Going tubeless?

captainbligh
captainbligh Posts: 35
edited July 2012 in MTB general
Hi,

I have tubeless ready rims + Schwalbe Nobby Nic "tubeless ready" tires.

A) Do I need sealant or can be without it? How am I to do the conversion? (Sorry I am new to tubeless, no clue)
B) Is there any weight gain or loss?
C) By riding on pavement, with really high pressure, would I wear them out fast? I do about 100 miles a week on pavement, unfortunately.

Comments

  • paul.skibum
    paul.skibum Posts: 4,068
    a) You need sealant, there are kits that give you the valve and sealant and so on. Dont have them myself so am no expert.
    b) It should be lighter than a tube set up as you dont have the tube (although you do have some sealant) should certainly improve rolling but if you are travelling to work I'd carry a tube in case of puncutre so you can still get there!
    c) 100miles on paved roads will definitely wear your tires down - rather than trashing the nobby nics I'd probably get either another set of slick tires to swap them with OR (depending on budget) a cheap alternate wheelset with slicks, discs and cassette to just drop in and out as needed.
    Closet jockey wheel pimp whore.
  • AlanW
    AlanW Posts: 291
    The gains are about being able to run a much lower pressure in order to get more grip and without the fear of getting pinch punctures, which in your case is irrelevant really.

    If you are doing 100 miles a week on the road, I would question if its worth the effort going tubeless to be honest? I assume that you will be riding those ride miles with off road tyres? If so then they wont last you very long and replacing tyres when you are tubeless is not the easiest or quickest jobs to do.

    Don't get me wrong tubeless is brilliant, I changed to tubeless about two years and its the best thing I ever did, but I then I don't ride on the road with them a great deal. It is a right bloody faff getting the standard Schwable tyres to seal and especially if they are 2.25" or over.
    "You only need two tools: WD40 and duct tape. If it doesn't move and it should, use WD40. If it moves and it shouldn't, use duct tape"
  • captainbligh
    captainbligh Posts: 35
    paul.skibum wrote:
    a) You need sealant, there are kits that give you the valve and sealant and so on. Dont have them myself so am no expert.
    b) It should be lighter than a tube set up as you dont have the tube (although you do have some sealant) should certainly improve rolling but if you are travelling to work I'd carry a tube in case of puncutre so you can still get there!
    c) 100miles on paved roads will definitely wear your tires down - rather than trashing the nobby nics I'd probably get either another set of slick tires to swap them with OR (depending on budget) a cheap alternate wheelset with slicks, discs and cassette to just drop in and out as needed.

    Thanks a lot for your reply and all info.

    Well, these Schwalbe Noby are new and came with my new bike... I've put about 130 miles on them, only on paved roads, with a very high pressure on both, but they sound like the underground metro on the street lol, and I can feel they are kinda slow and eating all my speed.
    Now I have no choice cuz I moved to the city, and most the times to get to the trails I have to ride about 15 miles each way, so I guess I'm wasting a lot of tire.

    You think with 130 miles on them I've done a lot of wear? Maybe I should buy some urban/street tires.
    Or if I don't, how long do you think they can last under these conditions?

    Cheers
  • paul.skibum
    paul.skibum Posts: 4,068
    I have no experience of Nobby Nics but generally wear will be dependent on the compound - a harder compound tyre will wear less on road whether nobbly or not - I had touring style tyres ona hard tail (continental somethings) and they lasted forever (if I hadnt sold the bike I'd still be using them I imagine) so my recommendation would be to go for something street or touring oriented if you are riding on road - the speed change will be immense in any case - so much less rolling resistance.

    As the other poster said - if you were changing between tyres regularly I definitely wouldnt go tubeless - too much faff. If you want to swap the tyres and go tubeless I'd go the two wheel sets route.

    I used a set of Nokian NBX's on my old hardtail whcih I ended up commuting to work on a fair bit and the road wear definitely took its toll on the rear but then I used to use my rear brake to lock the wheel to warn pedestrians of my approach so that probably didnt help! Maybe I should invest in a bell!
    Closet jockey wheel pimp whore.
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    paul.skibum wrote:
    b) It should be lighter than a tube set up as you dont have the tube (although you do have some sealant) should certainly improve rolling but if you are travelling to work I'd carry a tube in case of puncutre so you can still get there!
    Some 'tubeless' tyres are heavier than their single-ply tube equivalents so negates the weight benefit. Though in some cases you can run certain regular tyres tubeless on good tubless ready rims.

    Main thing that puts me off tubeless (and I have tubeless ready rims) is the hassle and mess if you do change them and if you actually get a puncture that doesn't seal. That and the fact I've not had a puncture with a tube in 4 years and I run them at 30psi, sometimes lower. Note that in terms of punctures tubeless only saves you in pinch flats and I've only ever had one of those.

    The only benefit I'd see of going tubeless for me is to be able to run confidently at 20psi for dodgy condition downhills to get extra grip. Or I could slap on tacky compound tyres at 30psi with tubes.
  • andyg1966
    andyg1966 Posts: 63
    Note that in terms of punctures tubeless only saves you in pinch flats and I've only ever had one of those.

    Not true in my opinion, I run tubeless with ordinary (non UST) folding tyres with Stans and when worn out, I find several thorns that have been healed, not to mention punctures where it was an in and out thorn or small cut. These would have punctured tubes.
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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    Maybe. Though a lot of small cuts may only go through the tyre and not far enough to puncture the tube.

    Pros and Cons of both really and I'm not convinced it's worth the hassle to go tubeless even though I have the rims for it.
  • njee20
    njee20 Posts: 9,613
    Maybe. Though a lot of small cuts may only go through the tyre and not far enough to puncture the tube.

    Pros and Cons of both really and I'm not convinced it's worth the hassle to go tubeless even though I have the rims for it.

    Err no, far fewer thorn punctures too. I pulled a nail out of my tyre last year, tyre sealed in a few seconds, rode on.

    There are hassles, notably that you have to choose your tyres a bit more carefully to ensure decent compatibility, but that's about it.

    However... for the OP I'd not bother. If you're riding on the road get some slicks and just run with tubes. Tubeless and high pressure are not a good combination.

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