General thoughts on tubeless setup

sirlylos

What are people's thoughts on a tubeless setup. I'm currently running a run-of-the-mill tubed setup but I'm considering making the move. Do you get less punctures? what are the benefits?

supersonic

Have a search of the forums for general comments. Are quite a few!

starsky007

ive been running tubeless about a year, 1 puncture in that time and that was riding through town. a peace of beer bottle glass punctured my panracer xc pro tyre, it was to big to repair so a new tyre it was. :evil: but i think there great.

Barteos

Not a single puncture since I went tubeless with Stan Flow rims and non-tubeless Schwalbe tyres. On local rides I don't carry a pump or tube...
I've done some ghetto conversions (using 18-20" tubes) with good luck, too.

Northwind

Just done a couple myself... One on a proper UST wheel (Traversee) but with a standard tyre, the other a "ghetto" setup with a BMX tube, just as an experiment. But my old nevegal has a cut that won't heal, it'll hold 30 psi but as soon as I ride it blows out again And my traversee/excavator combo has constant very low leaks around half the rim. More sealant needed I think.

It's quite interesting to do, have to say I wouldn't want to do it without a decent compressor though, not just a wee portable thing but a proper one with a reservoir. It really takes the hassle and frustration out- I couldn't get one of mine close to sealing using my pump but 2 seconds with my big manly air-cannon and it was on and seated. It'll do motorbike tyres so I was sure it'd do pushbikes

Just... Do it for the right reasons. I saw some guy on STW banging on about the weight loss that he got from his BMX-tube tubeless. Weight loss? He'd needed a load of electric tape to build up the rim, then he had half a BMX tube in there, then he added about 70 grams of sealant. So, about 100 grams more than a sensible tube, in other words. But he's still convinced it's lighter. Makes me laugh that.

RealMan

Its the obvious thing to do. I still don't understand why anyone runs tubes anymore. Unless they're fat, of course. Then I understand.

No punctures, better ride, more grip, no punctures, less rolling resistance, no punctures and you get to laugh at people whenever they get a puncture. And then shake your head sadly and walk away.

CustomReign

Been running UST on various Crossmax for 5 years. Some issues along the way but nothing that can't be sorted. Went back to tubes with a Stumpy as it was standard. Within two weeks, I have a new pair of Crossmax ST's as I was sick of pinch plats and tubes.

The sealant repair uf a UST tyre is superior to sealed tubes. I've had 12 punctues in a Trailraker and not known until I swapped the tyre for Spring!

I would stay away from Spesh 2Bliss and run Maxxis or Panaracer in my experience. Kenda are also good, but I have felt they don't roll as well, although I havent tried a Small Block 8.

If you can get a proper UST set-up at a good price, you will love it. I am not a fan of conversion kits, but that's just me. Others love them so may well be worth a try.

Tank-slapper

I used to get loads of thorn punctures in my tubes. Since switching to Stans, I haven't had one and I don't even try to dodge prickly things on the trail anymore.

option_click

I'm in the process of switching back to a tube setup. Just can't get along with tubeless.
I prefer to run higher pressures. I've never had much of a problem with punctures really, and can put up with the occasional one now and again

Northwind

RealMan wrote:

less rolling resistance

I've heard that, do you feel it yourself? I can't tell any difference but I'm not ruling out that it might just be me being unperceptive...

adb1006

Option Click wrote:

I'm in the process of switching back to a tube setup. Just can't get along with tubeless.
I prefer to run higher pressures. I've never had much of a problem with punctures really, and can put up with the occasional one now and again

You can run high pressure with tubeless - it's no different to tubes in that respect from my experience. The "low pressure" comments people make are because you can go low without fear of pinch flats.

I've been running tubeless for a while now and would never consider going back to tubes. I have to agree with Hitler, sorry, i mean Realman
I'm using UST rims and 2bliss tyres at the mo - would like to give some non-UST tyres a punt to try and save some weight but £50 for two no-tubes rim strips is a fcuking joke if you ask me! Absolute rip-off :evil:

adb1006

Northwind wrote:

RealMan wrote:

less rolling resistance

I've heard that, do you feel it yourself? I can't tell any difference but I'm not ruling out that it might just be me being unperceptive...

Think it's linked to the low pressures you can run - off-road, when you're going over obstacles on an uneven surface, the tyre will "give", rather than bouncing you about, thus reducing resistance. Or something like that :idea:

option_click

adb1006 wrote:

Option Click wrote:

I'm in the process of switching back to a tube setup. Just can't get along with tubeless.
I prefer to run higher pressures. I've never had much of a problem with punctures really, and can put up with the occasional one now and again

You can run high pressure with tubeless - it's no different to tubes in that respect from my experience. The "low pressure" comments people make are because you can go low without fear of pinch flats.

Not in my experience. The first couple of times I pumped up a UST tyre, I blew the tyre off the rim (and nearly deafened myself in the process).

It's my personal preference to have my tyres pumped up rock hard, something that tubeless can't seem to cope with.

adb1006

Option Click wrote:

Not in my experience. The first couple of times I pumped up a UST tyre, I blew the tyre off the rim (and nearly deafened myself in the process).

