Is Road Tubeless Worth It?
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- Опубліковано 4 лип 2024
- I feel like I'm definitely in the minority here, but I want to discuss tubeless setups with narrow, high pressure tires. It seems as though it's taken over in most all bicycle categories, and I think it's definitely the way to go for mountain bikes, and gravel for the most part as well, but things are not always what they seem if you have a chance to see what kinds of things I see on a daily basis.
I'm not here to tell anyone road tubeless should be avoided, but I think most folks should know the whole story before they invest in the process.
I run-through the 4 most common causes of tubeless failure I see everyday.
The 4 things are:
- Lack of sealant (Yes, sealant has to be added every 2-6 months depending on your environment). If the sealant dries out, the tire WILL NOT hold air.
- Bad tape job. I run through a few common issues here, but there can be several causes.
- Wrong valve for the rim contour or damaged valve stem.
- Damaged tire. Yes, the tires can be plugged or patched, which can work, but there's no guarantees.
There are a few other cons to dealing with tubeless road tires I didn't mention in the video. Some are VERY difficult to install and remove. I've felt many times I was doing a customer a disservice for installing a tire knowing it would be close to impossible to service on the road if the tire were cut or had too large of a puncture.
I give some tips that I've found eliminate some of the basic errors I see in setting up a tire if this is your first time trying the process out.
It seems like for every person I talk to at the bike shop that uses road tubeless, for every person who loves it and has had no issues, there's another person whom it's been a nightmare.
Please feel free to discuss in the comments section... - Навчання та стиль
Love the honest common sense 👏
I'm running tubeless on all but one of my bikes and it's been great for me. However I don't have any tyre smaller than 32mm and a maximum pressures of around 50 psi. I don't run tape at all on my carbon wheelset as they don't have any spoke holes. I usually top my sealant up every 6 months or so. I take off the wheel and shake it if I cant hear the sealant then it's time to top it up.
Everbody I know that tried tubless on the road has gone back to tubes after a getting a flat on the road. Just getting the tubless tire off the rim to put in a tube can be very difficult!
Tell me about it! I can't even imagine being out in the middle of nowhere on a really cold or hot day, struggling with a trying to get a slimy, cut tubeless tire off to put a tube in to get home!
More or less sums up my experiences. Ran tubeless on my road bike for a year before getting tired of the hassle. For the moment happy running Conti GP5000s 28mm with TPU tubes. Never flats, run the same low pressure, rolling resistance seems on par. Still use tubeless tape inside rims though, seems to be much kinder on the inner tubes. Keep the great vids coming!
Thanks! Yes, I'm hearing more and more about TPU tubes. I've got a buddy that swears by them. We've got some of the Pirelli versions at the shop that I'll have to test out soon!
Completely agree. I run the same setup as you, GP5000s and TPU tubes and its far more robust and reliable than tubeless.
TBH I haven't used tubeless for 4 years at this point and have heard that newer rim and tier combos are supposed to be a lot better in the last few years. The biggest problem still seems to be the sealant, at least for road. Silca's sealant seems to corrode rim tape leading to blow out's if thats the case then that stuff needs to come off the market or supply rim tape with it that is compatible.The only other id touch is orange seal and though I hate sticking darts in the tier but they seem to be you best friend in general.
TBH I ignore the puncture resistance marketing rubbish think of a tubeless setup more like sawn in tubs, its more about lower pressures and comfort, speed is a misnomer a latex tube and GP5000 clincher is still one of the fastest setups. and its cheap, I haven't flattened in 3 years using this setup, ive cut tyers open but not actually flat. latex are truly quite forgiven once installed.
I say to people if you're the type of rider that can't be bothered to wash your bike and oil your chain once a week then tubeless just isn't for you The amount of carbon wonder bikes I see that just arn't looked after it makes me cry. You have to be OCD about it all of it.and certainly stay away from it if you go to bike shop to change your tyres out.
Unfortunately the entire market is going tubeless at least at the high end. and putting tubes in TR tyers though should be fine can be a rather difficult experience, after alll the tier say's tubeless ready not tubeless only.
I will say this if the rim has been made in the last 3 years you'll likely be fine and have good experience people just make a lot of mistakes, you have to be methodical. Id also make use of reserve's Fillmore valves, it pretty mount irradiates cloged valves over night and if they do clog, simply strip them down and send a bottle brush through them.
The huge nightmare it is eliminates any small advantage.
I agree with everything you said. It's definitely not "set it and forget it." Most of the die-hard road tubeless guys (and gravel, for that matter) that come through our shop have several bikes. They can manage to put a tube in, if stuck on the road, but will then bring it to us to do the messy stuff... including topping off. They just ride something else in the meantime. Either they are in denial that it's NOT better than tubes and hate the mess as much as we do... or they're just not very handy. 😁
The only bike I run tubeless on is my mountain bike. And the last time I did maintenance on it, I cussed a lot and almost put tubes in. My biggest frustration that time was a glob of sealant blocking my syringe from neatly depositing new sealant during a top off. Wound up having to break the bead seal on one side to pour in... thus finding the stopped up stem. A baby sippy cup scrub brush (about the right size) would be perfect to roto-router the stem out next time if there are no other issues with leaks, tape, etc.
In my opinion, tubeless is a hassle... plain and simple. Way more than pinching a tube and patching or replacing. I guess I dont "send it" hard enough to have enough tube problems. I also don't live in the West where thorns are a big issue.
And don't even get me started on the tubeless tire versus rim tolerances. There's been some combos we couldn't get close using all the groove we could and Pedro's 8" steel tire tools... blistered thumbs and all. 😬 I can't imagine being stuck 20 miles from anywhere with plastic tire tools and the same issue.
Yep, The standards on rim/tire combos are nowhere near making "skinny tire" tubeless an easy system. I live in a very dry climate, so tires have to topped off every 3 months or so. Even mountain bikes. I think the majority of tubeless tire users think you set it up and it's fine until the tire wears out.
What do you think about putting sealant inside the tubes instead?
@ashchbkv6965 Maybe. Weight might be a deterrent since both sealant and tube are on board. The Slime product available at box stores has mixed reviews. We've seen a few come through the shop, and it is a fairly heavy product. However, it is less mess, and if you had a higher end cartridge valve, I don't see why you couldn't top off like a tubeless sealant.
I swear by tubeless on my mtn and gravel bike because I ride in situations that will constantly get punctures with a tube. On the other side, my road bike stays on the road. I don't cut through the grass or a field. Punctures on my road bike are way more typical and a traditional tube set up just makes too much sense.
tubeless is great for manufactureres who get to sell you more expensive tires, sealant, tape, cushcore, new tools, new boost pumps ... and you stil need to carry a tube just in case ... somehow i managed to bike for 40 years without tubeless
It’s hard to say weather it’s consumer or industry driven. We still sell lots of road bikes with tubeless ready wheels, but regular tires and tubes. People loose their minds that it’s not all tubeless ready!
It’s frustrating dealing with it daily, especially since the vast majority of folks feel like it’s a “set it and forget it” upgrade that prevents flats, but are unaware of all the actual pros and cons.
Thank you for the heads up Joey! Makes me fearful of using the expensive tubeless wheels I have just bought.
Merci!
Thank you Denis!!!
Unless your racing I don't see the point, it takes no time to change a tube.
Best advice I give people is as follows.
- use a modern ETRTO wheel than has a sealed bed that requires no rim tape.
- go for minimum 21mm internal rim width
- don’t go below 28mm tyre width.
- use a good sealant
- don’t leave sealant in for months and months of the bike is not being used
- top up sealant every few months
The advantages of tubeless seems fairly irrelevant for road cycling.