I suppose out there on the Internet somewhere, there are instructional videos that I could be watching to help me along in my cycling life, but I hate spoilers. I love first-hand pain.
So I think, if there isn’t already, there should be a video called Tubeless: How to Train Your Tire Pressure.
I know there are plenty of arguments when two cyclists get together about the benefits, or lack thereof, of tubeless tires. Since I very, very seldom get together with another cyclist, I’m not sure what those debates are about.
I just know that once I got a bike (my beloved Ibis Mojo, RIP) with tubeless tires, my life was never the same. I’ve gone years without a legit, pull over and change (or fix) tire problem with air pressure.
Although once I bought a brand-new set of expensive tires and on the first ride hit a massively sharp stone out on the logging roads of the Oregon Coastal Range, listening to the unstoppable PPPSSSSSTTTT!! that prompted a four-mile hike home.
I thought I could get a refund, but my bike shop said, no, sorry. Of course this occurred in one of my many under-employed stints, so the thought of just buying another tire was out of the question (or as I’m sure my wife would have said, “Are you out of your mind?!”).
Then I thought, hell, I once saw a dude from Les Schwab plug a hole like that in my truck tire. So, I cut up some old tube and plugged it. No leaks for the next two years!
When I asked the bike shop dude, well, he said, for liability’s sake he couldn’t do that, nor feel comfortable giving me that advice. Huh? Whatever.
I still haven’t figured out a lot about tubeless tires. Oh, once I went in because they just stopped holding air for a whole two-hour ride. That’s when a different bike shop dude (we were on vacation in Kalispell, Montana) said, wow, you just need new tires.
I asked how do you know? They’ve got plenty of tread left. He said, see those little wet dots all around in between the treads? That’s sealant leaking out of holes in your tire! Wow!
But then I seem to always have one tire with the slow leak without a trace. I have to pump up every 2-3 days, and it’s fine for the next 2-3 days.
Now in the tube days, I would just pull it out and change it, for fear of a complete failure out somewhere, or more likely, the middle of nowhere.
But I’ve been band-aiding this issue for more than a year now, pumping every couple of days, given my penchant for being a lazy ass (not to mention how I end up with more sealant on the garage floor than in the tire when I’m forced to change one).
This week’s question: Are you yea or nay on tubeless, and how do you manage the slow leak?
I use tubes in all my tires. I am a heavy guy, 200+, but ride light. I tend to run psi that is higher than current squishy trend. I don’t bash stuff and pay attention to surface debris. 6,500 miles of mixed terrain a year, no flats 3+ years in a row.
I’m all tubes more out of ignorance than desire. I have a couple of bikes I could do it to. Just have to de-ignoramus myself.
I got a mountain bike that came with a tubeless setup I didn’t ask for so I thought I’d see how it went. Long story short, I got one flat which ended the ride for me and, despite my best efforts, ended up costing me more in time, money and mess than probably a lifetime’s worth of tubes and I still didn’t end up with a rideable tubeless tire (yes, I followed all the correct procedures with all the correct tools to try and resurrect it). A simple tube would have had me rolling again in about 10 minutes. Needless to say that tubeless setup got ripped out and thrown in the garbage and it’s back to tubes for me. At least I can say I’ve tried it.
I guess it’s a fine line between innovation and “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.
I’m in the “yea” camp. I’ve gotten way less flats running tubless on my MTBs. That being said, I’ve never successfully repaired a puncture without throwing a tube in it and seating a finicky tire is a dark art. None of my road going machines are tubeless only because they are too old.
I’m a big yea on tubeless. I have three bikes setup tubeless, and I’ve had exactly one issue in the last five years. Otherwise, all functioning as promised.
100% tubeless.
I added the Cushcore inserts to my mtn bike to stop the sidewall punctures that happen when you hit something really hard with a tire that is pumped up at feel good pressures. Love em, and now my tires last forever. I love the deadendededed feel that is similar to my moto with bib mousses plus the ability to run 14 psi and still blast through rocks.
The gravel cough bike came with tubeless, which work really nicely.
I mean absolutely no offense to anybody, but often (note I didn’t say always, again…no offense), often people that have problems with tubeless are often people that have problems following instructions, or take shortcuts, or try the way their buddy swears by vs. how the manufacturer recommends setting it up, or cheapskates, etc. You see what I’m saying, and good faith shit talking is fun, too.
Erik Borling