It's my personal preference to have my tyres pumped up rock hard, something that tubeless can't seem to cope with.

:shock:

How high are we talking? I ran mine at about 50-60psi recently - i thought that was fairly high but then i am used to 25-30psi

option_click

about the same, 60-65 psi - nothing too outrageous.
I wonder if it had anything to do with the tyre I was using?

adb1006

Possibly. I did 3 days riding across the lake district (90% roads) so i went for high pressures. They coped with the 150miles with no problems. I was using Spesh 2bliss The Captains S-Works on factory XT wheels.

option_click

Interesting.
I have Mavic XM-819 rims (good) and OEM Scott OXYD tyres (generally dreadful).
I got the front up to around 50 psi, and noticed the tyre quivering like a blamange.
Stepped in to have a closer look, and BANG!!! - ringing in my ears for two days afterwards!

I wonder if a better quality tyre would hold the pressure better?
I did make sure the tyre was seated properly before inflating.

adb1006

My mate has the XM819's - he uses The Captains same as me and has never had any problems either so coud well be the tyres at fault?

RealMan

How can you ride off road at 60-65 psi? That's just insane. I'd never do that, it would feel horrible, you'd have no grip, rolling resistance would be huge.. Highest I've ever pumped my tyres up is about 50 psi, and that was for an urban race.

n.battison

rolling resistance would be lower at a higher pressure surely?

Maxticate

No,

it's counterintuitive.

Read this study

http://www.bernhansen.com/Tester/Dekktrykk,%20bredde%20og%20knastens%20innvirkning%20-%20schwalbe.pdf

then run to the garage and lower your tyre pressure!

RealMan

I'm sure someone asks this question every day.

Lower pressure = lower rolling resistance. :roll:

bails87

Yes, I'm not going to explain it again though. http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... =#15625861


But I'm running Conti lightweight tubes with sealant in them and Schwalbe Racing Ralphs, Probably weighs the same as a standard tubed set up, or very little more. I've had no punctures for months, riding on the same terrain where I used to get loads, even with Slime-d tubes.

I'd like to go tubeless, but a £15 for lightweight tubes and sealant is better than £50+ for a conversion kit on top of 2 new tubeless/ tubeless ready/ 2bliss tyres. For essentially the same result (pinch flats aren't an issue for me).

ride_whenever

^^ that;s what i;m thinking, although you lose the suppleness of tubeless, as you still have tyre-tube friction

Northwind

BMX-tube conversion might be for you then, costs buttons... Just use your standard tyres, buy a bottle of sealant (big one, you'll go through more I reckon) and a couple of Tesco BMX tubes for £1.50 each, and a roll of electric tape. Apart from my un-sealing Nevegal puncture, this setup worked really well for me, though I couldn't make it work with a manual pump, I needed my big compressor to seat the tyres.

Maxticate

I had very narrow rim tyres and I couldn't get the Tesco BMX tubes to work for me. The rubbery bit around the valve was simply too thick.

Also all the ghetto tubeless guides tell you to have loads overhanging the wheel and then put the tyre on and trim off. This makes it really difficult to get the tyre on the rim. Especially if it is tight anyway.

I inflated the BMX tube, cut it open all the way round on the centre line opposing the valve. Then I hung it and trimmed either side of the valve using the seams as a guide until I had about an inch wide strip left.


I tucked this into the rim and trimmed with a stanley knife so it sat nicely in the bead. This made getting the tyre on and off a breeze and it still sealed really well.

bails87

Northwind wrote:

BMX-tube conversion might be for you then, costs buttons... Just use your standard tyres, buy a bottle of sealant (big one, you'll go through more I reckon) and a couple of Tesco BMX tubes for £1.50 each, and a roll of electric tape. Apart from my un-sealing Nevegal puncture, this setup worked really well for me, though I couldn't make it work with a manual pump, I needed my big compressor to seat the tyres.

I still don't see the advantage, if I had UST rims then I'd probably go for it, but all the hassle with compressors and cutting up tubes (which I think would have to be repeated when I changed my tyres for winter?) just doesnt seem worth it. For DHers the low pressures probably help, but I've never had a pinch flat, but run my tyres at a comfortable pressure, I've never had a problem with the "suppleness" of my tyres, the only reason tubeless would be good for me is the puncture protection....which I get with my current set up.





:oops: Saying that though, I'm a mug for a fancy upgrade and all this talk of tubeless is making me think it might be worth doing when I switch to my winter tyres! How well do Fire XC Pros work.....?

ride_whenever

i've just bought some bmx tubes with a presta valve and removable core... does the stans sealant have the nozzle that'll fit in such a narrow hole? If not i'll grab a syringe from the lab.

adb1006

It comes with a nozzle that you cut yourself - not sure it'll fit in a valve though, may be a bit thick. I don't have the luxury of removable valve cores though so have to pop my tyre off :evil:

ride_whenever

the hole is about 2mm across...

adb1006

If you've got access to a syringe, i'd go for that.