Originally Posted by
Atlas Shrugged
Using tubeless for tour means I can ride a supple lighter weight tire which is much more pleasant to ride especially for those off days when unloaded just exploring a new place. There is no real downside for running tubeless.
That is a big plus IMO. A more supple tire is a joy to ride on. A lighter tire weight is a big plus as well but the supple feel is what I actually notice in a tire. Some don't mind, but a thick stiff sidewall (even more so with a heavy duty tube) suck much of the joy out of the ride. A heavy belt doesn't help either, but I suspect the sidewall is where most of the problem with supple ride is.
The tube effectively acts to stiffen the sidewall, but IME light latex ones aren't so bad and TPU ones are reportedly even better. The problem is you still need a tire with thorn protection in thorn country where with tubeless the sealant takes care of that with no tube.