Originally Posted by Psimet2001

There's a lot that's wrong. For many to most road riders it just doesn't make any sense at all. Since we started switching to tubeless rims I've been over run with people who claim they can no longer mount a tire. This is even with using tubeless tape as rim strips - which is how we prep every wheel we send out now.

We charge something like $30 per tire to set them up tubeless. The valve, sealant.... then the tire choices are horrid. They are stiff (to maintain a seal) and by their nature eliminate most of the "benefit" of not having a tube.

In this area of the country the number of flats one sees on the road when riding the appropriate pressure is near negligible. Many riders can go a season or two without a single flat.

So....scenarios like this: Rider around here - set up traditional...$5 tube. $35 Clement Strada LGG clincher. $10 instal. $5 for an extra tube. Might see them in a year for another tube. Easy for them to change on the side of the road. Everyone they ride with is running the same basic setup - everyone has a tube. etc. $55

Set them up tubeless: $30 for sealant and labor. ~$10 for a tubeless valve and tape, $70-$80 tire, $5 for the tube to carry with them so if they have a problem they can get home. $125ish

Just not a fan of tubeless. I have ridden them and try to always get more time on it thinking I will somehow end up seeing the light. I currently ride one wheel tubeless and the other tubed. Still haven't seen the light.

The technology is apparently life changing for mtb. I'll give them that one. Large tire volume and still comparatively high pressure (20+ PSI). Road tire - tiny volume - high pressure. both result in a high holding force to help maintain the connection and seal between the tire and rim.

Cyclocross - mid to low tire volume and low pressure - 20-30 psi. *burp*. Sven Nys stated point blank that he runs 1-1.5 bar in his tires for races. Tubeless as a technology won't work in that scenario. Period. i have seen and known plenty of racers on tubeless cross setups that have left them and gone to tubular.

Mtb - Tubeless (or tubular. tubular mtb is popular in Europe but not here in America...yet)

Road - Tubular or tubed clincher even for high performance applications. Tubeless in areas with bad conditions like goathead thorns where flatting is the only major concern.

Cross - Tubular for racing. Tubeless for training or for a secondary setup with the ability to change treads on race day. Tubed for gravel riding-path riding or road riding on the cross bike at pressures of 50 psi +

So it's not that tubeless, tubular, or even clinchers with tubes are a binary yes/no technology. It all depends 100% on the application. This is why all of these technologies still exist. The only problem is that the industry has and is making decisions for the markets based on forcing sales of new units instead of what the markets truly want or need. *cough* disc brakes *cough*

So I generally don't have many applications where tubeless makes sense as the best way forward. It quite simply doesn't match up well with the area, the riders, or the intended uses. The "benefits" like "more supple" response like a tubular are great over exaggerated and negated by the sad state of the current technology. Give me a supple race tire like a Vittoria in a clincher or open tubular configuration with a latex tube ridden at an appropriately lower end pressure and it'll blow any stiff walled tubeless counterpart.