Roadie

I have about 10,000 miles on tubeless. I have had one flat where I had to install a tube and one puncture that the tire sealed with sealant.

I have used Hutchinson Fusion 3 and Schwalbe Ultremo ZX Tubeless The Schwalbe's are easier to install, the Fusions seem to wear a bit better. I do prefer the Ultremo ZX, for what it’s worth.

There are definite advantages in ride quality with tubeless, at least for me. And one flat in 10,000 miles ain't bad.
But it is more work and requires more maintenance. Be aware that the sealant will dry out. My experience is Caffe Latex dries out in around 4 weeks so you need to check it.
I bought a Kool-Stop Tire Bead Jack, cut the handle down so it fits in the seat pack, and I find it to be very helpful installing tubeless tires. It was especially helpful with the one flat I had on the road. I was at mile 63 of a 75 mile wide on a very windy day and was so glad I had it. I have installed tubeless by hand but was glad I had the tire jack that day.
My advice would to be - do your research and give it a try.

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