Maelochs

I have a friend like that .... looks just like me, does all the stupid stuff I otherwise might do .....

jaxgtr

I wondered what that was for. My wife ordered a bottle of Orange Seal for me one day when she was on Amazon and I said, oh I need to order some of that , she ordered a smaller bottle and it came with one, did not know what it was for, never bothered to look it up as I have the syringe. I use it to suck out the sealant in the tire if I need to break the bead. works great.

rsbob 

How high maintenance?

Twice a year:
1. Let air out of tires
2. Pull valve cores
3. Add sealant
4. Reverse 2 and 1

Total time: 5-10 mins tops. Conclusion: low

Maelochs

You are ignoring the hours of debating you have to do on BF to defend your simple, easy tire-maintenance routine. Dramatically increases the difficulties involved with running tubeless.

Chris!

I'm ready to be torn apart, but tubeless was not for me. I rode tubeless for 2 summers and while I didn't have any major issues I did find them to be more work. That's relative of course. I very rarely get flats and even the "gravel road" sections I ride are more hard pack dirt than gravel. I think like anything else you have to figure out what works for you. For me I want to get on my bike and ride while doing as little maintenance as possible. I found a 700x35-40 tubed tire to work best for me. But like many other things you have to determine what will work best for you and your style of riding.

Racing Dan

Agreed! it sure is a paradox it only took 150+ posts to explain what easy steps, easy tools and easy gadgets you need to mount, inflate, unmount, seal, plug, etc .. Im betting the companion thread "How High Maintenance are Clincher Tires Anyway?" will be done in one post, if anyone cares to respond

Maelochs

Four pages, last I checked.

WhyFi

Maybe we can both post the steps of how we deal with punctures on a ride. I'll start -

Step one: keep riding.

Your turn.

aclinjury

all these discussions just means tubeless isn't for the road, unless you wanna ride 32mm tires on road.
Nobody talks about tubeless anymore in mtb because it's automatically assume you'll go tubeless without question there, but XC mtb tires nowaday are... 2.3-2.4", trail tires 2.5-2.6". That's why they work flawlessless in mtb.

WhyFi

Incorrect. These discussions mean that you can't vouch for another person's competence. I've got over 20k miles on road tubeless tires skinnier than 32mm.

kahn

It is fun - The Gospel according to St Tubeless.

Maelochs

Okay .... there are plenty of people running tubeless at 25 mm and a few at 23, using lower pressure, (which is one of the big advantages to tubeless) and with good results. Some tires work less well, some better, at the narrowest widths. 25 mm and above, seems tubeless works pretty well for most people.

Of course, everyone who has ever had a different experience, says otherwise. So, are all the people reporting success lying? or are all the people reporting failure lying? or re some folks successful at properly mounting a tubeless tire and others are failures?

Or ..... maybe ... your mileage may vary.

I tried tubeless on the back of my work bike (my rain/bad roads/work/cargo-hauling/commuting/ ride-it-when-I-want-to spare-my-more-fragile-bikes) and I have ridden it without Any incident for quite a while. I weigh an eighth of a ton, I often haul 80 pounds of gear, I ride off the side of the road to park and ride back frequently when stopping to take pictures, I ride (unwillingly) through construction debris because our government here has decided that endless road work is what citizens really want .... and I ride to places where the government thinks roads don't need to be maintained. No problem. 28-mm Contis, 100 lbs of pressure. Cheap Vuelta rims. Did my own tape, put in the valve, did my own mounting. No problem.

When other people tell me they have problems .... I can see that. Different tools, different rims and tires, different people, different circumstances. I am sure they are doing their best, and most of the posters proclaiming tubeless failure are experienced riders---they can change a flat or mount a tire. So .... just varying mileage. It doesn't mean one person is better or worse than another. Unless we are going to set up structured trials, supply identical tools, tires, and rims to all participants ..... then it is all just anecdotal. No dispositive conclusions can be drawn.

Here is the wisdom of the ages .... If it doesn't work for you, don't do it.

WhyFi

I had a puncture today. I did not have a flat today. Maintenance: 30 seconds to stop and inspect tire to make sure that no debris was still lodged in it. 30 seconds post-ride to wipe some sealant spray from the seat tube and chainstays.

Maelochs

According to @WhyFi you shouldn't have stopped. You should have kept riding.




(Please do not respond seriously to this post.)

PeteHski

I dunno, I've had good results with 28 mm tubeless and yes I do want to ride 32 mm on our crap roads.

PeteHski

Yep, some people seem to have issues with pretty much anything. Disc brakes, clipless pedals, bottom brackets, shifting, etc, etc, etc.

jaxgtr

I have 28mm on my Emonda, and was using 28's on my Domane for about 1500 miles until I recently shifted to the 30's for that bike. I also have super wide rims on the Domane, so the slightly wider tire just gave me a little more comfort, but I had no issues with tubeless in 28's. I know a lot of people running 25 and 26mm on Tubeless without issues and have been for years.

ofajen

If I want to run my (compatible) MTB tires tubeless, but I have older wheels and rims, is it practical to set them up tubeless?

Otto

WhyFi

Either do a search for "ghetto tubeless" (running tubeless with rims that weren't designed for tubeless) or check/ask in the MTB subforum. At the very least, you'd need tape suitable for tubeless, valve stems and sealant.

Rdmonster69

"Ghetto Tubeless" If I ever form a punk rap group I am going with that name.