I don’t really see the point of going tubeless for (mostly) road use. For mountain biking where pinch punctures are a curse, absolutely. But on both my road/gravel-ish bikes I’m happy enough with traditional inner tubes. It only takes about ten mins to swap a tube after a puncture and (fingers crossed) I only seem to get a couple a year. Currently with WTB Byways on the Vado SL and Gravel Kings SS on my Salsa Vaya. Both good tyres through the Panny ones do seem more prone to punctures. Maybe I’m lazy but it’s seems too much icky faff for little benefit on road.
Catastrophic Blow-out
- Thread starter Sparky731
- Start date
fooferdoggie
Well-Known Member
I sure like them, especially on the tandem. I get a softer ride but with great flat protection and so far I have only had to put a tube in twice I think. That was when there was a cut on the bead. its a not a perfect solution and it's a bit more work. changing a flat on the tandem is a real pain but now I have never had a flat except once with a cut in the inner sidewall ( later found out what I thought was tubeless tires were the tube version) like today we heard a load hiss on the time a few random times till I realized it was the rear tire. I think the tire was low on sealant why it kept opening back up but put a plug in it and some CO2 and was off again maybe 5 minutes. on my trek I can run really fast tires at a lower psi. no way I could use those tires with a tube or I would be fixing flats every week or more often.
mschwett
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
it depends on the roads, and the desired tire characteristics for sure. i'll just say this - in over 15,000 miles of road riding on the same set of roads in and around san francisco, by far the most frustrating period was the 1,000 miles or so that i rode on the aethos with tubes. many flats. many rides ruined. yes, i can change a tube, but in no way did i enjoy getting delayed when i needed to be somewhere, a quick 45 minute ride turning into 30 minutes on the bike and 15 minutes of screwing around on the side of the road, the stress of not being sure if i'd be able to get a flat fixed halfway out on a century, or rides completely ruined by multiple flats due to some nearly microscopic piece of glass left in the carcass. tubeless is better in every way for me, less (essentially no) stuff to carry, and literally zero ride ending flats in those other 14,000 miles. i had a small puncture at the top of a 1,000+ meter descent, and i didn't even stop. a little sealant spewed out and i could tell the tire held, so i just bombed it. hit it with a tiny bit of CO2 at the bottom, rode another 20 miles. i splattered some sealant the first two or three times i set it up, piece of cake now.
the only similarly trouble free tubed setup i've ridden on the road were gatorskin hardshells on my creo for 500 miles or so, and yeah, no flats. but tires like that are why people think bicycles need suspensions
fair points
Fair points and definitely to each their own. If I rode a lightweight bike like the Aethos I wouldn't want heavy puncture resistant tyres either. Would ruin the feel of the bike. Nor do I ride as many miles as you so my percentage of flats is also lower.it depends on the roads, and the desired tire characteristics for sure. i'll just say this - in over 15,000 miles of road riding on the same set of roads in and around san francisco, by far the most frustrating period was the 1,000 miles or so that i rode on the aethos with tubes. many flats. many rides ruined. yes, i can change a tube, but in no way did i enjoy getting delayed when i needed to be somewhere, a quick 45 minute ride turning into 30 minutes on the bike and 15 minutes of screwing around on the side of the road, the stress of not being sure if i'd be able to get a flat fixed halfway out on a century, or rides completely ruined by multiple flats due to some nearly microscopic piece of glass left in the carcass. tubeless is better in every way for me, less (essentially no) stuff to carry, and literally zero ride ending flats in those other 14,000 miles. i had a small puncture at the top of a 1,000+ meter descent, and i didn't even stop. a little sealant spewed out and i could tell the tire held, so i just bombed it. hit it with a tiny bit of CO2 at the bottom, rode another 20 miles. i splattered some sealant the first two or three times i set it up, piece of cake now.
the only similarly trouble free tubed setup i've ridden on the road were gatorskin hardshells on my creo for 500 miles or so, and yeah, no flats. but tires like that are why people think bicycles need suspensions
nice write up about what size and type of tyres they are using at this year's TdF. Up to 32mm for the gravel sections day yesterday.
road.cc
32mm rubber, tubeless galore and more prototypes from Pirelli: what tyres did the Tour de France pros use on the epic gravel stage 9?
With wider rubber on display than we've ever seen in the modern Tour de France, are the pros' one-off tyre choices for Le Tour's foray onto gravel more suitable for riding on British roads than regular road bike tyres?
Prairie Dog
Well-Known Member
- Region
- Canada
- City
- Red Deer
I run tubeless on both my epic evo as well as my Levo for that very reason. However, like you I just find it much more convenient to run tubes on the fleet including our road bikes plus we have yet to experience punctures on our local roads.
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