What to carry for tubeless tyres?

cooldad

Tubeless tyres are 'clinchers' to use what I assume is roadie parlance.

Moutainbikers just call them tyres.

Ted Mason

I carry tubeless repair kit with a pump and CO2 canister. I also carry a 2 spare tubes. The reason for the tubes is that I have found that if I botch the repair attempt and the tyre deflates fully it will usually come off the rim, then there is no way I would get a tubeless tyre re-inflated, even with a track pump. It all boils down to confidence and competence, once I'm confident and competent at repairing tubeless punctures then the spare tubes will be left at home.

cycleclinic

I think thats it ted confidence in your repair ability. What Trivial poursuivant does not realise is I have been in the situation where after 6000-7000km the tyre just cant hold air reliably anymore. I was not stranded though and did not need to resort to anything I did not normally carry.

I have done many 1000kms on tyres repaired with tyre worms. I dont even unseat the tyre if I ride it flat (I have tried for 10 miles and no rim damage although this is not possible on all rim/tyre combos) so I would rather ride the bugger flat than sit at the side of the road putting a tube in. I avoid that though by packing my tubeless kit properly (I have not always though). so to be blunt carrying a tube is pointless reassurance. if used properly worms will fix your punctures (just carry enough of them) and if you go an do a long ride on a worn out tyre you are asking for trouble. That said some tyres do seem better than others. I base my experience on IRC tyres. I am now testing other brands and I am prepared for many rides on a semi flat tyres. The first one last night. It was cold and dark, the mavic yskion 28mm flated and I could not be bothered fixing it in the cold so I rode it as it was and sorted it at home with flexible superglue alone. All is well today. I am still not tempted to pack a tube though as I know I can sort things at the roadside externally if I have too, it was just too cold last night for me to attempt it and I was only 4 miles from home and there was about 20 psi in the tyre which actually is enough if your careful.

Also I carry a spare valve core in case that breaks but I have yet to have that problem. I normally replace valve cores when I find them difficult to undo or bend them inflating my tyres in the morning. Poor planning and preperation leads to failure. the same goes with tubes, leave them at home and you risk failing. You just have to pack different stuff and know how to use it. One advantage is now one jersey pocket is taken up with tubeless stuff and there is still space for my keys rather than two pockets stuffed with tubes and levers leaving no spare space for wallet, phone and food.

The odd thing is that tubed tyres were so succesful as the problem with those is you have to carry spare tubes. One club ride after my fifth puncture on not worn GP4 seasons and having used my three tubes and a one from a club mate they left me I dont blame them I was fed up and called breakdown. That is what converted me to tubeless and it took a while for me to work out how to sort punctures without a tube though.

Ted Mason

I will ditch the tubes though as it doesn't seem right to have tubeless tyres and then carry spare tubes, it defeats the object I think. thecycleclinic how often do you change the sealant, I imagine it goes off after a while.

veronese68

Trivial poursuivant wrote:

Even car tyres can accept an inner tube. Maybe not common practice now but they were always capable.

But nobody does because there are better ways of repairing the tyre, that's the point people are trying to make. You could put a tube in, but there are better ways to repair it that are less faff.

trivial_poursuivant

thecycleclinic wrote:

I think thats it ted confidence in your repair ability. What Trivial poursuivant does not realise is I have been in the situation where after 6000-7000km the tyre just cant hold air reliably anymore. I was not stranded though and did not need to resort to anything I did not normally carry.

Well done you. Have a medal for your superior tyre maintenance. But then YOU were not the one asking the original question. And as Ted mentioned. Some others don’t quite have the confidence to fix on the side of the road like a Lycra clad McGyver.

trivial_poursuivant

Veronese68 wrote:

Trivial poursuivant wrote:

Even car tyres can accept an inner tube. Maybe not common practice now but they were always capable.

But nobody does because there are better ways of repairing the tyre, that's the point people are trying to make. You could put a tube in, but there are better ways to repair it that are less faff.

Yes correct, but some will manage and some will not. Question is, how ready are some to take that test miles from home? If you know a tube is reliable and you have never used the other methods, how do you know that will hold? I bet some people still struggle to actually get a tyre off full stop. But if your confident in fitting a tube but not so using worms sealant etc. Which is the most sensible course of action?

dodgy

Tube every time for me. Guaranteed to get me home, deal with the faff of repairing the tyre later over a cup of tea.

bobones

dodgy wrote:

Tube every time for me. Guaranteed to get me home, deal with the faff of repairing the tyre later over a cup of tea.

Totally agree. I'll have one go at a tubeless repair if it looks viable (i.e. simple worm insertion), but if it doesn't work, then wheel off, tube in and no more fannying about with glue, patches, worms and sealant. My last puncture was a 1 cm gash in the sidewall that I could barely see on a cold dark morning nevermind successfully fix with worms and glue.

veryslowtwitch

Worms and superglue as per cycleclinic. Putting a tube in is much more difficult than plugging a hole. Lots of earlier threads. I was amazed when I first used worms. No need to take wheel off. 10 secs to put worm in plus a few seconds to top up with gas. That’s it. No knackered thumbs, pinched tubes etc. I still sometimes carry a tube but I doubt I could get the tyre bead back on the rim.

Anyone know where I can get big worms? I have the 1mm ones so far.

bobones

veryslowtwitch wrote:

Worms and superglue as per cycleclinic. Putting a tube in is much more difficult than plugging a hole. Lots of earlier threads. I was amazed when I first used worms. No need to take wheel off. 10 secs to put worm in plus a few seconds to top up with gas. That’s it. No knackered thumbs, pinched tubes etc. I still sometimes carry a tube but I doubt I could get the tyre bead back on the rim.

That's all great in theory, but if the worms don't hold in the air or your tyre becomes unseated from the rim, you're stuck. This has happened to me at least 3 times and I was saved from the call of shame by carrying a spare tube. Fitting the tube was no more difficult than for a non-tubeless rim.

Advising against carrying tubes is like advising non-tubeless users that they only need to take a puncture repair kit and a pump. A patch may work if you can find the leak, but sometimes it's a lot quicker and easier just to fit a new tube and deal with the repair later.

schlepcycling

veryslowtwitch wrote:

Worms and superglue as per cycleclinic. Putting a tube in is much more difficult than plugging a hole. Lots of earlier threads. I was amazed when I first used worms. No need to take wheel off. 10 secs to put worm in plus a few seconds to top up with gas. That’s it. No knackered thumbs, pinched tubes etc. I still sometimes carry a tube but I doubt I could get the tyre bead back on the rim.

Anyone know where I can get big worms? I have the 1mm ones so far.

Malcolm has 1.5mm and 3.5mm worms on the cycleclinic website and you can get 5mm&6mm from ebay.

veryslowtwitch

thanks for links, will have a look for big worms.