[Closed] Gravel tubeless, do people bother?

WTB Sendero? Yup ran them and the byways on my gravel bike tubeless, didn't see a reason not to.

I wouldn't touch tubes on my gravel bike, no way would I be able to run the pressures i do with tubes, I think I'm on 34-36psi with senderos on 25mmID rims (I am >100kgs) thinking back to my tubed MTB days, I'd be looking at 42-44 to stop pinch flats.

Absolutely.

First time I went out on my gravel bike with 43mm Gravel King SKs I got home with a thorn stuck in the tyre. I hadn't even noticed, but if it hadn't been tubeless I would have had to fix it on the trail. So yes, I think it's worth it.

Yes, 100% do it.

On a Gravel bike I found I ran tyre pressures lower, relative to their width, if you see what I mean. MTB runs 2.4ish tyres at 26psi rear, Gravel bike 42mm tyres at 35psi ish, not much more for a tyre half the volume.

To me tubeless is one of the key things that enabled the 'gravel' genre, alongside drop bar compatible disc brakes, it's part of what makes a gravel bike.

Probably a better question is “is there anybody left that doesn’t bother”?

yep, 100%. After 4 punctures on one ride I made the swap. best decision ever.

Its got to the point that if I have a tube in I feel like I'm just waiting for that puncture. Tubeless on every bike of every description.

My two cx bikes both have one wheel tubed and one tubeless atm and it’s been like that for months.No issues either way, so I’m probably ambivalent on the matter.

Yes, 100% do it

2nd this

yes and carry dynaplugs (mega,regular) for the win..

i even coverted a few roadies to tubeless simplicity, leisurely ride went over a bolt in the road, a bang, sealant everywhere, 2 min job dynaplug and pumped back up,

Essential - more so than a mountain bike, even, if you're doing anything remotely rough on the bike.

Wow! Thank you all. I will do it!

As usual I'll be the one voice of (sort of) dissent.

I ran Vittoria Terreno Dry tyres in 40mm size with latex tubes for a whole summer of at times fast, rocky and sometimes semi-laden (bikepacking lite 😎 ) gravel.

I honestly wondered what the fuss about tubeless was, my wheels felt fast, supple, grippy and just generally great. Pals with tubeless all seemed to suffer more punctures and faffing with dislodged dynaplugs or dinged rims that wouldn't seal. At least two rides ended with tubeless riders having to stop and stick tubes in to get home.

On the dinged rims point - I think there is only so far you can go lowering pressures before you just start pinching tyres or dinging rims instead.

Come winter though I had to go tubeless as my winter CX tyres were paper thin and Hawthorne cutting season meant multiple flats the morning after a ride. If it weren't for hawthornes I'd still be running tubes.

Needless to say, going tubeless was a monumental pain the in the arse requiring new tools, special inflator tanks, sealant, valves, rim strips etc. I don't mind the cost of new kit, but I do fear changing back to my summer tyres or having to fix anything out on the trail.

Sooo... maybe run what you have to begin with and see how you get on?

As above if you don’t you will seriously regret it!

I was waiting for 13th Floor Monk, Mr 1995 himself, to appear 😉

I swear by tubeless for gravel. I'd not bother on road and if I were exclusively commuting on the gravel bike I'd probably actually use tubes and a puncture proof belt but being able to run supple decent weight tyres without any fear of pinch punctures when pinging down rocky stuff is great. If you do puncture, wang in a plug, pump it up, carry on.

My main caveat for this is you need tyres with tougher sidewalls, which for gravel tends to mean cheaper wire bead low TPI casings. I love Bontrager GR1 Comps.

Less punctures from thorns etc, not a gamechanger but nice to have

I was waiting for 13th Floor Monk, Mr 1995 himself, to appear

Mr 1995 yet somehow, bafflingly still keeping up with the 2021 bikes despite obsolete brakes and archaic tyre technology 😎

Anyway, these threads always need an alternative point of view to keep them interesting!

Yeah, I am not sure I will "seriously regret it" if I don't....I have ran my gravel bike for a year without, just wanted to be convinced to convert it.

As aboce really , I just took delivery of a Trek checkpoint last week did 2 rides whilst I waited for my gravel kings to arrive. the stock tyres were utter shite and I actually kept the rides short as felt they were a puncture waiting to happen. I cant imagine running any bikes without being tubeless. I would have to add I had to get Davesports help with his compressor to mount the tyres as the my SKS tubeless pump wouldnt look at them .

First thing I did when I got mine was to set up the tyres tubeless. I dont get this new tool bollox, if you've got a good track pump that'll do.

I actually kept the rides short as felt they were a puncture waiting to happen. I cant imagine running any bikes without being tubeless

Honestly? Sure you haven't just read one too many threads like this one?

I mean, fair play, if people like tubeless or if you have the time and money to experiment and see what works then why not, but this sort of hysteria that 'you can't possibly ride offroad/gravel without tubeless' just gets a bit silly, almost on a par with 'you can't possibly ride in the wet without disc brakes' etc. etc. 😉

@13thfloormonk - sorry I disagree 😉

What’s wrong with offering advice based upon experience. I for sure would never even contemplate riding anything remotely ‘proper’ ‘gravel’ unless my set up was tubeless

You take it or leave it

@beefy - you must be the luckiest gravel rider alive to have run 1 year with tubes an no problems!

