Okay so in a different vein... I have said here and elsewhere how my tubeless setup has been completely trouble free. Well today I had a tire failure that is probably on the verge of fatal. This one might or might not mean using a tube if it occurred on a tour. The fact is it wouldn't have happened on tour, but still... It does raise the possibility a bit higher. Most likely for a tire like this the tube would be used only until a new tire could be obtained.
Here are the circumstances:
- The tire is well worn. Probably beyond what I should be using it for the terrain I was using it for. The knobs were mostly gone in the critical areas. I may have continued to use it for gravel roads or pavement, but was still riding on some singletrack with lots of roots, tight steep off camber turns, small drop offs, and other technical challenges.
- As a result of the techincal nature of the trail and the worn state of the tire I was running rather low pressure in order to maintain some grip on the surface.
- None of it was very high speed, but the roots and so on were too much for the low pressure and bit the sidewall at the rim.
- Sealant isn't good at sealing that kind of leaks, but it was slow enough to continue riding with frequent pumping (or CO2 which I use around home). So I may not have even installed a tube even on tour unless another tire was a fairly long way off. At a quick glance the damage doesn't look severe, but air is leaking through the sidewall at the rim. It may be able to limp along for a long time or may be ready for a catastrophic failure. I am not inclined to bother investigating much or experimenting since the tire is worn out any way.
In any case I am ordering some new tires. Sadly the ones I have been using (Stans Ravens) are no longer available or I may have bought them again. They were pretty good for the local trail conditions and surface I have benn riding on and they seated easily even with a hand pump on the Stans wheels. Wear life was so so though. The other MTB tires I have been using on another bike and happy with here (Kenda Slant Six) are apparently also no longer made. So I am ordering some Kenda Small Block Eights. They sound like they will suit the mix of surfaces I use the bike for.