[IanMSpencer]

Messed up and contemplating an oncoming car didn’t notice a chuck of collapsed road edge and gave myself a pinch puncture on the front wheel.

The small tear was just on the rim, too big to self-seal and I thought about a plug but I realised that the side wall was not going to get pressed into place and then I realised the kit was in my other bike (also clearance isn’t good on the Defy so last attempt with a cheap plugging kit on this bike was a failure).

Tyre had been on for 18 months. Came off rim without problems (Conti sealant – Schwalbe 1s glue to the rims, which might be the Schwalbe sealant aka Stan’s, I believe). I carry pliers so no trouble removing the valve. The Conti popped off the rim with a couple of tyre levers. Last year’s sealant still sloshing around happily. Inner tube popped in, gas inflated up, tyres popped onto the rim and got home.

Experience no worse than tubed tyre.

I’ve been procrastinating over replacing the worn out rear anyway so time to go up to 28s (sitting there waiting since last year) from the 25s.

Topic

[Carbon cycle]

huntswheelers wrote:

…save for the 9 thorns

that’s definitely the best thing about tubeless – all the thorns you find when you change the tyres that would have caused a puncture on an inner tube but you didn’t even notice. 

in 12000km across 3 bikes I’ve had only one puncture that didn’t seal and that was a pothole that put a dent in the rim and a 1cm rip in the sidewall. On a cyclocross tyre. 

[Xenophon2]

It was an experience akin to

It was an experience akin to yours, with the notable difference that my front tire didn’t seal and that a correctly installed ‘worm’ was pushed out 2 miles down the path, leaving me with no option but to walk 5 km to the nearest road and dial roadside assistance (thanking my good stars for having renewed that) that pushed me off tubeless.

If nothing goes wrong, one starts thinking that tubeless is great and  learns to live with tires that melt like Florida icicles.  Then inevitably something happens and you’re left with an unholy mess and are still royally s*****d if you’re not carrying the tube and pump that tubeless was supposed to render obsolete…..

The only thing I regret with my present bombproof tubed setup is that the tires feel ‘dead’.

 

[Xenophon2]

I have one bike that doubles

I have one bike that doubles for commuting and gravel.  My commute is just under 45 km/day, 5 days a week.  I don’t usually surpass that weekly total during the weekend.  

The commute is 85% tarmac, 15% hardpack.  I experimented with tubeless tires but after a couple of leaks that didn’t seal, faff with sealant and ‘real gravel’ tires whose rubber simply seemed to melt away, I threw the towel.

Went to conti contact plus in 42 mm, with a conti tube in ‘m.  No leaks, no slow pressure loss, no punctures, no faff.  Low rolling resistance, decent grip except on mud.  I top up with air maybe once every two weeks vs twice a week when i was riding tubeless.

Yeah, they’re heavy and feel a bit wooden.  But peace of mind is also worth something.  Unless you do ‘real’ gravel riding (whatever it is) or ride competitively, I just don’t see the added value of tubeless anymore.  It’s become just another ‘solution’ pushed by the industry.

[IanMSpencer]

cyclingtips16 wrote:

If you do need to get tyres on and off, i’ve found tyre glider seriously speeds up the process

Rehook Tyre Glider – Change Stubborn Bike Tyres

Had a quite impressive roadside demo of one of those a few weeks ago – blink and you miss it! It may still depend on rim design because another member of our club was vocally bitter about his experience with one (but it may have also been a different design).

[cyclingtips16]

If you do need to get tyres

If you do need to get tyres on and off, i’ve found tyre glider seriously speeds up the process

Rehook Tyre Glider – Change Stubborn Bike Tyres

[pablo]

Tubeless has a learning curve
Tubeless has a learning curve I like it but I can understand why people don’t. My experience is generally small punctures that self-seal or turn into slow punctures that need patching when I can be bothered. Punctures tend to pickup a lot when they go thin unsurprisingly! Although I did wear through one to the carcus by mistake and it never punctured ever. On my best bike I’ve run pro ones and now GP5000. I run low pressures and just find the ride improvements worth the occasional faff. Pro ones ride far better than the GP’s and will be going back to them when the GP’s die. Pro ones easy to fit and service so happy about any road side issue. GP’s were a nightmare but have since been serviced and easy to get off. Very concerned about some Goodyear ones I have on another bike they were the worst tyre to mount I have ever experienced used all the tricks and nearly gave up.

[Hirsute]

Sounds like the narrow width,
Sounds like the narrow width, high pressure problem.
I guess someone is working on a sealant more suitable for higher pressures.

