Wheever

Bryan C. 

Yeah it was actually easier than I thought it would be. The plugs themselves are tiny. I usually carry a small knife with me to trim the ends of the plug once installed. If you are careful you can insert the plug far enough to not need to trim it.

Dynaplug has a good video on their website about plugging a road tire with their kit. I used a similar technique.

NoWhammies

Yeah, I've had too experience with the Pro Ones too. I was running Hutchinson tubeless tyres for a while, but I'm much happier with the Pro Ones. I'd like to give some other brands a try but the LBS seems to only stock the Pro Ones.

WhyFi

I've been happy with Schwalbe (S-One/G-One speeds) too, but I think that I'll pick up some Spec Turbo Tubeless to try out. Probably won't get to actually riding them outside until next Spring, though. Very good experience with Giant Gavias, too, but I'm kinda moving away from 25mm in favor of 28/30mm.

Bryan C. 

I don't have much experience with tires, but I have had pretty good luck in the past with the Specialized S-works Turbo tubeless tires. Not as fast as the Schwalbes but certainly more supple and puncture resistant. I ran the 26c version with about 2000 miles of use. I'm a heavy rider, the rear wore out in that time which is why I changed up to the Schwalbes. Might go back and try the 28c turbos next time I need tires.

NoWhammies

I'm need to look online for the Spec Turbo tyres. I only see/find the Schwable and Hutchinsons around here.

Another tyre I'll have to look in to - The Specialized S-works. I like that they are more puncture resistant. 2000mi of use though doesn't seem that much. Hmm...maybe not then.

CliffordK

No walks home in the last 15,000+ miles with tubes.

One sidewall blowout that would not have patched tubeless, although gorilla tape might have been worth a try (which I didn't have). It still would have required unmounting, patching, and remounting on the road (75 miles from home, and an awful long walk).

Tubeless + a tube + an improvised boot would have worked... as the spare tube and boot was enough to limp the 20 miles to the next bike shop that fortunately was open.

Bryan C. 

A sidewall cut won't seal up without a boot and a replacement tube. No amount of sealant will stop that leak. Nor would a tube have prevented that cut. So this is where most people who don't like tubeless focus. Tubeless is more about the small items, like thorns or small pieces of glass that will cause a tubed tire to go flat.

Tubeless is not the end all to flats, it just cuts down the number of flats the average cyclist gets. If you never get flats with your setup then great, keep at it. I did not have a good experience with tubes, however I have had very good luck with tubeless tires and will continue to run them on all my bikes.

WhyFi

No Spec LBSs in the your area? The non-cotton ones go for $55/each, so for something that's available locally/immediately (I don't always plan ahead too well), it's not a horrible price in a supposedly decent tubeless tire.

robbyville

Teamprovicycle

My exp is good and bad , i see that tubeless road is more difficult to master .

first ill speak on plugs , i got the bacon strip worms , they didnt work kept getting spit out , got the bicycle specific dyna plugs one hole sealed but another dyna plug made the whole worse , so id have to patch it from the inside , had to get new 23mm pro ones anyway 25s where to big .so my over all advice is to invest in all three get twobsizes of the strips , the 25 dollar simple dynaplug tool bicycle version , and once you get home just dismount and patch the hole from in side .

My quick advice to mounting and un mounting is have a fresh pair or stiff tire levers i notice my tires killed THE 2 dollar walmart joints in one use .i used a reverse grip almost like jason stabbing people press my entire bidy weight down to lift the bead over . mounting i just hold one side of the bead and just lift the other side over little by little...

Fist day i did a 90 plus mile ride brand new tire got a tiny whole init went flat 28 miles out lolol . pumped it up had to spin the wheel and rock the bike to get it to seal . tire is still loosing air so im not to happy . i just cant get the tubeless thing to pop. It is faster and im really bummbed.

Sealant needs to be sold and proven for higher psis that road users run . i like 80 to 100 , but the sealant choices are not thay great .

I really want to like and use tubless but im having trouble mastering it .

