Go tubeless?

413x

413x

413x

Caporegime
Joined
13 Jan 2010
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Llaneirwg
I've had 2 punctures out and about now and it's getting annoying.

I've heard good things about tubeless but not 100 percent sure if it's a definite good idea and what's involved.

Also is there any real difference between kits?

Have a 29 inch hard tail ebike and do a lot of red grade trails. Hence punctures.
 
I thought about it in the spring and spoke to the fella at my local bike shop about it at length. No punctures and a better ride. What's not to like?

I ended up not doing it though, mainly because if push comes to shove, I like to be able to fix things myself. I watched him fit tubeless tyres on a bike and decided it wasn't for me. I'm glad I didn't as his shop has closed!

I did put new tyres on my bike this year though and put some of these on. https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Panaracer-Flataway-Kevlar-Puncture-Protection_424.htm?sku=48154

I also put a fat inner tube in my rear wheel. Ones designed for delivery riders. I'm heavy (over 100kg) and I think that's made some difference. I usually get a couple of punctures over the summer but had none this year.
 
It's a revelation...I'll never go back. Some of the things that I've found in/through my tires these past 4 years prove just how good it is (and how many punctures I would have had!). I went with Stans but the initial outlay can be a bit offputting for sure
 
inogen said:
I thought about it in the spring and spoke to the fella at my local bike shop about it at length. No punctures and a better ride. What's not to like?

I ended up not doing it though, mainly because if push comes to shove, I like to be able to fix things myself. I watched him fit tubeless tyres on a bike and decided it wasn't for me. I'm glad I didn't as his shop has closed!

I did put new tyres on my bike this year though and put some of these on. https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Panaracer-Flataway-Kevlar-Puncture-Protection_424.htm?sku=48154

I also put a fat inner tube in my rear wheel. Ones designed for delivery riders. I'm heavy (over 100kg) and I think that's made some difference. I usually get a couple of punctures over the summer but had none this year.
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I'd strongly recommend going ahead with it anyway - Not a difficult job to do to begin with, and if you do manage to get a puncture on a trail you can still just chuck in a tube to finish your ride. I've been running tubeless without a single puncture (touch wood!) - and I'm over 100KG riding a hardtail bike on downhill/freeride trails.
 
Yeah I thought this would be the case.
Having never had a puncture on my road bike I'm surprised I've had 2 already on my MTB. I mean it's not surprising. As the punishment is ridiculous.

Thanks guys I'll go for it.
 
Caseh said:
I'd strongly recommend going ahead with it anyway - Not a difficult job to do to begin with, and if you do manage to get a puncture on a trail you can still just chuck in a tube to finish your ride. I've been running tubeless without a single puncture (touch wood!) - and I'm over 100KG riding a hardtail bike on downhill/freeride trails.
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Yeah, I think I might take the plunge at some point. No sense in fixing what ain't broke at the moment though. And I think I'd have to change my rims...
 
It has it's disadvantages too, it can be a massive pain to setup (depending on rim/tyre/type/pump combo) fixing on the trial can be harder if you want to keep it tubeless for the rest of the ride. It is also more expensive with the cost of sealant. Are you running your pressures too high/low at the moment? Not all rims are TR, I'd assume if you have a modern ebike though then they should be.

I'd still always run tubeless over tubed even if it's a pain at times.
 
I heard it can be a pain to fit tubeless tyres/rims, and also inflating them (special tubeless pump required). I've seen people using the hot soapy water and brush method which seems to work if you can't get an airtight seal.
 
Palladium said:
I heard it can be a pain to fit tubeless tyres/rims, and also inflating them (special tubeless pump required). I've seen people using the hot soapy water and brush method which seems to work if you can't get an airtight seal.
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I've never needed anything special. and the pump is just a standard Rennkompressor that's about 9/10 year old
 
Depends if your wheels and tyres are tubeless ready for a start.

You could try getting s couple of inner tubes with removable valve bodies and put the sealant in the inner tube.

Worked really well for me until I went fully tubeless. Still need to carry a spare inner tube incase of major damage...
 
Pet said:
I'd prefer to stick with what I know and wouldn't jump on the tubeless bandwagon.
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You mean the 10 year old tubeless bandwagon? Been tubeless in MTB since 2012 and road bike since 2017. In that time I've had 3 punctures, one MTB, two road. None of them have required anything more than a top up of air to sort out.
 
Another one here that has jumped on the bandwagon. Perhaps you should ask yourself why pretty much everyone is doing it...

Lower pressures = better grip = faster and more fun
Tubeless = less punctures

I love tubeless and have it on my road bike and MTB.
 
Off road it's great for mtb and off road riding, although I've struggled with tubeless for cx racing to allow me to run pressures low enough without the risk of burping, but this is quite a niche requirement. I didn't ever get my road set up quite right so just went back to tubes.
 
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