[Closed] Tubeless - is it worth it?

Some do, some don't. I can get mine off with one or two tyre levers and hardly any effort. I can sort a puncture out on the trail quicker then I can with a tubed tyre.

So yes, to me, it's entirely worth it. Never going back.

I like tubeless for avoiding thorn punctures (often link-up bits on canal towpaths). Otherwise I'm yet to see any great advantage, although I've defnly avoided a couple of snakebites.

The downside in my mind is that if/when it goes wrong it could be game over and a long walk home.

Can roll a tubeless off by hand here, no more difficult than any other...

Sort punctures without removing the tyre?

I'd go for it.

Weighs less, punctures less, more grip. What's not to like.

YMMV

Have had tubeless running for a few years now and doubt I would ever go back. Much less hassle and if you are worrying about punctures then just carry a spare tube, which you would probably be carrying anyway. Dead easy to put a tube in then sort out the puncture when you have finished your ride.

I was having the same thoughts "is it worth it" decided to go for it gone from Mavic 721's with fat alberts 2.4 to high rollers lust even with less grip than the fat alberts i have noticed as you can run lower pressures you get more grip so i would highly recommend it 🙂

Yep, go tubeless.

Spec Stans Crests and some TLR tyres as a good starting point.

I was just thinking about this yesterday as I did my annual check and top-up of the Stan's latex inside my tubeless tyres.

I would never go back, but I deliberately went for a faff-free system, probably sacrificing some weight. Have UST rims (Mavic 819 on Hope Pro2) and UST tyres which stay on all year (Maxxis Advantage). They go up with a track pump, and don't need any kind of rim tape. Just another step towards a low maintenance bike.

Lower pressures, no snakebite punctures, and indeed no punctures at all for the two years I've been using them. Others' experience may be different of course.

What's not to like

The price of the tyres I like!

Fair enough, I use the same Schwalbe tyres either way, but save on inner tubes, so it's cheaper as well!

what they said.

more grip, less punctures, less faff, more riding.

Thanks fellas.

I still carry a tube, but only as a token gesture. If it punctured enough that the tyre wouldnt hold air, chances are it wont hold a tube properly so you're walking either way.

If I was to go on an epic length ride, which hasnt happened since I went tubeless, I would take something to patch it up or a sewing kit or whatever.

FWIW, and other people's opinions will vary, I prefer tubeless to not but I have found that doing the "ghetto" method on a normal rim using a BMX inner tube as the sealing strip is as reliable or more so than the likes of Stans rims. Full UST rims from Mavic are mega reliable (when used with UST tyres), but are heavy and very narrow for what they are.

I've run Mavic 521 rims a while now, with the Ghetto method, and not had a single issue. I also currently run a pair of Roval Traverse EL wheels with rims very similar to Stans on, and as long as you use proper tubeless tyres on them too they're fine. Non tubeless type tyres are more prone to burping though, which IMO is the big issue when it comes to a reliable tubeless setup. I'd rather run the heavier tubeless tyres on lighter non UST rims for an effective solution than the other way round myself.

Yes.

I think its worth it, unless you change tyres every ride, then its probably a ball ache. For me, riding through bramble bushes with no puncture anxiety makes it worth it.

What's not to like?

the price of rims that work properly.

legs, socks and shoes covered in jizz if you haven't spend £xxx on rims that work properly, and have the cheek to ride over a rock.

everything getting covered in jizz when you just can't get the sodding tyre to inflate.

spending hours trying to find the right number of layers of eleccy tape to use so that the tyre is tight enough to inflate, but loose enough so that you can still get it on.

is it worth it?

for me, no, i can't make it work (yes, i've tried, the rambling above is all from personal experience), and can't afford the wheel re-build necessary to make making it work more likely.

great idea though...

After using ghetto methods for a few years and recently getting proper tubeless rims I'd say it worth it if you get regular flats. Ghetto is a fair bit of hassle though still overall less hassle than the punctures I got before. Proper tubeless is massively better and not much more effort then just using tubes.

Just been fitting schwalbe tubeless tyres to crest 29ers this eve with stans kit. Time consuming first time following all the instructions but zero faff and straight up with a track pump even without sealant in. Looking forward to trying them on the trails 😀

Edit: couldn't be bothered before on 26er as nom tubeless rims/tyres and too big a choice of tyres but if all goes well i'd be tempted to ghetto them too...