WhyFi

Sure thing. Let's ask the guy that started this thread, and others like it, about how much practical experience he's got.

Racing Dan

I believe you are conflating attributes. Those are not inherent to TL, they are related to lower pressure. I mean, Just stop being so scared of "low" pressure. I ride 50 PSI every single day on 28mm with tubes and haven't had any real issues. Certainly none that would warrant converting that bike to TL. If pinch flats at the desired pressure gets to be an issue, TL is not the answer. Bigger tyres is. TL doesnt protect the rim/wheel from too skinny tyres at too low pressure anyway.

Imo most of the arguments for switching to TL is based on FUD. - Thinking you will get pinch flats all the time if the pressure is not 80+ PSI, - thinking flat protected tyres ride like garbage, etc. Its not true. Id even challenge the idea that TL tyres "ride better" even if it cant be quantified in any meaningful way. Why would that be? Usually TL tyres are much more robust and heavy than the same non-TL tyre. Just like the protected tyres everybody like to bag on. At about 50 PSI they all ride just fine

Racing Dan

Im fairly certain no one ever claimed it cant work well. Its the variability of outcome that is infuriating. If TL reliably did what it sad on the box, no one would complain.

himespau 

Not really sure why this thread devolved into a discussion on the relative merits of tubeless tires when the first post clear shows that, when you have your own personal mechanics and you are being paid to do so, winners still ride sew ups more than any other kind of tire.

WhyFi

The OP doesn't like tubeless and owns a Jump to Conclusions mat, so he thought that it was saying something that it's not.

chaadster

I think it’s quite unusual to find a road tire (in typical 700 x 23-28c sizes) that are spec’d by the manufacturer to run at 50psi, even for light riders. Which tires do you run, and is 50psi within the inflation range on the sidewall. Tubeless are generally rated for lower minimum pressures, but even for them 50psi seems awfully low.

With regard to “robustness” and weight being a basis to impugn the better ride quality of tubeless, where and how the robustness and weight are added makes all the difference; weight alone tells virtually nothing about ride quality. While tubeless generally have weightier, reinforced sidewalls, it’s there to control deleterious flex and to maintain the tire shape under load, things which ensure crisp handling, better wear, and allow lower air pressures. Adding weight under the tread, as with a stiff kevlar anti-puncture belt, decreases tread compliance over the road surface, increases rolling resistance, and diminishes the perception of suppleness and reducing ride quality.

Of course there are tons of construction variations for both tubed and tubeless tires which can push either closer to, or further away from, dreamy ride quality, so generalizations such as “protected tires” are as hollow as using weight variation of 30g-40g as a proxy for ride quality.

seypat

Is there a tally being done on which brand is being ridden the most? Golf has the Darrell Survey does cycling have something similar?

chaadster

You keep using that “what it says on the box” phrase as if there’s actually box. Or maybe you only read the box and not the instructions?

PeteHski

There's plenty of variation in outcome of running tubed tyres too, depending on the combination of tyre, tube and rim. But they just get discussed less than tubeless because they are not "new". But at least you acknowledge that TL can and does work very well.

At the weekend I did a very long 9 hour road event with around 100 riders. The roads were generally quite good, but included some fairly rough farm tracks. I passed at least 5 guys fixing flats by the roadside (so at least 5% of the field had a flat and I didn't see those who started behind me). Now I must admit I didn't notice if any of the guys who had flats were running tubeless, but I kind of doubt it given that tubeless road is still a bit of a novelty. Anyway no flats for me yet again!

phrantic09

Probably Stan's.

Buy some plugs, keep a spare tube and you'll be good to go. In many years of riding TL I have yet to have a puncture require a tube and only once needed a top off with CO2. I may have had to wash my bike when I got home (which I was going to do anyway) but that was the worst of it.