What I`ve learnt from 6 months experience of going tubeless

paul.skibum

You dont agree that some (not all) punctures are contributed by rider style/error? I know I punctured my rear this summer due to mistimed braking into a rock section, I also flatted due to landing with my rear wheel too sdeways havign not pulled one of my really minor whips back enough before the landing.

So thats 2 of my 5 punctures this summer accounted for due to rider error. 2 of the others were due to low pressure, weak tubes, light weight tyre, less light weight rocks, the other the tyre blew in the back of my car due to altitude change and heat.

Northwind

paul.skibum wrote:

You dont agree that some (not all) punctures are contributed by rider style/error?

No, I agree with that, I was referring to this comment- "if you get a snake bite on a mountainbike you might want to re-evaluate your line choice." Snakebites are something that happens occasionally, if you ride your bike reasonably hard

M6TTF

Switched to tubeless a couple of years ago as I was pinch flaring almost every ride even at over 40psi. Tried various tyres and then went tubeless. One puncture since, I stopped, pumped it up again and carried on. Easy as that. I realise at some point I'll come unstuck but the ratio of flats to no flats makes it totally worth it.

No tubes for me ever again

cooldad

cyd190468 wrote:

Mr Northwind. I do most of my riding in groups so you ride as hard as you can without flatting cause that irritates the group. When I'm by myself I try to avoid flats because you might find yourself pushing a bike 20 k's to get home. Regarding rider error can you explain a situation that results in a flat tyre that isn't due to the actions of the rider. It sounds like the old "I don't know what happened officer the car just went out of control" defence, when we all know that short of equipment failure all car accidents are driver error.

Some things are unavoidable unless you carry the bike.
And then you could trip and break your ankle.
Sh1t happens.

Red.Devil.Ghost

I'm just going to stick with tubes. I know how to change a tube, I can do it quickly and easily and I have no problems with it.

If anyone says they are going tubeless because of weight savings - I suggest to you the difference in weight will make no noticeable difference to any times or performance unless its part of a massive weight saving upgrade. The majority of riders will do better to shed a few excess kilos than save weight on not having an inner tube.

My Nobby Nics are tubeless ready (I have no idea about the wheels) but I just can't be bothered with the hassle of switching it all over, and possibly having to change the wheels to do it properly. If it isn't broken, don't fix it.

warpcow

I agree that going tubeless for weight loss is pretty pointless. Less rolling resistance and better grip, as Jedi said, are what I've noticed most. Puncture protection is just an added bonus compared to these, imo.