Chris!

So I set up my tires, they held after a little work and I have been riding them this year. I went on a mini tour last weekend and while riding a gravel rd I got a puncture. I pumped it up and spun it several times but the sealant wouldnt hold. I know I should of had a plug but I didnt so I broke the bead and there was a good amount of sealant in the tire. Put a boot in and tube and rode home. I just got me wondering is tubeless really worth all the work. I could see if I rode in the desert and got a lot of tiny punctures but I live in the north east ride rides and gravel from time to time. I think I actually got the flat because my pressure was a little low. I'd rather get a pinch flat than wreck my rim anyway. Just me sitting around thinking. Plus I still ride tubes on my rode bike and haven't had a flat in about 3 years. It it all really worth it?

Mulberry20

No, it isn’t. Tubeless road tires are insanely stupid. Probably the biggest waste of time in all road biking land.

Think about it. You rely on “old” technology to get you home. Duh!

I would put tubeless tires in the same category as Brooks saddles. Basically useless.

wolfchild

Personally I wouldn't use tubeless....It's a lot easier to change a tube than mess around with sealants and tire plugs and special valves.

DrIsotope

If tubeless tires were for you, you wouldn't be asking the question. You either need them, or you don't. And when you need them, there's no uncertainty.

WhyFi

Expecting sealant to work on any cut that needs a boot is silly. Running tubeless when you haven't had a flat in 3 years is silly.

Basically, if you get enough <1/4" punctures to breaka your stride, tubeless is a great trade-off - maybe you have the occasional frustration in mounting/seating a tire (it gets way, way easier with experience, though), but you do that in your garage with a beer sitting next to you, not on the side of the road with the sun beating down and drivers whizzing by.

pvillemasher

I bought a pair of new wheels last year and while researching what to buy I needed to decide if I was going tubeless. From what I gleaned, if you get a lot of flats then it's a good idea to go tubeless. Over the last years I've averaged about 1 flat every 1,500 miles so not for me.

rosefarts

I'm currently active in some other tubeless threads so I figure I'll chime in here.

Mountain, significant weight saving right at the exterior of the wheel, flat prevention, possible for low psi though I never do, I like my rims. Good rolling generally.

Gravel, basically the same thing as mountain with fewer weight savings.

Road, depending on tire size, it's quite likely to increase weight. Best case scenario, you break even. Pinch flats should never be a concern anyway, if you run the proper PSI. You do get flat protection but like others, I almost never get a flat on the road. Also, the stiffer tire is reported to roll worse than most other tube/tire combo's.

The only tubeless road tires I've used were Schwalbe Pro One's. They mounted super easy, only got one puncture that sealed super fast, and I beat the crap out of them. I even thought they rolled nicely. When worn out, I put GP4000's on with tubes. Bread and Butter tires.

There's definitely a width where tubeless is no longer a good deal. 3-4", sure, 2.25" yes please, 38mm? All day every day. 30? Hmmm maybe? 25mm? Uhh, somebody is buying it.

surak

I'm going to guess you used Stan's.

SapInMyBlood

I love tubeless on my mountain tyres. I've tried it numerous times on different road bike combinations from 28-32mm, and honestly the self-sealing feature has never worked for me. I tried Schwalbe Pro ones, some S-works tubeless one and some X-ones ... different sealant combos, but even with tyre plugs they never actually worked.

I'm sticking to tubes on my road bikes from here on out.

Rogerogeroge

While I don't endorse going tubeless on road bikes, tubeless shines in all other applicationst. On gravel bikes and mountain bikes you have superior traction and handling due to running lower tire pressures. I weight almost 200 pounds and ride 20/22 psi on my MTB and 40/50 on my gravel bike. And if you ride where there are goat head thorns, tubeless is a godsend.

Special valves? It's a valve stem. It installs and uninstalls by hand. I've seen some plugs that have lasted a long time.

Huh? Now you should replace your sealant once a year.

MattTheHat 

Sorry, but tubeless shines in road applications. Well, unless you like actually enjoy fixing flats when you could be riding. I haven’t had a flat cost me as much as one second in well over 10,000 miles of riding. Judging by the sealant boogers on both my front and back tires, I would have fixed dozens of flats with tubes tires. I don’t even carry a spare tube, plugs or even a pump any more.

