yaw

I asked a lot of riders and shop people whether they ride their road bikes tubeless and I have not yet come across anyone who thought it was a worthwhile idea for normal riding conditions and needs.

It became clear that it was far less prevalent, at least here, than the online community crowd or sponsored content providers with the job to sell bike parts would have you believe. These were no retrogrouches either.

Chandne

Our roads are clean so you don't have to run tubeless (though I do my front tire) but I do not ever go on gravel with my road bike. If I did, definitely all tubeless. I think practice is important if you want to run tubeless- make sure you can take the tire off and back on with a tube, just in case. Use the new plugs too. Obviously it would be rather daft to run tubes on my mountain bikes and gravel bike here in Colorado.

The_woo

Isn’t the main benefit of tubeless (for road anyway) meant to be a lower rolling resistance? That’s certainly the reason for pro teams to start using it at Paris-Roubaix etc.

Puncture sealing certainly isn’t a factor as they very clearly don’t even use sealant.

I feel strongly that consumers are being missold something intended to give high performance benefits as something that prevents punctures, but I’ve never seen it work for road tyres satisfactorily.

Imo the same sealant tech works perfectly fine inside an inner tube and gives even more benefits in that regard, plus less mess, if you feel the need.

If anything, I’ve seen my club mates with tubeless setups have more incurable issues of cuts in tyre sidewalls and certainly way more mess than I’ve seen previously in years of tubed riding.

The final claimed benefit of tubeless is that you can run lower pressures… Using the SRAM tyre pressure calculator which lets you specify tubes vs tubeless, the difference is about 3 PSI in what it recommends. And anyway, I can happily run 30 PSI lower in my tubes tyres if I want without getting snakebites, it’s just very obviously slower.

robbyville

I don’t think (for most) that the main selling feature is lower rolling resistance, although certainly a feature that is often marketed rightly or wrongly. I’m surprised to hear that the pro teams don’t use sealant though.

main selling feature that I’ve seen is flat resistance and comfort and my experience is exactly the opposite of yours. I do group rides 3-4 days per week and I’ve lived in two states since moving to tubeless and all I can say (anecdotally, no scientific stats), is that on at least every other ride I’m a part of there is at least one flat. In almost 7 years I’ve had exactly 2 and although I carry an extra tube with me they are more often than not donated to someone who needs it. There are only a few of us that use tubeless here and same situation for them.

PeteHski

Exactly. Pretty much everyone who runs tubeless has extensive experience of tubes too. It's the same with disc brakes. It's a lot easier to be objective if you've tried both options. None of us are paid to ride tubeless tyres and it's not exactly difficult to change your mind if it doesn't work out. So there's no real incentive to show any confirmation bias in this particular case (unless you are reluctant to trying them). If I thought tubeless tyres were crap I would certainly say so.

PeteHski

This is what I would call confirmation bias right here^

WhyFi

I'm still getting my monthly paychecks from Big Sealant - when did yours stop? I'd make a couple calls, if I were you.

PeteHski

shhhh! They might realise we are spreading tubeless propgaganda!

MinnMan

You have a good point.

Miles2go

I transitioned from a SuperSix to the Cervelo R5 and ride on rough Tucson roads. One of my favorite things about running tubeless (Campagnolo Bora WTO 45s) is the amazing level of comfort it has given me. I weigh 153lbs and run 60f/65r psi, and that low pressure doesn't keep me from age group KOMs and high overall placings on longer Strava segments.
Low pressure tubeless, fast and comfortable.

Miles, smiles & tailwinds!

Chandne

Which tires have you guys found to be easy to install and take off?

WhyFi

At this point, it's probably easier to list the tires that are difficult rather than those that aren't. In general, newer tires are going to be easier than some of the older ones - it was more common for older tires to err on the side of being tight. The most notable "old" tire around is going to be the Conti GP5k TL, and they do have a reputation of being tight (never used them myself).

Everything else that I've used in the last two years (Schwalbe Pro One Evo, Michelin Power Road, Pirelli P-Zero) have been up to the latest spec and have gone on and off without trouble. Out of the three, I had to take the most care with getting the Michelin on to the rim; no tools were needed - I've never needed anything other than bare hands to get a tire on - but I did need to be more deliberate about getting the beads in to the middle and taking up slack before rolling the last bit over.

Chandne

My IRCs were a bit tight on the Easton R90 Sl rims so I was hoping to get something a bit easier. I have installed a ton of tight tires but tight road tires may be painful and frustrating on the side of the road, if a tube is ever needed. I may try the Pirellis.

Miles2go

The Conti 5000TL is impossible to mount to Campy Bora WTO wheels, by hand. Even with levers, you need to take a rest day after the first one. After getting them mounted though, they seated pretty easily, usually with my floor pump, and hold their seating extremely well. Getting them back off though, after over 1,000 miles, is another ordeal! (with my wheels) Pirelli P Zero Race TLRs nearly fall onto the rim and by comparison, and also seat easily.

Greatestalltime

It took me over a year and a day forgetting to air up to accept that fact.

NoWhammies

Good to know. My rear Schwalbe Pro One tyre just gave up the ghost and the Michelin is next to come off the shelf. Tyres in general seem to be a pain in the butt to mount on my Boyd rims. Sounds like the Michelin's won't be doing me any favours either.

waters60

Taking advice to play with pressure a bit more on my Bora tubular / Veloflex Vlaanderen wheels I seem to have found a good compromise. Fortunately this is putting notions of getting a new wheel set out of my mind, plus the drama over tubeless vs tubes convinced me of the simplicity of just gluing on a tire that will last for 2,000 miles….

Voodoo76

Mounting difficulties are one area that have me seriously considering tubeless. I had a small routine puncture yesterday leading to a slow leak in the front tire that I'm guessing would have easily sealed itself. Really a struggle breaking the tire off the rim. Running GP5000's on HED Jet Blacks (love these wheels). The rims are set up for tubeless which definitely fits tighter & makes it harder to get the tire off the rim for on the road repairs. Figured if I have to deal with the mounting struggles anyway might as well have some of the advantages.

I don't suffer a lot of flats, a couple per year, although I did have 3 in one ride last fall.

What are good sealants? Are there better tire options that I should consider?

GhostRider62

I rode tubeless from late 2015 until July 3, 2016. Depending on one's riding conditions and style of riding, a good argument can be made for tubeless or latex tubed clinchers. I am back on tubeless but only have a little over 1,000 miles on GP5000 TR S. They are not faster by my testing nor do they leak less than latex tubed clinchers-both need aired every day. But, I should think they take rapid deflation flats out of the equation, which is why I am back. I used to average several flats per year or around 3-5,000 miles per on clinchers and even went a whole year without one and then had two in one week. I had flats constantly on Compass and Schwabe Pro one tubeless. Go figure.