[Closed] Anyone gone back to tubes or still run tubes

How long is a while?

We pull the ebike out once every 4-6 months and it's fine.

My hardtail still runs tubes, I hardly ever touch them.

My Susser is tubeless and doesn't like sitting for more than a month or 2 without having a drag on the track pump.

Even on tyres that are fully coated in sealant gunk and have been for years.

After a brief trial with tubeless a few years ago, I went back to tubes after realising that I don't actually ride very hard and so don't really get enough punctures to justify the set up/maintenance hassle (I know, I know "what hassle"...)

@firestarter do you realise what you’ve started?!
I’m still on tubes and can’t see me ever changing. Modern tyres are so thick and heavy that punctures aren’t a thing for me unless I’m unlucky with a nail from a horses hoof. Check pressure every month, carry a spare tube and puncture kit, which most tubeless folk do anyway, and enjoy life!
I run 26\27 psi, any less than that feels like a puncture anyway.
Oh yes, I’m still 26”, 3 x 9 so that probably confirms all the stereotypes of the tubeless aficionados. I do however enjoy a latex free life, hope this helps

Yep, just never felt the need to go tubeless. I understand it's not just about punctures (which I rarely get, but are easy to fix if I do). It just seems like a solution to a problem I don't really have, and which raises problems of its own. I put a new front tyre on today. Took a couple of minutes, no mess, no fuss.

Still got tubes here, on all bikes.
So much less faff. Had a puncture on the road bike this year but that's it, really not an issue.

I'm only tubeless on the plus bike. I took the tyres off recently as I wanted to know I could get them of while out on the bike to put tubes in if needed. I'm using the OKO sealant, it was quite dried up so I took it out, mixed in some more water whisked it up and put it back in. It resealed the holes caused when I pulled out a few of thorns I found.

At the weekend I just injected another 50ml of water into the tyres and gave them a good spin. My plan is to do that every few months and see how it goes. Pretty fuss free really

Still tubed, on road and off. I don't really ride in away that I feel need tubeless and punctures aren't so regular that I feel it's worth the 'hassle' and cost of setting up 3/4 wheelsets.

@avdave2 Doesn’t this mean that your wheels will be getting heavier and heavier? 50 ml = 50g? Plus the weight of the original sealant..

If you barely ride the bike then stick tubes in. Sealant still dries out / needs topping up eventually.

For me tubeless eliminated any kind of puncture full stop. I can change a tubeless tyre in 10 mins flat as long as the tubeless tape is ok - no danger of pinching a tube when you’re putting it back together either.

Yeah I just can’t be arsed. Also only had one puncture in the last six years that was a rogue event ie a 2” woodscrew vs my WTB Nano. I tend to run tyres which offer some protection ie Conti Protection (gravel/mtb)and Schwalbe Marathon (road) so although I take tire leavers pump and kit with me I never seem to have to fix punctures. Typically - when that woodscrew flattened a tube I was only 2 miles from home but didn’t have a puncture kit. Phone a friend time. I hope that this post hasn’t cursed me forever more because I quite enjoyed only having one puncture in that many years.

If you barely ride the bike then stick tubes in

Yep, I only managed 503km/10612m ascent in April, admittedly less than the 653km/13837m I did in March. Poor show.
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I don't think statements like the quoted text really add much to the OP's question.

I thought I was the only one using tubes. I’ve tried tubeless but gone back to tubes. I didn’t see the benefit of tubeless really. I’m a light rider, don’t really jump and rarely puncture.

I've had more punctures on my tubeless van than my tubed bikes🤷‍♂️

Tubes here, I've never run tubeless at all. I honestly can't remember the last time I had a puncture.

Cheers all I think I'll just go back to tubes seems so much less faff

Tubes on my gravel bike and Whippet.

I'm lazy - if I bought a bike set up as tubeless I'd learn how to maintain it, but the advantages don't seem enough for me to do all the setting up.

I'll probably get around to giving it a go at some point, but not yet. Also, I have that image of Badger burned into my mind ... surely that's enough to put anyone off?

If you barely ride the bike then stick tubes in

Yep, I only managed 503km/10612m ascent in April, admittedly less than the 653km/13837m I did in March. Poor show.

