Going tubeless ... the daunting made easy ...

[hookooekoo]

Good read, but it’s finally convinced me not to bother

That's what I thought. It does sound like a lot of agro. Although I can understand why some people prefer tubeless, especially on more modern setups.

 

[hookooekoo]

Does anyone run tubeless on bikes with rim brakes?

Reason I'm asking is that if you have rim brakes, then you always want to have enough pressure in the tyre to prevent any possibility of bottoming out the air in the tyre when you hit a bump/rock. If you bottom out, you may damage the rim, and then you'll have to put up with the brakes grabbing slightly on each revolution of the wheel until you replace the rim. Of course that may not matter so much with disc brakes, because the rim is not a braking surface, so it doesn't matter so much if you splay the rim surfaces slightly on a bump/rock.

And if you're wondering, then yes, I am posting this from bitter experience of having damaged a rim slightly on a bump/rock, then having to put up with the brakes grabbing slightly. It's put me right off using low tyre pressures. But low tyre pressures are reportedly one of the benefits of going tubeless.

 

[hookooekoo]

And actually you mention something which really bothers me about tubeless - I reckon that there are a lot of tyres abondoned because of larger holes, which would would have been perfectly serviceable with a tube. And that's bad. I still try to wear out all my tyres - running some bikes tubeless and some with tubes. The wounded tyres go onto the tubed wheelsets.

I wonder how many cycle tyres there are dumped around the world, must be starting to add up.

Just wait until we're all forced onto solid tyres to reduce the environmental impact.

 

[fergusd]

Just wait until we're all forced onto solid tyres to reduce the environmental impact.

Tubeless tyres are just as repairable as inner tubes, you just need to use the correct patches and adhesive (car ones). Even if your patch is not absolutely air tight, the sealant in the tyre quickly sorts that out. my rear tyre on my daily offroad ride was punctured in 3 places, including once in the sidewall by the bead (in one incident - rock garden - insufficient pressure, too much speed, couldn't stop), and was repaired and holds air just like a brand new tyre . . . that needed a tube to get me home, a rare event these days.

 

[hookooekoo]

Tubeless tyres are just as repairable as inner tubes, you just need to use the correct patches and adhesive (car ones). Even if your patch is not absolutely air tight, the sealant in the tyre quickly sorts that out. my rear tyre on my daily offroad ride was punctured in 3 places, including once in the sidewall by the bead (in one incident - rock garden - insufficient pressure, too much speed, couldn't stop), and was repaired and holds air just like a brand new tyre . . . that needed a tube to get me home, a rare event these days.

Can you apply a patch with the sealant sloshing around inside the tyre, or do you have to clean the sealant out first?

 

[clubby]

Can you apply a patch with the sealant sloshing around inside the tyre, or do you have to clean the sealant out first?

Needs a good clean first. I use isopropyl or disc brake cleaner to get rid of sealant residue. Sealant can be scooped up in an aerosol lid and re-used.

 

[2manyoranges]

Or spread all over the countryside - which is our experience ... and then grappling with inserting an inner tube which gets covered in slime and handles like pigs’ intestines....

 

[hookooekoo]

Or spread all over the countryside - which is our experience ... and then grappling with inserting an inner tube which gets covered in slime and handles like pigs’ intestines....

Sounds like a good, clean dirty day out!

 

[2manyoranges]

FergusD - that recommendation re patches and glue is very interesting...the process of going tubeless is one which there has initially to be quite a leap in learning, and then like many new things, there are new bits of learning which come along the way as you get experience. After approaching the first set up very systematically, using lots of videos and articles, I can now set up wheels extremely quickly, and with 100 per cent success. The first day of much frustration with tubeless came in Wales, after a 5mm rip in the Grom’s rear Hans Dampf. Learning 1: reviews of MucOff sealant says it seals holes made with a 6mm screwdriver - well in the Welsh dampness it did not seal a 5mm hole. And we didn’t have any darts or such with us. We’d already done tubeless learning 1: always carry a tube with you (walk of shame had taught me that. And Learning 2: top up the sealant regularly. So that day in Wales brought more: Learning 3: carry plugs with you. Learning 4: MucOff sealant does not seem to be as good as Stan’s.

And back home, Learning 5: if sealant has spurted out over a carbon frame, cleaning it off after it has set is a pain, compared with wiping and rinsing immediately.

And now 6: after I repaired the 5mm rip with a very old thick patch and TipTop, I will follow FergusD’s advice and use car patches and adhesive.

 

[mattr]

Does anyone run tubeless on bikes with rim brakes?

Yeah, i've run it on a couple of CX bikes. Never had an issue with it, and i've had the tyres down to ~1.2bar, it's even using non-tubeless roadie rims (Open Pro) AND non-tubeless tyres. I even use the CX bike for MTB rides just to mix it up (but maybe 1.8-2bar).
Been like that 6 or 7 years. The ex runs a similar set up but discs and tubeless ready Stans CX rims (not tyres) and hasn't had an issue (dented rim, or puncture) in about the same period.

My Retro MTB has been run tubelessly (using Michelin WildGripper sprints IIRC) thats using XTR Vs, no issues there in the year or two i had it like that (two seasons of racing!), swapped back to tubes, as these days it only gets ridden once or twice a year, if that.