I know a dirt-bike racer who owns the local track. I'm going to ask him about tubes and see what he's got to say. If he comes back w/anything interesting, I'll post back.

The thing that bothers me about the tubeless debate is the often condescending attitude on the part of those running tubeless towards those of us who run tubes. I get the attitude from some of my friends. It's the "You poor slob. You should join the ranks of the enlightened" attitude. Meh!

It's possible that the advantages of running tubes lie mainly in the area of simplicity of maintenance. I'm swapping tires between two wheelsets today, and it's my third or fourth such swap this season. If I had to mess with tubeless with my current jumble of not-tubeless and tubeless-not-quite-ready rims and tires, I'd probably end up ripping my hair out.