[ooblyboo]

I absolutely hate tubeless
I absolutely hate tubeless for road, sorry. I have had to pick my wife up three times in one summer because she had tubeless punctures that wouldn’t seal and then couldn’t get the tyre off the rim, let alone back on. The frame got covered in sealant and even specialist cleaner hasn’t got some of the spots off.

And I have been on two recent club rides where other riders have suffered big sidewall tears that wouldn’t seal, couldn’t be plugged and had to be repaired with a boot and a tube – plus lots of mess.

Road tubeless always feels like a solution in search of a problem. Gravel or MTB is different, granted.

I have tubeless on my gravel bike and it works. But I still find they leak air even more than a latex tube would.

Personally, on my summer bike I prefer latex tubes for lower rolling resistance, combined with butyl spares.

[quiff]

andystow wrote:

I have been impressed with the puncture resistance of the Bontrager tyres that came on the Trek District I bought this year, right now at 2200 miles / 3500 km with no punctures. However, they are quite slow rolling with a woodenly harsh ride… The Trek is intended to be my “just works every time” commuting and pub bike

This weekend I rode my “just works every time” / “lock up and leave” bike for the first time in years (no longer commuting) – Genesis Day One single speed with Marathon Plus. I’d forgotten how much I like it – helped in no small part by being my only bike with a near-silent freewheel. I know others find the tyres lifeless, and I’m sure I’d notice a difference if I put some sportier rubber on, but they work for me (possibly mitigated by the steel frame) and there’s something very satisfying about knowing they’re virtually bombproof. I’ve only ever had one puncture with them – a six inch nail that gave an entry and exit wound. And I still finished that commute.    

[andystow]

A bit over half my cycling is

A bit over half my cycling is commuting, with 90 miles a week being the work commute. I have one bicycle set up tubeless and running lovely light René Herse tyres. No regrets. I do occasionally get slow leaks that require me to top up the tyres every day or two, but that’s less frustrating than having a ride interrupted by a puncture, especially having to repair one in the pouring rain, or freezing weather, or oppressive heat.

On the tubeless tyres, I’m now at over 14,000 miles / 23,000 km and twice have needed to use a plug to get going during a ride. I’ve never had to remove the wheel or install a tube. This is close to an order of magnitude better than my general experience with tubes.

I have been impressed with the puncture resistance of the Bontrager tyres that came on the Trek District I bought this year, right now at 2200 miles / 3500 km with no punctures. However, they are quite slow rolling with a woodenly harsh ride, so I plan to convert that bike to tubeless and install some Gravel Kings or G-Ones when they finally do me the favour of wearing out. The Trek is intended to be my “just works every time” commuting and pub bike, with its belt drive, internal hub, mudguards, and generator lighting.

[HoldingOn]

I pretty much only commute –

I pretty much only commute – I prefer to go for a run at the weekend.

I don’t run tubeless, but I do use anti-puncture tyres. Tried using “normal” tyres for a while, but after three punctures in one day, I couldn’t take it any more.

[levestane]

huntswheelers wrote:

… frequent cyclists…. leisure once in a while types ..

It would be interesting to see if frequent cyclists such as commuters, couriers, food delivery riders, school run cyclists etc., etc are tubeless as opposed to those cycling for leisure in their spare time.

 

[Rendel Harris]

huntswheelers wrote:

Tubeless will become more popular over time, especially with frequent cyclists…. leisure once in a while types might was well keep tubes.

Well, I’m on roughly 8,000kms a year at the moment on three bikes,  so not exactly a leisure once in a while type, with my Schwalbe Duranos (28mms on the road bike) and Marathons (35mms on the gravel and 32mms on the commuter) I’ve had one puncture in a year (a huge staple from a building site that I think would have blown out anything) so I don’t feel the need to switch, personally, tubed still works great for me.

[huntswheelers]

Tubeless will become more

Tubeless will become more popular over time, especially with frequent cyclists…. leisure once in a while types might was well keep tubes. I run Tubeless on Gravel and Road bikes and as I see many in the workshop with sealant that has “failed” or “disappeared” I started using Joe’s Eco as a trial. Now the failed and disappeared sealant customers have used a latex based and most have had the sealant “soak” into the carcass and some have gone “hard” inside the tyre too. Back to the Eco sealant trial and all has been well, even when a spoke broke in one of the wheels. On removal of the tyre, it cleaned up like new with no trace that sealant had been in the tyre….save for the 9 thorns. Since then I have used that sealant with customer tyres and had no complaints at all. I guess there are tyres and tyres….and sealants & sealants.   Ride Safe everyone

[ktache]

Arrived today. A masterpiece

Arrived today. A masterpiece of cardboard packaging, and 2 tubes of glue, which is nice, seeing that super glue seems to dry out almost the moment it is opened.

And 2 pieces of very rough “sandpaper”

[Author]

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