Fair play to you 😀

@lillski74

Advice based on experience? Absolutely

Hyperbole like 'it's essential' or '100% required' or 'you'll seriously regret it if you don't' just results in people saying things like 'I was frightened to ride off-road with tubes so I cut my rides short'.

I guess in a round-about way I'm just being very arrogant in thinking that I'm riding fast enough and hard enough that my example is relevant, but frankly, when I'm mashing big gears down rocky landy tracks such that rocks are literally bouncing up and bloodying my shin, and yet miraculously my inner tube-d wheels are not instantly and catastrophically puncturing, well, it makes me think that maybe tubeless isn't really as essential as people make it out to be.

@13thfloormonl - fair enough buddy each to their own!

Happy riding 😀

you can’t possibly ride in the wet without disc brakes

I can ride just fine in the wet without disc brakes. Just can't stop, that's all. No biggie 😉

As above if you don’t you will seriously regret it!

I didn't. I got lots of punctures. I bought some sealant, valves and tape.

I must be doing something wrong.

I've been riding "gravel" for a decade or more, long mixed rides, my commute is around 30km of which 80% is off road. Must have done 15,000 km? Never run tubeless and have had maybe 3 punctures.

So no it's certainly not "essential’ or ‘100% required’ or ‘you’ll seriously regret it if you don’t".

I do run disc brakes though. 🙂

Been riding gravel (without it being called gravel) since my Tricross 15 odd years ago. Still riding the same routes, different bike. Get very few if any punctures now but I'm not riding tubeless. Don't think I've had a puncture in the last 2 years. Just think the tyres have got much better and I'm not having any problems riding at 25 - 30 psi. I'd probably like to go tubeless but haven't found a tyre I want to stick with yet and definitely change between winter and summer tyres.

Edit: just seen the post above. Big fan of disc brakes too!

I’d do it. But then I run 2.25”’s on my gravel bike so it’s basically a mountain bike anyway.

I've never bothered going tubeless on my mountain bike. It's a solution to a problem I don't have, and raises a whole bunch of new issues I can't be arsed dealing with.

But..

I'm accumulating the bits for a rebuild of my monstercross at the end of winter - and I'll be running it tubeless. Had too many issues with thorns (including both front and rear flats on a ride last week), using 2.25" gravel tyres that are nice and fast, but useless at dealing with sharp, spiky stuff when they've got tubes inside them.

I have tubes on my graven bike having botched taping the rims.

Next tyres I'll retape and run tubeless. But the puncture rate hasn't been that high. I'm sure you can lower pressures. But I don't think it's night and day. I'm 30 psi front and 35 psi rear and 95kg. But fairly gentle in bumpy downs

To me (tubeless early adopter for MTB) the big benefit of tubeless is thorn/small sharp object punctures and/or dog turd hands mid tube change.

I ride MTB in a fair few places that involve copious numbers of thorns.

Tubeless is not IME a total saviour against "snakebite" damage, they can move and slice the casing at the bead and it doesn't prevent sidewall tears either. It also is an enabler for lower pressures / suppleness.

When a tubeless tyre is past "plug" point it's a messy horrible job trailside but that's likely much less often.

I've just bought a gravel bike. Jury is out for me on whether it will get the tubeless treatment, I think I might favour ease of tyre swapping between road and off road over the odd puncture but that's also a function of planning to use the bike for a mixture of rough/back lanes riding and proper ish off road that arguably want a quick tyre change between.

I think my view is it really is about your priorities, your riding spots and your preference as much as it is about outright / on paper performance.

Where I ride my gravel bike I've had quite a lot of thorn punctures over the years, so for me for that reason alone tubeless made a big difference, but I also think the lower pressures you can get away with, and the "feel" of that with some tyres, makes a big difference to me.

I'd only had a couple of pinch flats and there's some risk of dinged rims just the same, so I'm not so excited about that side of things.

However, I'm someone who's been on tubeless on mtb for years so I associate no faff with it at all really, I suppose because I've got the kit and it just works. Gravel tubeless is no different IME.

Yup... Only on the rear at the moment. Was inspired to do so after getting a puncture and walking about 5km home in my Disco slippers.

Tubeless gives a better ride, and I don’t think it’s just to do with lower pressures, i think it’s because the sidewalls are a little more supple compared to having a tube in there (i tried both at the same 30psi)
Tubeless is also, in my experiment, lighter.
I haven’t compared tubeless with a nice latex tube though.
Is TL worth it?
Not for me, but it might be for you, only you can ultimately decide.
I’ve only tried it on one bike, comparing 2 tyres (1 front, 1 rear) with a normal (not super light) tube vs tubeless with a generous amount of sealant (ie, I didn’t skimp)
Horses for courses innit.
But re punctures, TL is better, no question about that.