Atlas Shrugged

In the past few years, I have transitioned all my bikes to tubeless tires. While it took some time to get used to the new technology, I am now a huge advocate of the tubeless ride. I have experimented with various tire combinations and have found some to be more challenging to fit and seal than others. For instance, the Schwalbe G-One Speed 30mm on a pair of Roval C-38 wheels was particularly difficult to seat for the first time. Another challenge was mounting the Panaracer Gravel King 38mm on a pair of DT Swiss GR531 rims.

Despite these initial challenges, I now have six sets of tubeless rims and love the tubeless ride for its supple, comfortable ride and excellent flat resistance. I have even taken my bikes on 1,000-kilometer tours in developing countries with unimproved roads and have not encountered any issues. In the rare event of a puncture, I have used a Dynaplug to patch it up without having to remove the tire or place a tube.

However, my latest experience with tubeless tires has left me amazed at the progress of the technology. I recently purchased a Hunt Gravel X-Wide Wheelset paired with S-Works Pathfinder 42mm tires and Stans Race Sealant for a 30-day tour of Portugal and Southern Spain. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the wheelset and tires mounted with no issues and inflated with a hand pump. The bead was even locked in place on the shelf of the rim, ensuring that I could keep riding after a catastrophic puncture. This simple process is a sign of how far tubeless technology has come.

If you have had a negative experience with tubeless tires in the past or have heard about the negative aspects, I highly recommend revisiting the technology. The progress is impressive, and the benefits of the tubeless ride are worth it.

Broctoon

I've set up quite a few, with various tire/rim combinations. As you gain experience, you pick up little tricks that make it easier. The only ones I've ever struggled with were first time tire installations. In other words, after a tire has been mounted an inflated once, it never gives me trouble when I have to remove and remount it. The one that gave me the hardest time was a set of Gravel King SKs on WTB KOM rims.

One thing I've had happen a few times that is very frustrating: a tubeless tire is all set up and I've been riding on it with no trouble. I put it in the back of my car and leave it for a few hours or a day in hot weather (car interior reaches perhaps 120 degrees). The tire deflates and will not seal again until I remove it, add new sealant, and re-seat it. They don't explode, and there's no mess; they just leak down and then will not hold air. I've never had something like this happen with a tube, and I've not had many headaches with tubeless tires in use. I guess they're just sensitive to hot temps.

msu2001la

Agree that newer wheels and tires seem to be built to better tolerances and mounting/seating is generally easier now than it was 3-4 years ago.
I have Zipp 303S wheels and have used 4-5 different tubeless tires on them and in every case it's been really easy to mount and get them seated - no issues with losing air, etc. I'm still using the stock rim tape. This includes Continental GP 5000 S TR, S-Works Turbo 2bliss, Donnely PDX, Vittoria Terreno Mix and a few others. I still typically use an Airshot to seat tubeless tires, but some of those would probably seat with just a floor pump.

Compare to the OEM wheels that came on my bike (Cannondale) and my first attempt for tubeless (the horribly tight Conti GP 5000 TL )- the tires required bead jacks to get them on the rims and an air compressor to seat. I had constant issues with leaking air, etc. I re-taped those wheels at least 3 times and still had problems.

So yes - I'd agree that things seem to be improving.

chaadster

I’d also agree to improvement over time to an extent: American Classic was making benchmark road tubeless wheels in ‘11 or ‘12 which mounted tires and locked beads as easily and well as anything today. As I understand it, the Mavic/Shimano UST system was also very easy to use, although I’ve never used it myself. I had such an easy go with AC in ‘13 that I stuck with their tubeless road wheels until just this past spring, when I added a pair of Winspace 2023 Lun Hyper wheels.

So yes I agree that there are more companies doing it right today than there were in the past, but there have been good setups for many years now. In fact, in some ways, it was better in the past from the perspective of ease-of-use, for example, with tires that had airtight linings, like the Original Schwalbe One and IRC Formula tires. Those type would mount and hold air without sealant. The race to lightweight saw Schwalbe not only ditch the lining, but thin out the sidewall coating in the name of suppleness, bit it was a double-whammy in terms of consistent pressure holding and ease of setup.

So yeah, I agree generally, but I think there are examples of both good, older wheels and problematic,modern components (e.g. Herse tires ).

fooferdoggie 

Schwalbe Marathon Almotion I got miselabled ones that were the tube version I thought tubeless ( the first tubeless tires I bought) They worked great on Cliffhanger rims for 8 months changed to a dt-swiss rim and the tire blew off. only then did I find out there were two versions. the ride was great soft and fast. so I got the tubeless version and it was somewhat fast but it was like riding marathon plus's plus it was so stiff it was hard to even get the first side on. the tubed version I mounted with my hands only.
so it was a pain to find onroad 700x38c tires found Rampart Light & Supple Tire tires these are great feel good and hold air for 2 to 3 weeks with sealant. but the worst to get on. took a lot of work to get the last part on even with the tire jack.
had some Schwalbe g-1 speed tires 650b 's and they felt great and road well but in the winter about 30 holes between the two in a couple of months .they have been fine in the summer.

georges1

All my MTBs run on tubeless configuration since 2016, very amazed and pleased with the results. For the road bikes I haven't tried tubeless yet maybe one day

seypat

I wonder if tubeless should be more popular? What about hookless?

jaxgtr

Is it possible that the tape gets over heated and loosens slightly with the heat exposure? Not having had my wheels in the car like that for an extended period of time, I have not experience this, but wonder if that could be the issue. Now, this assumes that you wipe everything down after you go to remount the tire, which could sort of then reseat the tape as well. Just thinking outside the proverbial box so to speak. However, that is odd.

