happybday29475

Here's my take

195 pounds. Good sport MTBer who has run tubeless, with great success, for MTB races for years and years.

Dabbled a race or 2 in CX in years gone by with tubed clinchers, but the bounciness wasn't fun.

Trying CX this fall, a little more seriously. Decided to go the tubeless route.

Tried different combos, and all sorts of pressures. Had trouble burping and lots of squirminess. In a race 2 weeks ago, burped an off-camber turn, and crashed hard, and broke a thumb. (typing this right now is a PITA). Gave up on tubeless. No more ghetto BS for me - I am not going to be leading (bleeding) edge unless I am expert in subject at hand.

Bought a $500 set of tubulars online (Boyd wheels, also williams, neuvation, etc). Glued them last week. In a week when my thumb is good to go I am excited to try them. Gluing was interesting, mild PITA, not too bad.

I've since asked around, and it seems that despite lots of attempts, few if any local (Boulder, CO) experts have reached a happy place with tubeless.

$500 for a wheelset is child's play compared to injury. And the racing will be more fun.

faire_du_velo

I am 130lbs and at a race recently i ran 18 psi front and 23 psi rear. Not a problem. I am using the velocity a23 though, so the wider rim does help.

eddubal

I'm new to cyclocross, and have been working on lowering my tire pressure. I'm 190, and running Maxxis Mud Wrestler (clinchers) at this time. I'd had a horrible time with pinch flats on my old bike (different tires), but my newer (much lighter) bike seems to do much better. I'm still experimenting with tire pressure, but have pulled it down to 35 psi with no pinch flats. Over the next few weeks I'm planning on experimenting with pressure more, but probably won't be able to bring it down much lower than 30 psi.

Last night as I was practicing off-camber turns, I rolled my front tire and ended up with grass embedded between the rim and the bead. No flat, but seemingly a close call. I was thinking of going tubeless, but this has made me wonder if I had run tubeless, would this have burped?

As for tubies, I'd consider them when I get my bike handling skills up to a certain level where the specific qualities of the tubies are really going to help me. I consider them just one of the many parts to help do as well as I can, but hardly necessary at my level of the sport. Like Andy said, they're not going to make me faster. However, if I progress to the point that my handling skills are being held back by running clinchers, it's a no-brainer to make the upgrade. During my first season though it doesn't really matter what I use, it's about building the skills and the motor. For others, that may not be the case, but it's really up to the individual.

simonaway427

I run 45 rear, 40 front with 34c Vittoria XG Pros. I'm 160lbs and probably could go another 5 psi lower - I bounce around quite a bit in the rough stuff.

I'm moving to tubular next season.

ean10775

I'm just starting in CX and at about 200lbs, I was told by an experienced racer that is my size, that I could get away with 40lbs front and a little more in the rear with Grifos on a muddy course. I was surprised to say the least because I expected to have to run much higher.

droobieinop

I am using clinchers, last year with latex and this year with FOSS tubes.
In the middle of last cx season, my first, I learned an interesting way to determine tire pressure.
Overlay your thumbs with your fore fingers in a "V" shape. Lean over with the tire in the V and your weight on your hand.
If you don't bottom out on the rim, you're good. Been working for me so far.

bkwentz

This weekend I ran my Specialized Terra Pro at 40 in the rear without any signs of bottoming out. I weigh 215...

That said, it was unbelievably muddy. Also, that tire cleared mud and snow really well.

mazuki

I'm 165lbs, run Velocity A23s and have no problems with 30psi front/rear with Panaracer Cinder-X or Michelin Jet clinchers. I put sealant in my tubes, just to be safe though