Right... I'm going tubeless

[mab13]

Research done to death and decision made.

Didn't realise I had no spare 29er tubes so popped online today to buy some and the Stans No Tubes picture was in the corner of my screen. Given my wheels and tyres are tubeless ready and the cost is limited, I'm going to give it a whirl.

I'm hoping I should be able to run lower pressures without the dreaded snake bites and with the added comfort that any punctures should immediately heal themselves, although I will carry a spare tube just in case.

Anyone else running tubeless?

I'll keep you posted with progress...

 

[oldtom]

Anyone else running tubeless?

I don't use them but I have always been interested in how successful, (or otherwise), tubeless cases might be on a spoked wheel.

Look forward to hearing more,

Tom

 

[soundwave]

not had any problems with mine bar hitting a huge bit off glass so had to replace the front tyre and done 500 miles since then and not 1 puncture.

you need to top up the tyre every 3-6 months depending on use ect but thats it and carry a spare tube if you need it just in case.

 

[SRS]

I've been running the same set up on my non electric mtb for most of this year.

Not a single puncture despite having pulled out numerous thorns. Used to have a puncture every other week. Best investment I've made this year.

I still carry a spare tube and have topped up a couple of times so far.

Pressure wise, I can now run a few psi above what I call the squirm level quite happily.

 

[Lumos]

I have gone from tubed to tubeless to latex tubes in the UK on my Haibike AMT Pro. The tiny thorns that I would run over prevented Stans from sealing. This week on my US AMT Pro I went from latex to tubeless as I could not find a very slow leak in the tube and I had an unused bottle of Stans. The AMT Pro use Crank brother rims with externally mounted spokes so it was less than 10 minutes work to be riding again tubeless. Of course on a year old tyre in Colorado the tyre had been peppered by goat heads so it took some sealing those. At a year old the tyres probably need replacement any way.

 

[EddiePJ]

Without doubt, tubeless is the way to go. I didn't have much success with the Stans set up, as the product went off too quickly and balled up. This resulted in failure after just months, and up until a few weeks ago, I'd been running one tyre with a tube, and one without. When a large flint hole spelt the end of the remaining tyre set up, I was stunned to see at least ten thorns embedded in the tyre. That was ten plus holes that I haven't had to repair.

I fitted the new Hutchingson tyres today, and have once again gone tubeless, this time using a Effetto Mariposa caffelatex.

The rear tyre fitted without any hassle, and inflated immediately, with no loss. The front tyre was a little more of a struggle to fit, and it was bit of a fight to get it to seal, but no real headache.

Two new tyres to go and get dirty tonight.

 

[RobF]

I can see the attraction for proper mountain bikers who want to run lightweight tyres at low pressure.

My local bike shop got a £3K+ Cube tubeless ready mountain bike as a special order for a customer.

I was there when they did the tubeless installation.

What surprised me was how light - and thin - the Schwalbe tyres were.

I've seen thicker inner tubes.

 

[EddiePJ]

I was shocked at the weight of the Hutchinsons, and did mean to weigh them before fitting, but forgot. The weight was the reason the last guy didn't fit them and sold them on. I guess that you can't have reinforced side walls etc without a compromise on weight. His loss was my gain.

 

[RobF]

I was shocked at the weight of the Hutchinsons, and did mean to weigh them before fitting, but forgot. The weight was the reason the last guy didn't fit them and sold them on. I guess that you can't have reinforced side walls etc without a compromise on weight. His loss was my gain.

Soft compound as well, almost certainly, so the tyre won't last five minutes if used on the road or a hard path.

It's designed for those who take the bike to the trail on the back of a car, or those who live next to suitable terrain.

We are lucky to live in a land of plenty in which we have lots of choices.

 

[mab13]

Tubeless has been a revelation for me.

Mine was pretty easy to convert using gorilla tape and Stan's. It was a little tricky to get them to seal with just my floor pump so I made a ghetto compressor (2L coke bottle with a couple of presta valves if you've not seen one - check YouTube) which worked a charm.

Both my rims and tyres are tubeless ready which obviously helps.

I weigh around 165lbs in my birthday suit and I'm running my tyres at 19 psi (front) and 21 psi (rear) - this is measured by my floor pump, so let's assume a 5% tolerance. Regardless of the actual pressures, I am now running at around 8 psi less than I was with tubes (measured by the same pump) - this is HUGE and makes an incredible difference. Traction is marginally better but the big difference for me is in the rocky downhill sections - so much more comfortable, far less 'bouncing' and, as a result, way more control and confidence meaning better speed and better lines.

I've read that the rule of thumb is rim strikes plus 3 psi - I'm not close to rim strikes but see little point going any lower as I feel the above pressures give me exactly what I'm looking for... without risking the dreaded snake bites.

No punctures thus far but, to be fair, the only puncture I had this year with tubes was when experimenting at pressures too low for a tubed setup.