BobsPoprad

So...not to jack a thread, but general a question.

Are "tubeless ready" rims as good as tubeless specific rims (if there is such a thing)?

woodyj21

I'll be watching this space for more discussion. Whether I end up putting less aggressive tires on my vintage Grizzly or not, going tubless is another thing I'll need to figure out.

jaxgtr

I've not heard of tubeless specific rims, assuming you mean they can only run tubeless tires, which is nothing more than a clincher as you can run tubes in a tubeless tire. So I don't think that is a thing.

icemilkcoffee 

Most of the time 'tubeless ready' just means you have to do the taping yourself.
In my experience, taping is the most iffy part of this whole tubeless setup process. I highly recommend rims that do not have spoke holes and do not require taping. ie. Shimano Ultegra, Dura Ace, WH-RS500, Mavic Kysrium UST, and for MTB Mavic Crossmax UST and Crossroc UST
Not having to do taping saves a whole lot of headache and eliminates a potential source of hard-to-diagnose leakage problems.

msu2001la

I swapped out some tubeless tires yesterday evening and was thinking about this comment and thread while doing so. The process was easy for me, took about 20 minutes and I had no issues. Tires seated and sealed up on the first try. It didn't really take any longer than swapping tubed tires would have.

A few notes on my process:

1. High quality rim tape that is the correct size. I like DT Swiss for tape.
2. High quality valve stems. Muc-off makes good ones. Be sure to get the proper rubber gaskets to fit the shape of rim correctly.
3. I clean the rim beds out every time. Wipe up all the old sealant and spray it down with some soapy water, wipe it off. I think having old sealant or other crap in there might result in some leaking at the beads.
4. Once I get the tire mounted, I spray down the sidewalls with soapy water and use an Airshot to seat the tire - with no valve core installed. I do this every time, and don't even bother to try to seat using the floor pump alone, or seat without soaping up the beads. This only adds a few minutes to the process and it works every time.
5. After seating, I slowly release air from the tire and hope that it stays seated. This seems to work most of the time, though with brand new tires they do sometimes come unseated. Then I add sealant through the open valve, install the valve core and air up to normal pressure.

I definitely spent way too much time when first trying out tubeless trying to seat tires with various methods, floor pump alone, valve core in place, etc. Also recall discovering leaks around valve stems and spoke nipples due to inadequate tape or valves, etc. I think the tire/rim interfaces have gotten better, but I also think just having a process that works and I understand is a big factor in success.

Broctoon

I don't know what caused it, but your theory seems plausible.

It has happened to me twice, with two different bikes. The tires do not explode, and there is no mess. They just leak (seep down), and then they won't hold air. Whenever I've had trouble getting a newly installed tubeless tire to seal, the valve stem usually turns out to be the culprit, so I assumed it was also at fault here.

Broctoon

I'll add a few tips of my own onto what msu2001la noted above.

- If possible, before installing a new tubeless tire, leave it out in the sun for a while to warm it up. When they're really warm, they get soft and stretchy, which helps the bead to seat easier.

- After seating the bead, adding sealant, and inflating to normal pressure, most instructions recommend spinning or oscillating the wheel to distribute the sealant. I find it helpful to also bounce the tire--drop it on the ground repeatedly from a height of several inches.

bruce19

About 5 yrs ago I bought a set of Mavic Ksyrium Elite USTs w/ tires. Mavic developed wheels and tires together at tolerances that make them work flawlessly. The tires seat easily. They inflate with a track pump. I quickly put them on three other road bikes. In 5 yrs my GF and I have not had one flat. Not one.Not going back to clinchers.

alcjphil

Mavic developed the wheels. However, their tires are manufactured for them by Hutchinson. Hutchinson also made the very first road tubeless tires with wheels made by Shimano

bruce19

That may be true but I read that the specs were developed to match wheel to tire perfectly. In any event, it does work as advertised.

rsbob 

After going tubeless, I will never go back to tubed. The change was that significant

msu2001la

Yup. I'm all in on tubeless. No desire to go back to tubes, even on road bikes.

DaveSSS 

I have two sets of BTLOS hookless wheels with 25mm internal width and no spoke access holes, so no rim tape is needed. I've used 28-30mm tubeless tires from Michelin and Pirelli. Installed, the tires will measure about 3mm wider. I have an air compressor and use it to seat tires. I remove the valve core and use a blow-off nozzle with a pointed rubber tip to inject air into the tire, through the stem. Works great. Tire pressures are under 60 psi, based on the pressure calculator at zipp.com.

88ss

Thanks a lot for the update, I love keeping up with all the latest bicycle technology and incorporating it. It is amazing how they keep improving the bicycle year after year even though it has been around for so long. I always enjoy seeing what the new year brings in new products and goodies for us to try out.