I haven't done tubeless and in fact stepped back a few years to sewups. So this issue doesn't affect me. But if I were to go tubeless, I'd be thinking of that concept some of you have heard me talk of before, the "sacred path" of forces from the road to my hands. A path where failures really hurt and can even have life changing consequences. Having a front tire blow off the rim qualifies. That pro who suffered exactly that came out of if in good shape but that wasn't a given.

I did have a clincher blow and come off a few years ago. Rear tire so my injuries, while very extensive, were not serious. But it had me thinking "what if" every time I did a fast descent. Took all the fun out. Woke up to the nightmare of doing that at speed a few times. It was why I went back to sewups. Properly glued, you can roll to a stop at any speed after any blowout. Tire age or condition doesn't matter. (Yes, base tape glue does matter. I put that under "gluing".) I blew at least one sewup at real speed in my racing days. Such a non-event that I do not remember how many times, where I did it, front or rear. That one rear clincher coming off is etched into my brain for the rest of this lifetime and maybe the next.