GaryPitts

Hey all. Excuse my ignorance. Are tubeless wheels and tires a relatively new thing for MTBs? I'm looking to get a new bike (first MTB for me) and looking at the Trek Cobia vs. XCAL. The XCAL has tubeless ready wheels. Is that alone a reason to spend more? Is this like motorcycles did years ago and in a few years all MTBs will be running tubeless?

commo_soulja

Simple answer, hells yeah!

pablosnazzy

Tubeless is really nice to have, you can run a lower pressure, you don't have to buy tubes, you don't have to worry about them too much. I have tubeless on my main bicycle, i am quite happy with it. That said, they are not at all necessary, i don't think they will replace tubes, they are just another option. If they are worth it is up to you.

Mr Pink57

It is. I personally think tubeless was one of the greatest inventions to come to the bicycle industry.

dsprehe89

Iono, I don't have tubeless (YET), but I could easily see them completely replacing tubes in the next 10-15 years. Unlike the 29er craze, where both types have their own area that they are better at (such as a 29er on a smooth fast single track vs 26" on a DH). Tubeless (while not necessary) is better in pretty much every way than tubed, and it's always those little things that are generally unnecessary (yet nice to have) that replace their older counter parts. Such as look at cars, cars that have manual locks work just fine, but having keyless entry is just really nice and convenient and how many new cars do you see now days that don't have keyless entry, not very many. And know they are even going to the keyless start system where you don't even need your key at all and just need your fob. Its just nice to have and so people go with things that are more convenient. I feel that we will slowly see tubes going away just like they did in the motorcycle world. Granted there also will always be those old school people that refuse to change, I'm more so referring that tubeless will become the standard rather than completely wiping tubes off the face of the earth

sscyco

I'm running tubeless - I don't have tubeless specific rims and my front tire is not a tubeless tire, but they work great.

gbg

The problem with tubeless is you can't run them at as high pressure as tubes.
So if you mainly ride fast fire roads, limestone type trails or in the city I would go with tubes.
If you are on technical trails with wet roots, rocks and mud, where top speed isn't important go tubeless.
You can run them at much lower pressure for better grip and no pinch flats.

dsprehe89

Good point. Let me add on to what I was saying and make it a bit more specific. I was referring pretty much only to the MTB world, not the road or commuting world. I could see all MTB's going to tubeless. Better?

gbg

But I would guestimate that the vast majority of MTB's see a lot more "tubed terrain" than "tubeless terrain".
Just like 99% of of those shiny 4X4 SUV's see more mall parking lots than off road mud bogs.

dsprehe89

You are probably right, but I would like to think that people who buy good MTB's use them for what they are made for. By good I mean non big box store bike. I guess that is just wishful thinking though.

cryptid01

The vast majority of offroad moto riders still use tubes.

Zephyr11

If I had the money to go tubeless, I'd.......

buy a dropper seatpost.

NCMTBIKER

YES..nuff said

formicaman

Isn't the downside of tubeless the fact that if you do get a flat, you have to glue in another tire and wait 24 hours before going fast again? That would be really uncool in the middle of the woods. Maybe that's just road bikes. Honestly, I haven't even bought a suspension fork yet...

corvuscorvax

One thing about "tubeless ready" wheels is that they might not work very well with tubes. I made this mistake on a wheel build a few years ago: I ordered Bontrager Mustang rims at my LBS, and what showed up were Bontrager Mustang tubeless rims. I use tubes, but the LBS assured me that the tubeless rims would work just fine with tubes too. They don't. the problem is that the rims have too deep a section on the inside and do not hold rim tape well, with the result that the rim tape slides to the side of the rim and the tubes puncture on the exposed spoke ends.

I don't go to that LBS any more.

sscyco

Instead of rim tape - or tubeless tape, use packaging tape (you have to cut the width in half) - it's cheap, does not move and holds a very good seal. This works with or without a tubeless setup.

20grit

I have run up to ~ 43 psi in tubeless with no problems. Why would anyone need to go higher than that?

AgentRedlum

You are confusing tubular with tubeless. Tubular is a PITA and does require gluing. Tubeless uses sealant and, depending on the rim, tape or a rim strip. Puncture flats are no problem. The sealant usually fills the hole, and you can quickly top off the tire with air if necessary. In the event of something more catastrophic you can always insert a spare tube and ride it home.

AgentRedlum

I don't see why. If someone does on a regular basis then maybe they bought the wrong bike.