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Advice on going tubeless on new commuter bike
Hi lovely road.cc people! It looks like tomorrow I will be getting a new leisure/commuter bike (Trek FX3 Disc Equipped). I will fit different tires straight away as the ones supplied don't have a reflective strip on the sidewalls. Now, the rims are tubeless ready, so I could go tubeless (like my road bike) on the commuter. Seems to make sense, lower pressure for more comfort, and better puncture resistance. Anyone else here done it? Do you think it was worth it, or wish you hadn't bothered and reverted to tubes? I don't really want to start a tubes v tubeless war, just looking to see if anyone has personal experience and would therefore recommend for or against for commuter/leisure use.
If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.
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16 comments
From the replies so far, it seems you don't think I'd be a complete lunatic to go tubeless on a commuter. Thanks very much for the advice. Now I just need to find the right tires!
Since you have all the kit including the airshot, and are running 35s no real down side - well, assuming the tyres fit !
When the 35s blow up like 38s 😂
The only downsides I've found with tubeless are the faff of setting it up, which isn't bad once you've done it a few times, and the occasional slow leak that makes me have to add air to a tyre before every ride. I had to do that almost every day last week before leaving work, a bit annoying, but it only takes a minute with a mini pump.
The flip side is that in 13,000 miles (20,000 km) on the one bike I run tubeless I've had to add plugs twice, and once just top up the air, mid-ride on the side of the road. This is an order of magnitude better than my experience with tubed tyres, but I've never run an expensive armoured tyre like a Marathon Plus.
I'm running very light 650B x 48 mm René Herse tyres.
I've never run an expensive armoured tyre like a Marathon Plus
Except they're not very expensive at £30 for 700c x 25, and almost abolish punctures- although they are heavy
They have their place (my glass-glittery last area) - but they also almost abolished my fingers and certainly abolish grip if you lean to far into a turn, or the surface is greasy.
They're at least $50 (about £42) here in the USA. Of course I pay a lot more for my René Herse tyres, but I'm worth it.
One day I shall treat myself.
Set up is not an issue. Road bike is already tubeless so I have sealant, spare valves, and an Airshot for stubborn tires (my old mountain bike was a real pain to get done tubeless). Actually wondering how low a pressure I could get away with in 35c tubeless tires. I run the 32 GP5000 TL's on my road bike around 55psi.
It depends. I ran tubeless first on my road bike with 28mm tires (measured at 30mm) and now do on my 650B-tired steel all-road bike, with 47mm tires. I think having tubeless tires mattered less on the former in terms of road feel and comfort. I found that puncture protection wasn't as bombproof either (perhaps due to the higher tire pressures? TBC)
On the latter, being able to run 32 psi rather than 40 makes a massive difference and I have spotted actual instances where the sealant saved me having to plug a tire.
Maybe this is subjective, but friends' consensus is - the larger your tires => the more tubeless makes sense.
Thanks! The bike comes with 32c tires, but looking at in the shop at lunchtime today I reckon 35c would be OK. My road bike is running 32c Conti GP5000 TL's. Biggest seems to be finding something around that size tubeless and with reflective side walls. Pirelli do the Cinturato in 35c tubeless with reflective stripes.
I think it depends how far you have to go in your commute and what options there are if you can't repair your tube.
I just used to use marathons and took a taxi home maybe once a year ( I remember getting a screw in my tyre !). I also had the option of a bus.
Tubeless is a great idea and can work really well but can be expensive to get all the bits to make it work (but you probably know all that anyhow).
Commute isn't too far. Only about 15 minutes each way. But this will also get used for gentler recovery rides when I can't be arsed to get fully Lycra'd up. I can always carry a plug kit...and luckily the bike garage at the office has a compressor (gotta love be in NL!).
15 minutes sounds like an added bonus for going tubeless. If you get a partial deflation, you are more likely to get away with getting to the end of the journey.
I think the only downside of short runs are it increases the chances of picking up a puncture that doesn't seal properly as you ride and then the bike is standing. When I've had punctures, the only time I've tended to notice them is in the morning after the bike has been standing. On my 5000TLs, I've not had a puncture that has stopped me out on the road. I have had to plug a Giant 32mm tyre, but that also deflated at home.
I do carry a sachet of sealant as I reckon the risk with tubeless is that the sealant gets used without noticing. I reckon I know sealant is low when I start to lose pressure over a few days more quickly than before, but I haven't come up with a magic formula for topping up (my theory is that UK is a lot kinder to sealant though) and I'm not organised for checking easily.
For me, when I built my Ultimate Commuter with it's 3 inch low pressure rubber, tubeless was a no brainer. I laugh in the face of hedge slashing season.
There is a little more of a grey area when it comes to narrower and higher pressure tyres. And arguements.
To be honest, in 6 years of bike commuting here in NL I've only punctured twice. Both times on the way to the office, and me finding a flat tire when I want to go home. That results in a tram home, and back next morning with tools and a repair kit (but no bike for the evening which can mess plans up a bit).