Tubeless or not to tubeless?

Noel PT

Hi Guys,

I am off on holiday in Dec in South Africa and after chatting to a few of the locals, they mentioned that certain sections are extremely rough and rocky and recommended tubeless to help with low pressure and avoiding the dreaded pinch.

I run a the DT Swiss 420 SL, there aren't tubeless ready I don't think. So my questions are:

1. Is tubeless worth the hassle, as I have never had any issues with tubes in all the years or riding, but then I also never needed super low pressure.

2. I presume I am going to have to buy the kit cause my rims aren't tubeless ready. So is it worth buying the kits or should I look at buying tubeless ready rims instead.

Thanks guys

Alex

If you'll be dealing with rocky sections, put use a high volume tyre with a good pressure and a good quality tube. Latex tubes are exceptional at resisting pinch flats, in so far as they don't do it. The only downside is that you need to pump them up every day.

Correct set-up is still superior to tubeless. I've lost count of the number of rides i've been on where a friend has started out tubeless and finished with a tube having burped, sliced or holed the tyre.

joshtp

do http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRM7gq1fcoQ that, then, this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwON2VxZ ... re=related
then smile at your light, anti puncture wheels.

colintrav

Noel PT wrote:

Hi Guys,

I am off on holiday in Dec in South Africa and after chatting to a few of the locals, they mentioned that certain sections are extremely rough and rocky and recommended tubeless to help with low pressure and avoiding the dreaded pinch.

I run a the DT Swiss 420 SL, there aren't tubeless ready I don't think. So my questions are:

1. Is tubeless worth the hassle, as I have never had any issues with tubes in all the years or riding, but then I also never needed super low pressure.

2. I presume I am going to have to buy the kit cause my rims aren't tubeless ready. So is it worth buying the kits or should I look at buying tubeless ready rims instead.

Thanks guys

Firstly your going to South Africa ...

2nd you should be more worried about not getting robbed at gun point and all your gear stolen

And if your not aware the President have given the police the order of a Shoot to kill policy against criminals make sure you don't get killed in the cross fire

You might assume am just winding you up or did that crop up in the conversation with your friends

joshtp

ok, my brother in law to be is safa, he lives with us at the mo, and, apart form in joburg, this is crap. it is a dangerouse country, but you wont get shot for no reason, so long as you are carfull, dont be stupid, and stay away from areas that are best avoided.
as for the bike, well have fun, some of the trails over there are phenominal. run ghetto tubless, and take a few latex tubes, and normalls too. have fun!

Noel PT

Colintrav I am South African mate, but thanks for the concern : . The papers do like to make more out of the situation than its worth. I am going home to get married and will be doing loads of riding while I am out there.

Mountain biking is one of the fastest growing sports in South Africa. Us Safa's are an odd bunch but Colintrav, don't write South Africa off, we do have some amazing riding. I am actually going to be doing a lot of my riding around Greg Minnaars stomping grounds. The world Cup track is still there and I will be giving that a run too. Got my bike booked into The Minnaars Bike shop for a service when I land and then its straight on to the trails!

Its been about 6 years since I was last there, so I must admit the crime is a worry but I think its more about being cautious of certain areas as joshtp/mbukman mentioned.

Besides the police always shoot to kill out there, they didn't need a law to be passed.....

Thanks for the help guys, much appreciated.

Anonymous

im a big fan of tubeless and since i have been using proper tyres, ive had no trouble at all.

the rims you have will need a conversion kit and my recommendation is stans (ive used joes which was pretty good too)

i found that stans and joes both worked just as well as the tubeless rims i have used (xm 819, mavic crosstrails and spesh roval)

the secret is, and i cant stress this enough, use tyres designed for a tubeless application.

jmj

Tubeless works great but it's not a wonder cure. You'll still get the odd flat that it just can't cope with (sidewalls slashed with glass... big nails through) but what you'll avoid is pinch flats and thorn punctures.

As has already been said though is you need the right tyres. I'm running non UST maxis tyres (minion and high roller) at the moment and they've been great, but they are decent heavyish tyres with thick sidewalls. Choose with care. I've seen quite a few failures recently of Specialized tyres due to their very thin sidewalls.

I use a Joe's No Flats kit which works fine and is much cheaper than the Stans equivalent.

Make sure you have a decent amount of latex in. If you can't hear it sloshing when you wiggle the wheel, you need to top up!

J

Anonymous

choose with care is good advice, i spent bloomin ages trying to get a pair of supersonic speedkings to seal, what a waste of time.

Noel PT

Noted and noted. Thanks guys!

boneyjoe

A saffer friend told me his main reason for riding tubeless was the many thorn punctures (ie self sealing qualities), rather than pinch flats. Depends on the area / terrain I suppose. I rode with normal tyres out there a couple of years ago - near Clarens / Golden Gate area (very rocky in parts) - though with no probs. Just ensure tyres are correct pressure, as per usual.

Personally, I really wouldn't go to all that trouble for a couple of week's riding on holiday. Its more likely to give you problems you aren't used to fixing than provide any great advantage. Rather stick with what you're familiar with, or you could find yourself in some remote spot with a problem you just can't fix. Not what you want in SA for sure!