Ald1 

We all have seen seasoned cyclist change a tube quickly and easily but wouldn't that pale in comparason, in regards to speed and ease, with a tubeless, dynaplug, and CO2 setup??? Another reason for loving tubeless! Of coures big holes, sidewall tears are a different matter.........

WhyFi

Considering that many of my tubeless punctures aren't even noticed until after the fact, I'd say so.

NoWhammies

There are Spec LBS in my area but road tubeless hasn't really been adopted by that many riders in my area. Because of that, many of the shops don't carry a lot of tubeless.

Tubeless has definitely cut down on the number of flats I get. I used to have TERRIBLE luck when it came to flats. I was flatting all the time and I had terrible skill at putting a tube in and all that jazz. Going tubeless has been great for me in that aspect. And yes, I do carry a tube when I ride in case I flat and the sealant doesn't work.

I've had pretty good experience with tubeless, but I do agree that it is more finicky than straight up tubes and tyres. And yeah, mounting the tyre without proper leavers is a real pain. The cheaper tyre leavers snapped like a twig. If anyone has a suggestion for good tyre leavers please let me know.

Bryan C. 

I'm not super impressed by the Schwalbe pro ones cut and puncture resistance. I do like how well they roll but that's about it. So don't condemn all tubeless tires based on your experience with those.

As far as your plug experience, sounds strange but not unexpected. Plugs are finicky in nature and not a permanent fix. What sealant were you using? The Orange Sealant Endurance is what I use and have pretty good luck.

For mounting and dismounting there is a learning curve. The rims have a lowered center channel that the tire bead should be in when prying with the tire levers. Another good practice is to start and finish at the valve stem which is opposite of how you would do it with a tubed tire. I really don't have any problems mounting or dismounting tubeless tires. Patience and using the correct technique is all you need.

Some people are more mechanically inclined than others so I can see where tubeless is a frustrating to deal with. Try another set if tires if these aren't what you expected. Put some tubes in them and run them that way until you get another set. Cuts and punctures happen no matter what, just be prepared.

robbyville

GuitarBob

Same here. In fact, I found their puncture resistance to be lousy, with a few that would not seal plus two cuts in the sidewall that I had to boot/tube to get home, all within maybe 5-600 road miles (no gravel). That was enough for me. I've had much better luck with Hutchinson's but they are a good bit heavier.

Masque

Pro Ones on 4.5ARs here also. It's a magic combination. Mounted them using a hand pump! I've brushed a couple of pebbles off of my tire which turned out to be blobs of sealant. Amazing, wonderful, nearly-perfect stuff.

Plus with these wheels, I'm running at 50-55psi most of the time which feels ABSURDLY low when I pump them up, but rides perfectly on the road and doesn't spray sealant everywhere on a puncture.

Recommended++.

colnago62

jimincalif

DrIsotope

I'm using TruckerCo Cream. It's cheaper, and doesn't dry out as fast as Stan's. In the summer months, I was topping off Stan's every 10 rides or so.

NoWhammies

From reading here I think I'm going to change away from Stan's and give this Orange goop a try. Stan's has been working well for me, but if there is something better on the market then I might as well make the shift. Plus it sounds like most of you on the forums here are having better luck with Orange sealant.

That said, I'm running Boyd wheels (Love them BTW) and I know that Boyd has his own sealant. I'm tempted to give it a try, but I haven't read any reviews of people using it.

socalscalatore

WhyFi

Weight, suppleness. When I still had a non-tubeless wheelset, I put some sealant in the tubes, but if you've got tubeless rims and tubeless tires, I don't see the point. Also, my Schwalbes don't seem to like to seat properly when tubed on tubeless rims - I've seen others report similar experiences with tubes in otherwise tubeless set-ups.

socalscalatore

My main point was that for people who are on regular tubed rims/tires, simply adding some sealant to the tube seem to be best of both worlds: You get the sealant to plug any punctures, without having to deal with a total tubeless set up.

You still install your regular tubes as before. Only difference is now a goathead puncture is non-issue.

Think I'll get this a try. Only thing I can think of is that with a regular tube pumped to 100+ PSI, will/can the sealant still do its job of sealing?