Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 19,288
Likes: 5,382
From: Rochester, NY
Bikes: Stewart S&S coupled sport tourer, Stewart Sunday light, Stewart Commuting, Stewart Touring, Co Motion Tandem, Stewart 3-Spd, Stewart Track, Fuji Finest, Mongoose Tomac ATB, GT Bravado ATB, JCP Folder, Stewart 650B ATB
I would never consider tricky or relatively new technology for a touring bike. Why do you wish to go tubeless is this application? Many of the claimed positives for tubeless don't help much on a loaded touring bike IMO.
Real story- When I was first learning to build frames (1978) my boss was dating a woman who was planning to ride around the world. She was first building the frame, she figured that this way she could handle a frame issue herself when out there. Just about any small village blacksmith would have the needed tooling to fix a steel frame but perhaps not the skill with relatively thin wall tubes... Her planning being based on getting by included the component selection. The item that really caught my eye was her choice of a steel cottered crank set. Back then Alloy cotterless cranks were the rage and in my young naivety I questioned her selection. She replied that the small village (think central Africa) would have a blacksmith who could make a cotter pin but not likely have the ability to make a cotterless arm. I have remembered this ever since. We can get so focused on what's around us that we forget that a little bit outside the big cities there's not much new technology (for bikes and in the local LBS, if there is even a shop). Over the years I have advised many dozens of tourists to go old school. To use wheels and tires that Walmart sells. I have done many self contained tours of my own and while my break downs have been limited to only a rare flat tire I have shared camp sites with others having serious problems from poor equipment choices that even this 40+ year wrench couldn't fix because of no replacement parts.
So my suggestion is to go tubed and leave the tubeless for the home rides. Andy.