Tubeless or not?

Lots of favorable experiences. Thanks guys.

My only real problem now is supplying road tubeless tires in my desired width. They're pretty alien in the Philippines. I'll most likely have to import them myself.

For background, my bike's a Giant TCX SLR 2 with the company's S-X2 wheelset, previously standard equipment on their XC MTBs and said to be tubeless-ready (apart from the valves, tape and sealant). At 19 mm internal width, I'll be looking at mounting a 28 or 30 mm tire.

I currently run 28mm Conti Ultra Sport IIs at 85 psi, which is great, but nowhere near as plush-riding as my stock 35mm Schwalbe Super Swan mud cross tires, which I run at 60 psi. Obviously they're nowhere near as sharp to corner on asphalt either.

I have gone tubeless on my new MTB build and my road bike.  Use Stans tape on the rims and Stans sealant, hardly any pressure loss over weeks

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Anybody here with positive experience of tubeless?

Yes, lots

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Is it worth the hassle, or for normal, non competitive, road cycling, would it be better to go back to tubes?

yes, it's worth the hassle. the feel of the tyres is improved, the rolling resistance reduced. you can run lower pressures for better grip and comfort. aside from the fact it's a bit of a faff, it's better in basically every way.

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How long / how much hassle, is it to clean up a sealant covered wheel to fit a new tyre?

the wheels don't tend to get that messy. latex sealants tend to bind to the inside of the tyre after a while and scrubbing that off can take a while

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Do you still carry a tube and CO2 cylinder when out cycling, or do you assume that a catastrophic failure won't occur?

I still carry a spare tube and inflator, and tyre boots for fixing bigger holes. the inflator will get you back up tubeless in a pinch but it ruins the sealant. I've been using tubeless road tyres on and off since 2009, and I've only flatted on them once. And that was in 2009.

Anybody here with positive experience of tubeless?

Yes me!

Is it worth the hassle, or for normal, non competitive, road cycling, would it be better to go back to tubes?

I think so, in my unscientific experience, I went from 120psi (with lightweight tyres and tubes) on a set of rollers pushing hard to get the 50/11 spinning ... to schwalbe pro one tubeless @ 110psi which left me spinning out rollers - simply less resistance pushing the pedals without an innertube. So in my opinion - they make me go faster. 

How long / how much hassle, is it to clean up a sealant covered wheel to fit a new tyre?

Getting it off the wheel and tyre isn't too bad, getting sealant off your bike frame and brakes is a sodding nightmare!

Do you still carry a tube and CO2 cylinder when out cycling, or do you assume that a catastrophic failure won't occur?

I carry a spare tube and all the stuff I carried before I went tubeless, just in case, however I've not used any of it yet and I've been running tubeless since July last year. I did have one big puncture which was too large to seal, I called the family broom wagon to collect me as I couldn't be arsed to put a tube in. 

I've learned a few things with tubeless, 1) always shake the bottle before topping up with sealant 2) you CAN repair a tubeless tyre 3) remember to top up sealant now and again or it'll dry out 4) Schwable Pro Ones are very soft and wear out fast (hasn't stopped me buying more though) 5) fitting the tape to the wheel is a labourious task, it HAS to be done well or it'll come off when you next change the tyre.

All in I've learnt my lessons with tubeless, I've had numerous punctures which have sealed and I've either not noticed as they've sealed so quick OR they've sealed within a min or two - never have I had to 'pump up' a tyre on the roadside since I've been using them. 

To me, if you're the type of rider who is happy using gatorskins in the summer - then you're a luddite and should stick with clinchers. 

If you're the kind of rider who isn't afraid to try and learn something new, then go tubeless. 

Tubeless of course.

With a decent sealant like Stans or Orange Seal puncture free riding even on high end racing tyres and ability to run pressure you WANT without a risk of pinch flats.

I have read that CO2 can react adversely with some brands of sealant, so perhaps best avoided.

I do still carry a spare tube just in case I get a big hole or a tear in the tyre, along with a Park Tool TB2 tyre boot, and a mini pump. Hopefully they will be redundant but better to have and not need, than to need and not have (spot the boy scout!).

Here is the inspiration for my inflator. Actually pretty simple to make and only cost me 79p for some cheap pop so I could use the 2l bottle. I used hotmelt glue to make sure everything was secure.

http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/gear/article/how-to-make-a-tubeless-inflato...

Tubeless?

YES! YES! YES!

Okay I will elaborate...

