Tell me about tubeless...

[KeepItSteel]

ok,
picked up (yet another) bike on sunday, and this time it comes with tubeless rims and tyres that claim to be 'tubeless ready'.

I havent had a chance to check if a tube is installed or not, and although ive been tempted to look into tubless systems for quite a while ive never gotten round to reading up on it enough.

So, what have I got? An airtight Mavic rim?
Why would an innertube be fitted?

I remember reading about them being lighter in weight and puncture proof.. does this mean they need 'slime' squirted into them to prevent air escaping when punctured?

Or are they slime free?

Whats the real pro's & con's guys?

 

[ScottishRetro]

They are more puncture proof but not fail safe and you will still need to carry a innertube out onto the trail with you.. A few pals run tubeless and to be honest they are a bit here nor there with it.. Also getting the tyre to seat properly on the rim can be a real pain I have even needed to lend my compressor to a chap to get the job done :roll:..

Weight im not convinced they are any lighter and have even heard they can be a bit heavier as im sure the tyre is a bit more meaty and you will need to use a tyre sealent to avoid thorn punctures etc..

One good thing is you are able to run lower pressures if needed without worry of pinched flats and they should also give a slighty better ride over really hard terrain..

Tubeless was hyped like crazy for a few years and then really died down as people found out that there wasnt that much to be gained..

Just my 2 pence im sure someone will come along and say BS to that but hayho!!

 

[Andy B]

They are more puncture proof but not fail safe and you will still need to carry a innertube out onto the trail with you.. A few pals run tubeless and to be honest they are a bit here nor there with it.. Also getting the tyre to seat properly on the rim can be a real pain I have even needed to lend my compressor to a chap to get the job done :roll:..

Weight im not convinced they are any lighter and have even heard they can be a bit heavier as im sure the tyre is a bit more meaty and you will need to use a tyre sealent to avoid thorn punctures etc..

One good thing is you are able to run lower pressures if needed without worry of pinched flats and they should also give a slighty better ride over really hard terrain..

Tubeless was hyped like crazy for a few years and then really died down as people found out that there wasnt that much to be gained..

Just my 2 pence im sure someone will come along and say BS to that but hayho!!

I pretty much agree with that. The weight loss is in a lot of cases negligible as UST tyres have a heavier carcass, but running them at lower pressures means more grip.

I had no problems fitting tubeless tyres to tubeless rims, no soap to lube and only a track pump (Schwalbe Rocket Ron on Mavic Crossland) maybe I was lucky!

I'm gonna keep running them on one bike and see how they are long term before deciding whether to convert the other bikes to tubeless

 

[dbmtb]

I went tubeless on my modern MTB as I was building up new wheels anyway.

My comments would be
1) Better air retention and easier to fit than "Ghetto" Tubeless.
2) Heavier
3) Less likely to get pinch flats. So far none, even after fitting same wheels to full suspension bike and hammering the hell out of them.
4) Better comfort
5) More expensive than tyre/tube solution and a bit more faffing involved

 

[cannondale king]

done two sets of wheels one ghetto on mavic xc717 disc rims the other on stans olympic light weight's using the 5gram tape and valve set up both with non ust tyres and on the stans i have conti speed king supersonics :shock: so saves about 120grames a wheel in total i havn't noticed much difference other than they roll ok with less pressuer and make live easier for racing (no more thorn or pinch flats) thats about it and they seem a little more comfi compaired to tubed tyre setups

 

[JeRkY]

I was going to say, theres tubeless then there is Stans tubeless, whch run on normal tyres and resist all but the meatiest tear to the tyre.

 

[KeepItSteel]

Thanks for the replys guys.
As suspected it doesnt sound like a leap forward in technology, more a possible small gain.

For those of you running dedicated (non-stan's) tubeless, are you all using tyre sealant or is it possible to get away without it?

If I decide to stick standard tyres on my new bike, is a as straightforward as fitting them with an innder tube, or will I need to mess around with valves etc?

 

[ScottishRetro]

one thing I would add is a few years ago when I was running a motorcycle store one of my good customers was a sales rep for a top cycle company, even he said to me that Tubeless had been over hyped and they would loose cash in the long run due to the 100,000s of inner tubes sold each year and that only a few companys would benefit from the tubeless revoloution (Slime, Stans etc) :roll: ..
They where already looking way past tubeless and thinks the next step in bike design would be belt drive and interal gear hubs for the massies...

 

[dbmtb]

Thanks for the replys guys.
As suspected it doesnt sound like a leap forward in technology, more a possible small gain.

For those of you running dedicated (non-stan's) tubeless, are you all using tyre sealant or is it possible to get away without it?

If I decide to stick standard tyres on my new bike, is a as straightforward as fitting them with an innder tube, or will I need to mess around with valves etc?

No point running tubeless without sealant. You can do it, but I don't.

Re. standard tyres/tubes - yes - just fit them as per normal.

 

[KeepItSteel]

one thing I would add is a few years ago when I was running a motorcycle store one of my good customers was a sales rep for a top cycle company, even he said to me that Tubeless had been over hyped and they would loose cash in the long run due to the 100,000s of inner tubes sold each year and that only a few companys would benefit from the tubeless revoloution (Slime, Stans etc) :roll: ..
They where already looking way past tubeless and thinks the next step in bike design would be belt drive and interal gear hubs for the massies...

having said that, the motorcycle industry never looked back after going tubeless right?
and im sure the likes of Specialized and Cannondale arent too worried about inner tube companies struggling, they'll be more interested in producing bikes that appeal to max amount of customers....hence lighter+faster+puncture proof should in theory end up being a big seller?.

I 100% agree with the internal hub comment though, once theyve got them cracked (in terms of lighter weight) then cycling will never look back.