I don’t think statements like the quoted text really add much to the OP’s question.

Impressive I think but you should spend more time at home improving your English comprehension skills. 🙂

I haven't had much trouble with dry sealant and latex monsters since switching from Stans to Orange Endurance

“If you barely ride the bike then stick tubes in”

“I don’t think statements like the quoted text really add much to the OP’s question.”

Except it does. If you ride a bike infrequently then tubeless is annoying and expensive vs tubes - fact. If you ride a bike frequently then there are plenty of good reasons to run tubeless which for many of us outweighs the potential hassle, even if it doesn’t for you.

(And lots of mileage on a rigid bike with fixed post is not going to show the downsides of tubes as much as riding those same trails at the speeds more easily possible with a suspension fork and the saddle down).

@montgomery

You took part of my comment and took it completely out of context! I was mostly getting at the sealant drying out - if you barely ever ride the bike it’s probably not worth going tubeless. Equally if you barely ever puncture it’s less of a benefit with the self sealing.

That said, another benefit is being able to run lower pressures for more grip - if I tried to run tubes at 25psi around fast rocky tracks I’d defo pinch puncture them - and they wouldn’t get on too well at 18-20psi for extra grip in the slop either.

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montgomery
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If you barely ride the bike then stick tubes in
Yep, I only managed 503km/10612m ascent in April, admittedly less than the 653km/13837m I did in March. Poor show.

I don’t think statements like the quoted text really add much to the OP’s question.

Funny you should mention this, I threw together a spares bin bike (rigid 29er) the other day and went for a 40 mile ride on it over the weekend, the tyres were tubed and guess what. I didn't get a flat.

However, I did find the the comfort, grip and traction were maybe a bit lacking, I could well decide to swap a few bits about and fit tubeless tyres to it down the line...

Road bikes are on tubes and staying as such for the foreseeable future.

Other MTB and Gravel bike are tubeless and that's definitely the preferred solution for me...

I’ve definitely had more bother with tubed than tubeless. I bought a gravel bike with tubeless ready wheels but with tubes in. 2 flats in 25 miles on its 1st ride & the tyres were bastids to get off & back on. Got home & the 1st thing I did was swap the tyres for tubeless Gravel Kings, 450 miles later, over the same terrain (hedge lined lanes) no punctures.

Your point read more like a dig, but fair enough. I understand the traction argument, hence my conceding it's not just about preventing punctures above. In fact, as well as putting a tubed tyre on the MTB today I also taped up a 29er rim for tubeless, but feel I'm being pushed that way against my will by rim and tyre technologies.

In fact, it's the Schwalbe gravel tyres I've tried that HAVE had me considering tubeless because I was getting more punctures than on the MTB. See tyre techologies point above. In the end I just bought different tyres and the problem went away.

I still run tubes at pretty low pressures and never get punctures, I don’t live in an area with a lot of thorns but it’s pretty rocky.
Maybe it’s because I rode fully rigid bikes for a long time in the 80s and 90s and it sort of taught you the pick the lines carefully and be light on your tyres but still fast. Blundering through stuff with 150mm travel you need to protect from snakebites a lot more and I know when I had a bike like that I did have the odd puncture.
To be honest I have rarely had an issue with tubes and don’t really know how to convert to tubeless but I’ve never had the urge to.

2 flats in 25 miles on its 1st ride & the tyres were bastids to get off & back on

I got my hardtail with tubeless ready and swore like hell when I first got a puncture and couldnt get the bleeping thing off. Ended up walking back before googling how to remove them.
That said still havent switched it over but really need to since have had several rides with multiple punctures which gets really really irritating. Although in fairness now I know the technique I dont need tyre levers for them.

My Nike is currently tubed because I don’t ride it that often at the moment and sealant works best when regularly being spun around. When I get out regularly again I’ll go back to tubeless. Works for me even if I have to run the tyres at 2-2.5 bar (30-35psi), but then I’ve always liked my tyres around that pressure anyway

Another luddite on tubes here. Both our bikes have tubes and we run 21psi front and 24 psi rear with 2.25" x 650B tyres on 19mm inside width rims. I guess we're lucky with the terrain we frequent but we have survived the High Peak area (Mam Tor etc) without incident.