I received my new set of of Hunt wheels in April last year (other, less excellent tubeless ready wheels are available!) but had only recently purchased some Vittoria Open Pave CGs so initially put those on the Hunts. I then put some normal 'tubed' Schwalbe Ones on for the summer, before reverting to the Vittorias again for the winter. I did a CX race in December and decided it would be a good opportunity to try my luck with tubeless. I fitted some Schwalbe CX Pros, which are not technically a tubeless tyre, but due to the low speeds and potential soft landing of riding off road, I was not overly concerned. I had read on forums of others using the same tyre tubeless without issues. They were a little awkward to seal initially as I only had a track pump, but after a few attempts they did indeed seal and the sealant (Stans Notubes) worked a treat. I was now certain that purchasing a proper set of road tubeless tyres was a formality, so when the Vittorias wore out I took the plunge and got some Schwalbe S-Ones (30mm).  Fitting them to the Hunts was dead easy. Getting the tyre onto the rim was no more difficult than regular tyres. I think different rim/tyre combinations may be more difficult, but in my case no problem. I inflated the tyres using my track pump. One popped on straight away, the other took a few attempts and some 'furious pumping', but did eventually seal. They make a very loud 'pinging/popping' sound when the bead seats into place, letting you know that the tyre is on properly. With these being tubeless tyres in theory you 'could' use them like this as the bead seals perfectly, although I let the air out added sealant through the valve before re-inflating again. The tiny amount of extra weight for the sealant ensures that my risk of flats is significantly reduced. That has been proven through the rest of this winter/spring. The tyres performed faultlessly and have needed no more topping up with air than a normal set-up would need, and not a single puncture!. For me that is a major achievement as I seem to have always got more than my fair share of flats. I have recently fitted some tubeless Schwalbe Pro Ones (28mm) for the summer and they are also proving to be extremely good. Virtually no weight penalty over a tubed set-up, with the added comfort of lower pressures, the extra confidence of reduced chance of flats and no speed penalty either. Win Win Win.

I have made myself a tubeless inflator from a pop bottle (search ghetto tubeless inflator) to make seating the tyres easier. I have also gone tubeless on my MTB, and used the Hunt wheels on my MTB for the Battle on the Beach (with tubeless Schwalbe Thunder Burts) and the larger volume makes it essential. Seating the Pro Ones was far easier using the inflator instead of just the track pump.

Cleaning up the old sealant is the only legitimate downside to tubeless IMHO. Having swapped so many tyres now on the same set of hardworking Hunt wheels has meant I've had to do a lot of clean up. The key to this is to not let the old sealant dry out. I've found the best way is to remove the tyres outside and then hose everything down whilst still liquid. All traces of old sealant are then removed from the rims and tyres.

It's fair to say I've also spent quite a bit of money on tyres in the last six months, but now I've transitioned over I don't anticipate buying any new tyres for the foreseeable future!

Hope this is helpful and sorry about the long post!

I've been running tubeless tyres for the past five years and have had an overwhelmingly positive experience with them.

In that time I have only had one puncture while out riding that the sealant couldn't deal with, and that was because i was left with a six inch gash in the tyre that you couldn't just fix by adding in a spare tube (so would have been just as bad on a standard tubed tyre). That is literally the only time where I have had a puncture and not just simply been able to carry on riding (stopping to add a little more air into the tyres if the punture was on the larger side).

I don't race, apart from the odd TT, so my experience comes from general riding, commuting, sportives and multi-day rides.  There is absolutely no way I would ever go back to riding with tubes. The little bit of faff involved in fitting (which has actually come down with time as the new generation of tubeless tyres are so much better than they were when I first moved over to tubeless) is more than made up for by virtually never having to deal with punctures. If you ride throughout the year you will know just how horrible it is to change a tube in driving rain on a cold winter ride, when everything is covered in grit. With tubeless tyres the likelihood is that you will never have to do this again.

With no tube you remove the most common sort of puncture - pinch flats. Sealant deal with virtually everything else.

Currently I'm running Schwalbe One Pros (25mm currently, although when they wear out I'll probably switch to 28s) on DT Swiss wheels, with Hutchinson sealant on my main road bike (a Rose Xeon CDX). I also have a GT Grade Carbon 105, that I run with a variety of different tyres dependent on what sort of ride I have lined up. For road rides I've got a set of Hutchinson Sectors (28mm), offroad Schwalbe X-One (33mm cyclocross tyres) and I'm currently testing a set of Schwalbe G-One tyres (35mm). These are on Stan Grail Wheels, again with Hutchinson sealant. I always use about twice as much sealant as recommended.

I still carry a spare tube on every ride - I think it would be tempting fate too much to not do so. I'm super paranoid though, to the extent that I've practiced getting the tyre off and a tube in while in a cold shower to make sure that I can do it out in the rain if I absolutely have to. Although a tubeless set-up can potentially save a little bit of weight, this really shouldn't be the reason you try tubeless. The better ride quality (partly from being able to run slightly lower pressures with no downside) and the lack of punctures are the reasons I love it.

The major downside of road tubeless is that you do have to have rims that are designed for tubeless tyres. At mountain bike pressures you can convert almost any rim to run tubeless, but at road pressures the tyre will just blow off the rim or be very unsafe) if the rim is not specifically designed to be run with tubeless tyres. This limits choice quite a bit, but more and more wheel manufacturers are getting on board with tubeless now. Tyre choice is also much more limited, but again this is getting better with time. The current batch of Schwalbe tubeless tyres are absolutely spectacular, both in terms of ride quality and in ease of getting on (when I first started running tubeless, with hutchinson fushion 3s, getting the tyre on and off of the rim was an absolute nightmare - this just isnt the case anymore). Worth taking a look at this: http://road.cc/content/buyers-guide/182561-buyers-guide-tubeless-tyres-%E2%80%94-all-your-options-new-technology-rubber

Personally, I'd rather use clinchers for training/general riding and tubs for racing. Ride quality, weight, blah blah blah - I'd rather have the complete peace of mind.

Subscribed for interest. I'm starting to consider 28 or 30 mm tubeless myself.