Tubes v Tubeless

supersonic

I've seen studies that suggest tubeless has less rolling resistance by the order of a few watts. It really is a preference thing. For me no - I don't have any advantages. But others do, and if it floats your boat go for it. But of course there are many ways of doing it... UST. Tubeless ready. Ghetto conversions.

Punctures will depend on the terrain, obviously some people don't get as many as others, and sealant based tubeless is an advantage to those that do get them if it seals.

Thewaylander

I went tubeless last year, depends on your set up but for people using dh style tubes its a real weight saving with out giving up the puncture proofing. and in that way definately a performance upgrade.

I can imagine for those using very leight weight tubes the difference is fairly minimal.

VWsurfbum

On pure XC i noticed the rolling resistance, speed difference.

Now if only i could get my fatty set up

YellaBelly

When I went tubeless it involved a wheelset upgrade at the same time, so I've no way of knowing how much improvement was down to tubeless. Not much I suspect. I would never go back to tubes though, and that is purely down to punctures. I've suffered one in two years tubeless, and that was a torn sidewall sliding into a stump in the snow. In warmer weather the sealant might even have plugged it up.

brucie45

It works for me - less weight, less punctures and able to run lower pressures. I may have been lucky but I have never had a problem with mine. I guess for some people the benifits aren't really worth it

lostboysaint

Yep, converted two sets of wheels (one 26 and one 29) to tubeless and have been much happier with both. Faster? Who knows. Better puncture resistance, no doubt. Lighter, yes a bit.

stubs

I noticed absolutely zero difference when I went to tubeless but I didnt do it for any performance gain I did it because I was getting too many punctures. As I run a fair bit of sealant in my tyres I doubt theres any weight difference either.

njee20

Now if only i could get my fatty set up

A friend of mine's done it, saved a chunk of weight.

VWsurfbum

njee20 wrote:

Now if only i could get my fatty set up

A friend of mine's done it, saved a chunk of weight.

I'll give it a proper go at some point i think, tyres are so loose on the rims that i gotta build a ridge up first to get them to start excepting air, let alone seat and seal.

It would save about 1400g in tubes alone

lawman

In the two years I've been using tubeless on one bike I've had zero issues, add new sealant every 6 months or so and forget about it. On the other bike, with identical rims and tyres but running tubes, I've had countless punctures and in the brief time I fitted tubes to my main bike when the sealant dried and didn't have a chance to set it up for a few weeks I also had countless punctures. This is on tubeless ready rims/tyres and stan's sealant. Did I notice any difference performance wise? Not really, tubeless was a smidge lighter, but then due to different hubs and spokes, despite the same rims the weights were different to start with so hard to tell. But the lack of punctures is the biggest draw for me. When my mates are stood there fixing flats and I'm standing there looking smug at my tubeless setup it makes a minimal amount of faff all worth it. Once you've got the hang of it changing sealant/tyres is quicker than changing a tube anyway imo.

lawman

A generic inner tube weighs around 200g, most high-end mtb tyres these days are tubeless ready so tyres aren't going to be any heavier. On my Stan's rims the rim tape and valves added about 50g or so, but you'd need the tape for tubes so it's more like the weight of the valves, about 25g. Two scoops of Stans Sealant at a guess is 50-60g and thats all you need for a decent sized 2.35 tyre. So with sealant and valves you're looking at around a 200-275g weight saving or half a pound, which is a lot on a wheelset, but thats just an educated guess, I don't have specific numbers. Personally I like the reduced weight, and I like having no punctures so tubeless is definitely the way forward imo.

supersonic

As above, so many variables on how you actually do it. A light weight tube may just be as effective for weightweenies.

Northwind

I can't feel any rolling resistance difference, but I do feel the weight (*) and I definitely feel the benefit of only getting punctures once in a blue moon. Since I stopped fannying about with schwalbe delicate rubbish I've had 1 flat in about 2 years on tubeless... And about 95% of my riding is on tubeless, so the 2 or 3 flats I've had with tubes stand out a bit.

(* yes OK you can get super-light innertubes which cancel this out. Good luck with those)

poah

I did it when I got new wheels but primarily did it for weight saving as it was a UST rim. saved about 120g off my rolling weight compared to tubes as I was already using lightweight 136g tubes

D4V1D

I ride a Hard Tail, & getto'd the rear about a year or so ago due to having to many snakebites, but left the front tubed. I always got snakebites on one particular trail. Going tubeless on the rear worked for me & stopped the snakebites.

I was riding this year & got a flat front, replaced the tube out on the trail. 5 minutes later another flat front. Replace the tube again, forgot to say removed the thorns. I got home and checked the rear, it had thorns in it, but it was still holding air. This prompted me to convert the front to tubeless.

I pulled the thorns out of the rear tyre and the air hissed out so I spun the rear & then I heard the sealant start to block up the holes. It needed more air to be added but held up.

I've only getto'd mine for now, & found car sealant cans work well for inflation & sealant-& are great on £'s for what you get compared to cycling products.

Hope this is helpful
As to rolling resistance, I feel that tubeless-runs a bit faster-tyre is quicker to move,deform over obstacles.

JMcP92

Tubeless works well, moreso if you've got the right wheels and tyres. I've got Haven's which don't even have spoke holes on the inside as the spokes/nipples are double threaded, then running Hans Dampf's which are designed to be tubeless, works flawlessly.
I have only had one issue in 9 months of running it, but it's always worth having a spare tube with you as if you do have an issue (as I did when I somehow poked a small hole somewhere between the tread while burping the tyre) it's a lot easier to put in a tube trailside than trying to re-seal it.
+If you do go tubeless, always use good sealant, you'll be glad you did when you run over things that could puncture it