Originally Posted by
caloso
The tubeless version of a given tire is usually more expensive, but not extremely so. It’s not like they’re twice as much. They are a bit more involved setting up initially, but once installed there isn’t much more to do. Yes, you occasionally need to refresh the sealant, but that’s about a five minute job once or twice a year. I have a couple wheelsets that I set up tubeless and have never needed a compressor. Maybe I am just lucky.
For a cross bike, I think they’re really superior. You can run lower pressures and they are good protection against flats from goatheads, which are an issue at a lot of our race venues.
Finally , even if you decide you have no interest in tubeless, that’s no reason to reject this bike if you like it otherwise. You can always put a tube in a tubeless-ready tire.
Spot on answer. My experience with tubeless has been the same. I'm still learning my way around simple bike maintenance, but adding sealant is really easy. You will want to adjust your repair kit for tubeless tires though: get a core remover and carry a 2-oz bottle of sealant. Tubeless will often self-seal punctures, but if you get a puncture that doesn't self-seal, you have a plan B: remove core, add extra sealant, rotate tire to let the sealant pool at the puncture site. Give this about 5 minutes to seal up and then re-inflate tires.
I'm very glad to be running tubeless and would not switch back,