Just gone tubeless. In dire emergencies can I fit an inner tube as normal?

I think you’re supposed to

I think you’re supposed to top up or check sealant every 6 months or so. I can recommend the Milkit system: http://road.cc/content/review/176166-milkit-tubeless-valve-and-refill-kit

However, that just adds to the price of tubeless – it’s definitely more expensive, but I’m a convert now.

peted76 wrote:

peted76 wrote:

…… For me as an early adopter of road tubeless, it was a case of trial and error, I’ve been through three or four different sealants (which is still the biggest case against road tubeless and for pissing people off – do use Orange Seal or Bontrager sealant and shake VERY well before use), and lots of rim tapes …… 

So far I’ve been against switching to tubeless, the advantages don’t come close to outweighing the potential troubles.  And many of my worries concern the gloop, with its habit of drying out every few months, clogging valves and spraying itself all over the place.

But, just announced by Finish Line is a new sealant reckoned to be good for the life of the tyre.  If it’s true this will remove a major stumbling block from my progress towards cycling enlightenment.  I await reviews with interest.

Yes you can. As others stated

Yes you can. As others stated part of going tubless is putting up with the sticky gooey goop sealer. With that aside, I use an old car inner tube trimmed 2″ x 3″ to boot a tire slash. I like this because I can roll it up tight like a cigarrette making it easy to stuff into my saddle bag. It’s also thick enough to withstand pressure pushing outward against a large cut without defroming the tire.

I’ve been using tubeless

I’ve been using tubeless Schwable Pro Ones since August 2015. For me as an early adopter of road tubeless, it was a case of trial and error, I’ve been through three or four different sealants (which is still the biggest case against road tubeless and for pissing people off – do use Orange Seal or Bontrager sealant and shake VERY well before use), and lots of rim tapes. 

However in two years and seven months, I’ve not needed to put a tube in or remove the tyre from the rim. Since getting the sealant ‘right’ I’ve never not managed to get home. 

I will at some point buy one of those emergency ‘sticky worm’ things to out in my saddle bag, but at the moment all I carry is a ‘small’ bottle (think 20 or 30ml size) of sealant and a co2 cannister.

I believe tubeless tyres ‘feel’ more supple and nicer on the roads, and I’m not the only one who I know who thinks this. 

KiwiMike wrote:

Daveyraveygravey wrote:

beless, friends who have still have problems, and still need to carry tubes/tyres/patches/levers etc, so I don’t see the point.

The point of going tubeless is NOT to remove the need to carry an inner tube or pump, although plenty of people do realise they can now forego carrying these things with only an extremely remote chance of being caught out.

The points are:

1. You will never again have to stop for a flat due to a snakebite or penetrating puncture.

2. You will never again have to pay for or repair a replacement inner tube for 1.

3. You can run lower tyre pressures all the time, meaning every single metre you ride is grippier, more comfortable/less exhausting and more energy-efficient/faster for the same energy input.

1. I’ve never had a snake-bite puncture in 35 years of road riding and circa 185,000 miles

2. I’ve spent less on inner tubes over 35 years than the cost of a new basic pair of tubeless wheels, you will still continue to pay for ‘gloop’, valves and more expensive tyres however and tyres that when they are cut are utterly US unless you invest in a flexible polymer based repair.

3. I can run various pressures without losing grip or speed that makes any difference whatsoever because I’m not riding for my living, I can do that on any tyre. Your measure of being ‘less exhausted’ by the difference is not quantified at all and even if it was it’d be minute.

Schwalbe Almotion 40mm TUBED tyre ran at 17.7watts, the guy at Bicycle rolling resistance reckoned going by other Schwalbe tubeless tyres they (the tubeless) would be 5% higher “my experience with the Schwalbe MTB tires has been that rolling resistance of the TL-Easy version will be at most 5% higher at the same air pressure when compared to the regular versions“

If you and others claim better efficiency based on 1 or 2 watts better rolling resistance in SOME cases that’s utterly laughable. it’s so tiny as to be not important.

If you want a tubeless set up, that’s fine, in fact off road use is where tubeless tyres are probably going to be significantly better but please don’t start giving situations that are either not true or are so small in being more efficient like for like with the tube version as to be not worth all the aggro and cost that tubeless brings.

SteveAustin wrote:

more complicated answer: remove valve, that may need a set of pliers to remove, and fit inner tube as normal. Only problem i have ever had fitting a tube, to a tubeless setup,  was not being able to remove the valve as i had tightened it into place with set of pliers and had trouble removing it. 

You don’t need to tighten the valve locknut with pliers, in fact, don’t. Remember that once inflated there is air pressure locking the valve into place. Just tighten the valve locknut enough to prevent air leaks while you’re inflating the tyre. 

Reason being that as a backstop roadside repair you may need to remove that valve to put in a tube. It would be very frustrating to find that your (tired, wet) fingers can’t unscrew the locknut.

As an aside I feel most tubeless valves are still under-designed from this point of view. The suppliers need to provide a locknut that is bigger, with more grip, and doesn’t present a scratchy metal face to the rim.

Yes, done it a couple of

Yes, done it a couple of times when the tyre wouldn’t seal after being gashed rather than just holed. It is messy, suggestion of carrying at least one pair of nitrile rubber gloves is a good one.