ggbo951a

Each year during towrad end of summer and beginning of fall season, goathead appears to terrorize bikers. I had numerios run into last years but this year, i almost getting flat tire almost everytime time i ride. too lazy to fix myself and each time it is costing 10$ at rei to replace tube.

Once for all, i just wanna go for a tubeless, this will protect from goat head?
I am new to this, what are adv. (other than obvious one here) and disadv.-s compared to tubed tire?
Do i have to get entire tire. wheel?
I am thinking about just buying and replacing the whole wheel, what measurements I should look for to fit my bike? (entry level mountain from REI)
I am seeing following numbers on existing tire: 2.26. 27.5.
I would not consider REI, i am looking into places like amazon or big5, recomm-d brand on this?

79pmooney

Cycle Oregon's come up with a goathead solution that, while not perfect, makes life far better. In the early morning they send a street sweeper around the route. Few appreciate it because they didn't ride the nightmare a few years back that will haunt those mechanics the rest of their lives.

Between drones and driverless cars, coming up with a pre-ride sweeper shouldn't be hard. Load your planned Strava, set it two hours in advance and just go ride.

Seriously, tire compounds make a big difference. Some tire treads have a compound that seems to attract debris and embrace it. Other compounds reject virtually everything. A dozen years ago, Vittoria made tires on both extremes. The Open Pave. Everything stuck. I rode them as winter tires because pavement stuck. Best gripping road tire I've ever ridden. At the same time the Rubinos had a hard, slippery tread. I rode those goathead years on Rubinos, slowed extra for every corner and had maybe one flat in several 500 mile COs. (And saw the road up close and personal a few times on wet brick, stone, paint, leaves ... Good thing, not much of that wet on the eastern Oregon CO goathead rides.)

Pretty sure the Rubinos have changed; that the wonderful goathead immunity has been traded for reasonable grip so I don't know what to recommend.

Edit: And there's the old trick. Brush your tires! With your hand or glove. Despite all the warnings of cuts, I almost never have and I spent years wiping with my fingers a) as a cheap racer that didn't want to kill nice gloves and b) better feedback on what was in my expensive sewups. I'm back to sewups and back to b).

Sy Reene

Are you on a unicycle? Everything you asked is singular. Do you have specific brand/model of the wheel(s) you have? Someone more versed in mtb gear can then probably tell you if the wheels you have could be used with TL tires.

VegasTriker

You might want to read this so you understand how tubeless compares to a tire with tubes. https://www.bikeradar.com/advice/buy...ides/tubeless/ Notice that you may not have to replace the wheel as long as you can get your existing rims to seal with tubeless rim tape. That's a lot less expensive than changing wheels. Should you decide to use tubeless ready wheels, take in your existing wheels to any bike shop or to the REI store they will give you the equivalent wheels and switch components (the cassette on the rear wheel).

I live in goathead country too and after a few really bad encounters learned to recognize the goathead plant and avoid them. Out here they grow at the edges of the road and bike paths. It was mostly riding over the plant that got my tires. It's a lot harder to avoid tumbleweed than to avoid the goathead plants. I carry a pump and spare tubes whenever I ride. I do my own repairs so fixing a flat costs pennies, not dollars. It is too much trouble and potentially dangerous in the heat to not fix the flat on the road. My only encounter with tire sealant was on a friend's SUV. What a mess to deal with a damaged tire that had sealant in it. I don't use it in my regular tubed tires.

andrewclaus

An entry level MTB may not be tubeless-ready. You can look that up from the model name and number on the rim.

You can buy a patch kit for a few dollars and it will repair six flats. Carry one spare tube with you. When you get good at it, it'll take ten minutes to replace the rear, five minutes for the front. Five minutes longer for the second flat when you have to patch the tube.

If you're seriously adverse or unable to repair a flat in the field, consider something like Slime, but sometimes that causes as many problems as it solves. It can be a real mess if it doesn't seal a larger hole, or if you use it on high pressure road tires.

Rogerogeroge

Tubeless is by far the most effective deterrent against goatherds. You’ll be thrilled by the improvements.

That said, I doubt your entry level bike has neither tubeless compatible rims nor tires. And if you’re trying to update a rim brake bike…. at least you have 27.5 rims….

That is a really sound argument for a new bike upgrade 🙂

DaveSSS 

Google is your friend. Try a search for mtg wheel diameters. You have 27.5 or 650b wheels.