Wheever

Yes, there will be naysayers. Yes, tubes have worked for 100,000 years and should be good enough for me, yeah yeah. But yesterday I finally got to experience the reason I switched to tubeless: not getting flats!

I was riding along, minding my own business, when a pebble got stuck to my tire. Clicky click. So I stopped to brush it off and discovered that it was stuck to something sticky on my tire. What was it stuck to? Why, sealant! And so I spun my tire around and lo and behold, there were two tiny orange dots where I had run over something and never noticed. (Only one of them leaked enough sealant to make a sticky patch. the other was just a dot with a latex string hanging out.) If not for the pebble, I would never have noticed I'd gotten a puncture until I stopped and look over my tires after the ride. (Which I always do.) So little air was lost that I could barely detect it when I checked the pressure when I got home. Maybe a lb and change.

Tubeless rules! (But yeah, I still carry a tube with me and levers.)

Oh, I'm using orange seal, in case you're wondering.

CliffordK

I put a tubeless tire on my front a few days ago.

I don't think I've run over anything to cause a hole yet.

One note, however, I think I get a flat maybe once a year with my gatorskins or gator hardshells.

If you've gotten 3 punctures on the first ride, that may really be a cause for concern.

I have the Schwalbe Pro One tire on my front, and have another for the rear. Unfortunately reviews are mixed.

indyfabz

Subscribed.

Bryan C. 

I won't go back to tubes, tubeless all the way.

But, as with any tire they are susceptible to cuts and damage from large debris.

I always carry a plug kit and a co2 inflator. On long rides I sometimes carry a spare tube but not always.

Only 1 time in the last 3000 miles have I actually had to walk home. Hit a rock causing a large cut in the tire and then the rim cut the sidewall open since I was going pretty fast around a corner. No hope of booting tire, and no way a tube would have prevented this from happening.

The plug kit worked pretty well on my Schwalbe Pro one tubeless tires the other day. Had a hole that wouldn't seal until I used the plug. The plug is still in the tire, over 300 miles later no leaks and has worn down smooth. Well worth the $6.

https://www.jensonusa.com/genuine-in...8aAqBKEALw_wcB

WhyFi

Good to hear that it's working out for you. I've been running road tubeless for about a year and a half and, yeah, there's no way that I'm going back. FWIW, I'm also using OS and recommend it to people that have had poor experiences with tubeless at road pressures (typically using Stan's).

One piece of advice, a lesson that I've learned the hard way - set a reminder to check your sealant levels every 6-8 weeks (OS comes with a dipstick). OS will keep for a long time in (the relatively small volume of) road tires... but you *will* get punctures that you don't notice and the sealant level will drop and you'll run the risk of a dry puncture and a roadside fix/call of shame. As always, the rear is far more susceptible - I've had the front still looking fresh and clean for more than 6 months while the rear seems to max out at 3 months or less.

redlude97

Yup, had this happen on a gravel tire 38c on the road. ~3 months with quite a few seals and forgot to check on the level. Since the tire is so wide even though there was a decent amount of sealant still in the tire I couldn't get it to recoat and seal even after pinpointing the hole and pumping and shaking the tire around off the bike. Had to pop in a tube which is quite a messy ordeal to do roadside

rubiksoval

In the two months I tried tubeless, I had flats on three different occasions (once in a race). One one occasion the tire sidewall was punctured enough to ruin the tire. The other two times it didn't seal until there was ~30 psi in the tire. And one of those times when I tried to put more air in the seal wouldn't hold until it dropped back down to ~30 psi.

Was probably just a bad run of 3s, but at the time (and still) I was not impressed.

DrIsotope

On the rare occasion that I get a tire to survive through it's whole usable life without succumbing to fatal injury, and it's nearing it's treadwear life, I can count the little "weepers" on the tread. For whatever reason, my tires don't seem to 100% seal, and a night of sitting after a ride, each puncture hole-- where something made it all the way through the tire-- will have a tiny wet dot on it from the sealant weeping out. My current pair of Hutchinson Overides has about 2,800 miles on them. The front tire has 46 weepers. The rear has 88. So even if I were extra generous and said that just 1/4 of the punctures would have resulted in a flat, I would have gotten 33 flat tires in less than 3,000 miles.

I'd much rather top off sealant in my workshop every 6 weeks than change a flat tire on the side of the road (at least) once a week. Ban glass bottles and eradicate goatheads and I'll go back to tubes without pause. Until then, tubeless everything.

WhyFi

Stan's?

Can't really blame tubeless on the sidewall tear that ruined the tire.

rubiksoval

The orange stuff.

Used stans in my tubulars to seal up punctures after the fact. Worked well.

NoWhammies

Anyone have a good recommendation for a plug kit? I've never heard of one. Thx.

DrIsotope

Dynaplug.

WhyFi

Really? That's wierd, I've never had that happen - no problems sealing at ~100.

Ald1 

Got a bad sidewall puncture. Tire sealed at about 40 PSI. Enough to get me back to my car (12 mile ride). Good thing as I doubt I could unseat the tubless in the field with my 66 year old arthritic hands! I now carry CO2 and a Dynaplug kit. Staying with tubeless.

Bryan C. 

Dynaplug makes good stuff but there is a cheaper option.

https://www.jensonusa.com/genuine-in...8aAqBKEALw_wcB

Gconan

What kind of tire if you don't mind me asking?

Gconan

What brand or model of tire were you using?

kbarch

I'm convinced of the merits of sealant, but not the merits of tubeless, except that they're easier to pour the sealant into.

NoWhammies

Thanks Gents.

igorek

Also you don't have to pump air into tires often. Air stays for a long time

Ald1 

Not at all. I'm running Pro Ones on ENV 4.5 wheels. VERY tight fit.

CliffordK

I usually top off my tires (pre tubeless) about once a month, more or less.

I'm about a week out with my tubeless experiment, and so far no topping off. Schwalbe One Pros, Ultegra 6800 rim.

I may be losing air slightly faster than normal, so perhaps I'll pump it in a few days.

Thanks for the suggestion (above) on dipping sealant. I might give it a try in a month or two.

deepakvrao

Regular or endurance?

deepakvrao

Easy to use on a road tyre?

Wheever