marchese68

I have switched to tubless on my mt bike and love it. Not sure if it would be practical for touring - it would be hard to set the bead in place in the event you needed to do a repair...plus don't even know if there are touring specific tubless tires...Any thoughts, insights???

jabantik00

i think the advantages of tubeless are that it allows low tire pressure, doesn't pinch flat, and punctures are filled by sealant. unless you are doing a lot of mountain biking in your travels, i think it would be better to use tubes as they are easier to repair and it is likely that you won't be riding tire low pressure. i don't know about real ust setups, as i only have experience with stan's no-tubes, but i would think that if you wanted to be able to have both, you could use tubes and carry some sealant and the rim strip/valve/tape with you. i am able to install and inflate tires on my no-tubes wheels with my floor pump, but i doubt my road morph could do it. i am somewhat curious about this as well, but i have a hunch that it is too much of a pain in the ass for little or no benefit.

edit: if you use tubes, you can make your own sealing tubes with stan's sealant. i poke a small hole or use a punctured tube to shove the sealant nozzle through, fill with a bit of sealant, and patch.

fuzz2050

Or you can always use a tube with a removable valve core.

fietsbob

like any Schrader tube.

NoReg

It would be cool if they were lighter. Are they used in any roady discipline. Just one of those things like discs that seem like a long term probability.

tashi

Man, I was kicking myself in Rajastan for not putting some Stans in my tubes. Soo many flats from thorns (plus I had to do the ones my wife got), some Stans would have sorted it right out.

I wouldn't run a tubeless set-up as I'm not sure it's safe at high pressures, which I like on days with smooth pavement.

Gus Riley

Interesting. I'm not sure I'll use them until the system matures a while longer. At least for touring purposes.

marchese68

[QUOTE=jabantik00;12519148]i think the advantages of tubeless are that it allows low tire pressure, doesn't pinch flat, and punctures are filled by sealant. unless you are doing a lot of mountain biking in your travels,...


yes, actually I was thinking of more off road touring at the time I posed the question, ....I am putting together a new wheelset for both on and off road touring and was wondering if I should bother trying to find a set of rims that are officially tubless. Would like to do continental divide trail. I use the stans set up currently on my mt bike and it works incredibly well. Havn't yet had to do a repair in the field yet and refit the tire, but of course i bring a spare tube just in case.

Camel

I would be curious if there are any issues with using a sealant while touring bellow freezing. In particular, if it is at/above freezing during the day while you are riding, then bellow freezing at night while you are camping.

Also, I had thought that with some care one can fill a Presta valved tube with sealant. Kinda jiggle the valve core into the tube-but don't lose it. I thought I had slimed some on my commuter ages ago, but maybe Stans' uses a different system.

erichkopp

I've raced cyclocross and ridden MTB trails tubeless under similar conditions with no noticeable problems. If you're riding off-road, tubeless is the way to go. If you do get a flat, you can always install a normal tube and keep riding. In my experience, as long as your sealant is fresh and everything is seated properly, the only time you should get a flat that can't reseal itself is if you really damage your tire (tearing the sidewall, etc).

zzzwillzzz

+1

sehsuan

i'm running XM819 rims, and i've been using for most of the time since i've changed to tubeless, IRC serac xc tires, along with stan's sealant, and lately, joe's no flats. during my recent tire change, i observed that my much older 2.1" tire probably had the bead a little stretched out, and it was a bit of a problem to inflate up using even my floor pump - can't imagine having it giving me problems on the road. i'll bring along at least two tubes and some patches to work around the "air leakage because the bead's not sealing on the UST rims properly" scenario.