A friend who owned and ran a bike shop for years is also a tubeless refuser. He frequents much rougher routes than us. He's seen to much faff setting up tubes for customers.

For the complete stereotype we're still on 2x 10 drive trains.

@<span class="bbp-author-name">wheelsonfire1</span>  I'm only replacing the liquid that has dried out so the wheels aren't getting heavier. The OKO sealant is water based and designed for things like tractors. It was someone on here who put me on to it and it works well in 3"/2.8" tyres which I run at 9/11 PSI. And the reactivating it idea also came from someone on here who'd done it.

I'm perfectly happy with tubes on my other bike, I don't get many punctures and my riding and weight means 20 psi is fine with tubes and tyres as narrow as 2" and I'm not sure it would work well with those rims. The plus tyre innertubes weigh a ton though. So far I've found 4 thorns that have gone right through the tyre and would have meant changing or patching a tube so I definitely think it's been worth doing.

Still tubes here, have never been inclined to even try the faff of setting up tubeless

My Soul is still tubed, but it's rarely ridden.

Gravel bike and one of the road bikes are tubeless, and it works. The other road bike still has tubes and has had no punctures in nearly 2 years and over 3000 miles.

Tubes on the road bike, but tubeless everywhere else. My daughter's bike hasn't moved for a good 6 months and the tubeless tyres have hardly lost any pressure!

Was out on a 114km ride on Saturday, I was tubeless my mate was on tubes. He got a puncture......

Years ago, a particular summer gave me 18 punctures over the course of about a month.

That was the end of tubes for me.

There was a great deal of experimentation with rims, and rim strips and sealants and tape and combinations thereof, but these days its so much easier. When people say they can't be bothered with the faff, I'm genuinely a bit confused by what they mean.

The only thing that is extra is that my tyres seem to lose air so readily as to need checking every week. I suspect this is probably me running lighter casings than I ought to for my weight and riding style, but since lower pressures have a narrower performance margin, it's perhaps not a bad thing I have to check them frequently.

Despite this, I'm not going back to tubes, ever.

Would never go back to tubes. Tubes you either need to put 40psi in and ping all over the place, or pinch flat every ride. Think my record was 6 pinch flats in one day on the dh bike at antur.

With an airshot it's been years since any problems with inflation, and I find with orange seal endurance I'll get six months out of the sealant, which is usually time for a new rear tyre anyway, or a five min job to add some more.

Me, and I ride regularly. I've tried tubeless a few times and it's always gone wrong. I use the tubes with slime in them. Haven't punctured for over a year now.

When people say they can’t be bothered with the faff, I’m genuinely a bit confused by what they mean.

How often do you change tyres?
I'm one of these people who is put off by the faff. For instance I have different tyres for my race bike depending on what I'll be riding on, hard/soft ground, wet/dry weather, etc.
Currently a five minute job to change a pair of tyres if I need to, how easy is it to change a tubeless pair? And no, I can't afford another set of those wheels!
Am I overthinking this? I've seen a lot of people struggle before a race, is it normally really simple and they are just outliers and I never notice the ones who who do it really easily as they don't take long or is tubeless best if you just have one set of tyres for everything?

I'm a reluctant tubeless rider. I'll have months without problems then get something like a double flat landing on a rocky track. I've fount the pinch flats i get with tubeless often wreck the tape and so you have to retape ... and sometimes i even stuff that up. Need to get a big batch of Tesa tape sometime but never get around to it.

I have one out of four wheels that i've given up on - can never get tape to work so it's staying tubed.

Tubes in my cross and road bikes definitely change how the bike rides. Much better tubeless.

Also I found multiple thorns in one tyre when changing them on my cross bike last weekend. They were still holding air just fine, found similar on changing past road tyres.

My rigid and hardtail would pinch flat every ride with tubes.

Tubeless on my xc full sus are primarily there to avoid the hassle of punctures.

I like how if you do get a puncture on a tubeless/tubeless ready tyre, it doesn't tend to roll off the rim like non tubeless tyres used to do. They're are much harder to seal though if used with tubes, which is a pain.