If the OP only gets a flat once every three years or so, yeah tubeless probably isn’t a big deal. But for those of us who ride in areas where they get lots of punctures, tubeless is great.

Effectiveness at dealing with larger punctures also depends on using good sealant. As another poster mentioned, Stan’s hasn’t worked so great for me. Orange seal has worked perfectly.

Chris!

I was using stans.

I'm running continental terra speed when I do any loaded riding 700x40. I'm thinking I'm just done with the tubeless. I gave it a shot rode em and for my riding just dont see the advantage.

wolfchild

I've run low pressure with tubes, maybe not as low as with tubeless but still low enough to get all the benefits of traction and handling.... I would rather risk a pinch flat than rim damage from going too low...Tire sealants are messy, require special tools such as syringes and tape and are no guarantee against flats, I prefer the ease and simplicity of tubes.

WhyFi

And this preference was gained through experience?

Mulberry20

What I see in the proponents of tubeless is cognitive dissonance. No matter what experiences or evidence is presented it is dismissed. People get so bought into something they simply cannot reconcile this to themselves or others that it does not work or offer advantages.

WhyFi

If that's what you're seeing, you need your eyes checked. In this thread alone, tubeless proponents have: a) said that tubeless isn't necessarily a good idea for someone like the OP b) pointed out the limitations even in a best case scenario and c) offered information on how to improve results.

You, on the other hand, bring nothing to this table.

wolfchild

My only experience is with tubes and I can't find fault with them, they work very well especially with tires that have puncture protection. I don't get a lot of flats. Majority of the flats that I had was from a sharp screw or a nail or something like that, it doesn't happen often and I don't think tubeless is immune to those type of flats. I have no experience with tubeless and no interest in the complexity of tubeless set up. It's a personal preference, ride what you want.

MattTheHat 

I’ve never needed a syringe. If tape is a special tool, then yes. There’s no such thing as a guarantee against flats other than running a solid tire.

If tubes work better for you that’s great. I’d much rather mop up a few drops of sealant when I install new tires than deal with A dozen flats over the life of those tires.

MattTheHat 

Puncture resistant tires no doubt help. Around here the biggest offender for me are the little steel belted radial wires that break off. Lots of cagers must be running on May-pops. (Tire may pop, it may not.)

Mulberry20

New technology is supposed to be easier, less expensive and more reliable. I see nothing like this in tubeless road tires. Just the opposite on all counts. It is really bad technology. You can simply put sealer in latex tubes if you need to and not worry about seating and sealing. When someone uses Gorilla tape to mount a tubeless tire you know the technology is ridiculous.

DrIsotope

What you're presenting is opinion, an that opinion is of the variety we call baseless. You have no practical experience, so nothing you say with regard to tubeless tires bears any weight. My tubeless tires are comparably priced to clinchers, they are easier (haven't had to remove a wheel on the side of the road in several years,) and reliable? I've had numerous tires never need attention other than refreshing sealant during their entire service lives-- 7,000+ miles in some cases.

At the same time, it's not for everyone. If I lived in an area not littered with road debris, thorns, and seas of broken glass, I would happily run tubes. If you ride on the road and you don't get flats, tubeless isn't necessary for you. But to condemn the practice outright is just luddite fist-shaking.

MattTheHat 

What?

Before going tubeless, getting flats was a regular deal. Every 300 miles or so. I might go 500 if I got really lucky. Sometimes I've have a spare tube, sometimes I'd be close enough to home to just walk back. Since going tubeless I've had exactly one ride stopped from a flat and that was when I was using Stan's. I was able to limp home, but the ride ended early. Since then, nothing in at least 10,000 miles.

That's my evidence. I'm guessing you'll dismiss it. If tubeless isn't for you that's great. I can't imagine going back to tubes.

MattTheHat 

Kind of like this:

surak

The consensus is that Stan's just doesn't work at road tire pressures.

datlas 

I think the correct answer to the question is “it depends.”

Probably the right answer to 90% of questions posted in here, tbh.

Go with what works best for your specific situation, needs, and goals.