tomato coupe

Tires are stupid -- I glue pool noodles to my tubular wheels.

indyfabz

indyfabz

Dung! Dung! Dung!

Mtracer

I run tubeless road tires. I carry a Dynaplug Race kit, I do carry a spare tube. In 5 years, I've never come close to needing to use the tube. I have plugged a tire a few times. In the last year I started carrying a TPU tube. Very much smaller and lighter than the butyl tubes. If the TPU weren't so small and light, I'd probably not bother carrying a tube at all. I do not carry extra sealant. My experience is most of the sealant does NOT leak out when I've had a puncture I've needed to plug. It would of course if you keep the puncture on the bottom as the sealant would get forced out before the air. But, of course you're going to rotate the tire with the puncture on top to work on it. Once you do that, you just get air.

There's always a chance of needing just about anything. But you can't take everything for every possible circumstance. For example, I don't carry a spare chain, or derailleur hanger. Worst case, I have to phone a friend but I've never had to do that in the 5 years I've been riding. Of course, if I were bike packing it would be a different story.

JohnDThompson 

It's trickier with non-removeable valve cores, but still possible.

rsbob 

“Stupid is as stupid does”. Forest Gump

”You can’t fix stupid”, Anon

I am 100% sold on tubeless, however my GP 5Ks with TPUs are pretty darned close - and probably weigh about the same. Rode my tubed bike yesterday (same gearing and same weight) and scored a 2nd fastest 10K since 2021. My fastest was on tubeless, by 0.06 secs. Obviously I am an underachiever.

Have to say, I have the same degree of confidence in both the GP 5Ks versions in rolling resistance and puncture resistance.

rosefarts

I got some ultra cheap valve caps that have a built in presta core remover. They are definitely inferior to the real one I use in my garage. They do work though. It’s a gram or two penalty from a regular valve cap.

I carry dynaplugs now. They’ve just proven themselves to be better than the cheaper alternatives.

One TPU tube and some co2.

I have brought a mini pump on isolated rides, so I’d have the option to fill multiple flats.

I can’t remember the last time I used any of it.

Polaris OBark

In my admittedly highly anecdotal case, sample size of 1, the sealant filled the volume in between the deflated tube and the tire. I am speculating, but I think the rapid deflation of the tube filled the tire with air and helped to further squeeze out nearly the entire contents of the sealant from the tube into the tire as it reached quasi-equilibrium. Unfortunately, this was not enough to keep the tire inflated for more than a few seconds, at best.

I think for sealant to work properly, it must contain some particles (fibers, glitter, whatever) and has to start to solidify on the outside of the puncture, kind of like a scab. It basically mimics blood clotting.

downtube42

I really should stop participating in these threads. As stated earlier, I've figured out taping and finally have my 650b wheelset solid. I rode it to work yesterday and today. Cut the rear tire tonight, maybe 1/4" long right in the center. It sealed after losing all but 5psi. I pumped it 110 strokes with my wrong-sized mini-morph and rode home at 20psi. It was a significant enough cut to be concerning.

Thinking back on the big rides I've done, before tubeless I rode 3x PBPs, Super Brevet Scandinavia 1200, Natchez Trace 1500, Taste of Carolina 1000, Cascades 1200, and 4x National 24 Hour Challenge. Zero flats on those events. Since going tubeless, I've done Crater Lake 1200 and PBP 2023, where I had 1 flat requiring new tire at each event. One tube-and-boot, the other a 2 mile walk.

Per notes in Strava, I've had 9 flats since May 2023. Not punctures that sealed, but something serious enough to warrant roadside repair.

I'm less concerned about tubes wearing through in my pack, than I am about being able to patch the tube after I've done a boot and tube. Because that's my luck.

PeteHski

If you are getting that many flats then maybe your tyre choice is not ideal.

philip91

Tubeless tires provide numerous benefits, including reduced risk of pinch flats, better traction, and lower tire pressures for improved comfort and performance. Calling tubeless "stupid" overlooks its advancements in safety and efficiency within the cycling industry.

prj71

So what tires did this happen with?

rosefarts

Have you considered a padded room?

tomato coupe

$10 says this is an AI response.

badger1

Won't take the bet; you are correct (98% confidence on one detector; 100% on the other). Funny how these (posts) still jump out at one, much like my undergraduates' papers: syntactically strong/semantically weak and vapid.

Koyote

Yes, they think they're clever -- but they don't realize just how vividly the BS content (whether AI-generated or just old-fashioned plagiarism) jumps out at the reader.

70sSanO

Most of these technology improvement threads end up going the same direction. If someone doesn't need it, it is not better. The reality is tubeless is an improvement over tubes, but if someone doesn't get flats it is not worth the effort, or cost, to change; even more so if the current rims do not easily convert to tubeless. In those cases people see it as a solution looking for a problem.

But eventually it will be the norm. Passenger cars were tube & tire at one time. Once tubeless became the norm, tubes remained for those with older technology. I can't recall anyone I knew converting a tubeless auto tire to tubed just for the sake of wanting the older technology; bad rims notwithstanding.

Likewise, I imagine there is someone out there who has converted a factory tubeless setup to tube, but I would think those are in the minority.

A bicycle is one of those mechanical devices that does not lend itself to needing upgrades to continue to function well. With some prudent planning for replacement components, one can spend their entire cycling life riding the same roads with the same bike.

John

downtube42

Variety of tires. Mostly GP5000. One was Goodyear's new tubeless tire. Yesterday's was the Specialized Tubliss. :shrug:

PeteHski

If you want to step up on puncture resistance then try Pirelli Cinturato Velos. They are still reasonably fast and very grippy.