I have pinch flatted numerous tubeless tyres even though they were set up tubeless. Nothing a rasher thingy can't fix, you don't even need to remove the tyre from the rim.

So tubeless tyres aren't unbreakable but I still like them.

A dinged rim can end up not holding air when tubeless. I have however straightened a few that then sealed fine.

I only have one bike. I ride the bike at least 3 times a week. I run with pressure of around 35psi in a 33c Cross tyre.
With tubes I got a puncture at least once every 2 weeks, with higher less comfortable pressures (sharp flint from gravel).
With tubeless, last puncture was around a year ago and I just stopped and inflated it with mini pump giving sealant a chance to seal.

I would never go back to tubes.

@Andrewh

Currently a five minute job to change a pair of tyres if I need to, how easy is it to change a tubeless pair?

10 minutes?
@wheelsonfire1

Modern tyres are so thick and heavy that punctures aren’t a thing for me unless I’m unlucky with a nail from a horses hoof

Except (generally speaking) thick heavy tyres are horrible to ride. Tubes make them even worse!

Tubes here. Riding comes a distant priority with a young family and busy work. Also, choosing which bike depending on weather/how I'm feeling means no one bike gets ridden enough to warrant a switch, or the time to do so!
And finally, I hate the way a bike feels on low pressure tyres. Just squishy and unpredictable, probably from starting in the 90's where a 1.9" tyre at 40psi was considered wide and soft!!

And FWIW, i sometimes leave bikes a year between use, only had sealant dry out a couple of times in the last 15 years...

but feel I’m being pushed that way against my will by rim and tyre technologies.

But both of those technologies now make tubeless the easy option. Your essentially making the argument that because suspension forks weren't great in the  90's you shan't bother now, or hydro brakes leaked when they were developed, so there's no point installing them.

Currently a five minute job to change a pair of tyres if I need to, how easy is it to change a tubeless pair?

Really only a few minutes more. I changed my tyres over the other day and it was completey painless. Remove tyre from rim and give the rim a wipe, popped the new tyre on leaving a little bit of bead open, sucked out the sealent from the old tyre with a syringe and squirted it into the new on then added a bit more from the bottle. closed the remianing tyre bead and pumped it up.

Admittedly one of the tyres wouldn't go up with a track pump so I used a compressor, but you don't need a compressor, as other smaller systems are available. Airshot and the like...

My gravel tyres always go up with a track pump.

I have several bikes all still running tubes. The family have several bikes all still using tubes. I used to be a serial tyre swapper so don't want the perceived faff of having to re seal every time. In reality I don't really swap tyres out so much any more but have never felt the need to to go tubeless. Being a 50 year old fat lad of 14 1/2 stone I don't see the benefit of being able to run super low pressures and only vary between 25 - 30 psi. I am not mentioning how often I puncture as that would be to court fate.

I run rigid forks (and hydraulic brakes) because I like riding bikes more than I like cleaning, maintaining and servicing them. I've yet to be convinced that occasionally having to take five minutes to pop in a spare tube is worth the extra time in the garage or yard setting up and maintaining tubeless systems. That last but one post kind of reinforces this opinion rather than reassuring me otherwise!

TBH I don't understand the faff argument at all. Other than my Fatbike, I've managed tubeless with just cheapo valves and a standard track pump and it's better that any additional time us spent in my garage than trying to change a tube out in some cold, wet, muddy hill. I've 5 bikes set up tubeless at the moment (7 wheelsets) and regardless of time between riding each it's normally just a case of restoring any pressure loss before a ride.

I've not gone tubeless on my road bike yet but will do when the current tyres need replacing.

I'm riding tubeless but don't rate it as an outright better solution to tubes - both are absolutely fine but work differently.

Issues with tubeless - as much as it was hailed as better and lighter when it was first being branded about - it wasn't - tyres are heavier, adding sealant adds weight, inserts were then 'invented' to help protect rims (and add more weight) and unless you like a saggy/squirmy feel from your tyres then you don't actually ride them much softer than something with tubes (actually it might be - I'm a 1/3rd less psi with tubeless, so that last bit might be proper mince rather than just my mince opinion). It is more faff than tubes when it comes to replacing tyres as you then have the added excitement of getting the sealant in and the tyre seated to be inflated without spilling any sealant over the place (and if you are a regular tyre swapper then it must be seriously annoying as the sealant is wasted). If you do flat out on the trail, unless you can get a proper seal on the tyre/rim and the tyre leakage fixed, you can't ride it out - so need a tube to get you home. You need to remember to 'regularly' top up the sealant.

Pros of tubeless - punctures are fixed instantly (puncture not tyre rips); pressures can be a bit lower and you tend to get more grip. Tyres tend to have thicker and sturdier sidewall and tyres don't deform as much.

Issues with tubes - the light ones are very fragile and tend to be expensive, replacing a tyre always runs the risk of a pinch puncture, if you do run lower pressures the risk of pinch punctures are far greater and much more likely. When a tube does fail, unless you get proper sticking on the patch then the tyre needs repaired again - tubeless tends to be repaired instantly and pretty permanently (saying that a properly applied puncture repair patch will be permanent as well). Tyres are lighter (or can be) as you don't need such a strong case. Cheap inner tubes can be quite heavy.

Pros of tubes - changing a tyre is much cleaner and easier/quicker - I can change a tubeless tyre in about 5 minutes or so but a tubed tyre is only 2 or 3 minutes and it is a much cleaner experience. Serial tyre changers have less mess and hassle with a tubed system. Decent inner tubes aren't that heavy so a tubed tyre (so a single skin sidewall type thing) and a decent tube is probably not any heavier than a tubeless set up.

I'm posting this more as a therapy for myself - I'm still not convinced tubeless is a real winner but I'll keep using it as I've got it, but if I every buy a new bike (or new set of wheels) then I'm likely to use tubes as there is less faff getting them set and less 'regular' checks.

I get asked at coaching which is better and I tend to respond with ride what you have, if you want to change then do so, but it isn't likely to be a real transformational change to improve your riding.

I’ve yet to be convinced that occasionally having to take five minutes to pop in a spare tube is worth the extra time in the garage or yard setting up and maintaining tubeless systems.

There is an element of luck with tubeless which doesn't need to exist with tubes.
My current tyres, Schwalbe X Ones, went onto rim easily just using hands, and pumped up immediately with a track pump. Added sealant through valve and done. Time and faff comparing to tube was marginal

Haven't touched them since installing them 3 months ago. If I had been running tubes I would have expected at least 3 or 4 punctures by now with the faff, real faff, of fixing a flat tube or putting in a new one with muddy tyres, cold wet hands etc,.

 I used to be a serial tyre swapper so don’t want the perceived faff of having to re seal every time.

but tubeless tyres make that problem go away. I change tyre as often as I did back when ran tubes, it's no more hard now that it was then.

 I’ve yet to be convinced that occasionally having to take five minutes to pop in a spare tube is worth the extra time in the garage or yard setting up and maintaining tubeless systems

the extra time is adding sealant. a 30 sec job maybe? That's it.

Anyone run tubes containing sealant? I see Muc Off have a specific inner tube sealant, which is different to their tubeless sealant:
https://muc-off.com/products/inner-tube-sealant

I tried the slime filled tubes many years ago and they eventually dried up inside and had to be chucked. The Muc Off stuff claims to not dry out in a similar way.

I tend to retape every 3 or so tyres. That is a faff and costs more money. And if you stuff it up means you spend ages redoing it all.

Anyone run tubes containing sealant?

I have done in the past but found the sealed holes would reopen (daily commuter). Whilst they would reseal it was a pain and I sacked them off after a few months once the fluid had run out.

They can be a bitch to fix a snake bite puncture as the goo can prevent patches from sticking to the tube.

I'm 50/50 on tubes/tubeless on the outdoor bikes.

5 bikes here, 3 tubed, 2 tubeless. But the two tubeless are my MTBs. the cargo, brompton and gravel/commuter bikes are all tubed and work fine. Although my gravel/commuter has marathon plus tyres which are very puncture resistant, although this bike gets ridden the least

All the other bikes we have as a family are tubed becaused they aren't ridden much