Tubeless tyres for commuting?

andyeb
andyeb Posts: 407
in Commuting general
Trying to get a gauge on whether tubeless tyres are getting any adoption for commuting.

Comments

  • timothyw
    timothyw Posts: 2,482
    Had a blowout on my rear tyre (like, tyre completely detached itself from the bead - only repair option was new tyre) within a couple of hundred miles usage.

    Air pressure was arguably a bit high but I'm a very heavy rider, so had inflated it to the 'max' written on the tyre.

    Front tire was fine, kept using it for a few months (in good conditions) without any punctures, although it did have the 'bubbling' issue commonly reported.

    Ultimately I'd try them again but reluctant to do so while there is a (large) price premium and, simply enough, punctures are a rare occurrence, and I get through tyres pretty quickly.

    And I've never had an inner tubed tyre fail in such a way that it left me stranded (as the tubeless blowout did).
  • thecycleclinic
    thecycleclinic Posts: 395
    I have been commuting on tubeless tyres for a while now and have no issues. Probably done 70000km on tubeless tyres and I ha e never had problems that I have not had with cli clincher (something sharp slicing the tyre open like I do with a seat wraper).
    www.thecycleclinic.co.uk
  • roger_merriman
    roger_merriman Posts: 6,165
    probably depends on the type of tires your using, if your using commute/Touring types with hard wearing/puncture resisting rubber with stiff side walls, tubes seems way to go, if you using lighter weight racy tyres then yes, personally since I run big Apples etc, which are fit and forget doesn’t seem a pressing reason to do so.

    But if I had a road commuter then I’d certainly think about it.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,243
    As a rule of thumb, tubeless tyres will avoid the small problems but tend to cause bigger problems in some cases.
    You won't suffer any more small punctures, but you might end up with a flat tyre and you don't know why it's flat or how to fix it.
    The valve, which is a throw away thing in an inner tube system, becomes a very important part of your set up and any valve issue is likely to leave you stranded. I even had a valve stuck in the rim, which I had to hammer out, obviously you don't carry a hammer with you.

    SO, it really depends... if you have a lot of small punctures, then tubeless will cure the issue, but if you prefer a system that fails in a predictable way (punctured tube-change the tube) then tubeless is a lot of faff and a few question marks
    left the forum March 2023
  • asprilla
    asprilla Posts: 8,440
    The first rule of no puncture club is that you don't talk about no puncture club.
    Mud - Genesis Vapour CCX
    Race - Fuji Norcom Straight
    Sun - Cervelo R3
    Winter / Commute - Dolan ADX
  • drummer_boy
    drummer_boy Posts: 236
    I've been running G-One Speeds for 7 months now, tubeless, after running Gatorskins etc for several years, on a mixed towpath (broken glass and thorns) and road commute. On the Gators I'd get a puncture every other month or so. On the G-Ones I've had nothing since fitting. I'm also on tubeless for pure road and CX work now.
  • denis992
    denis992 Posts: 65
    Last tubeless pair of tyres I replaced had at least FOUR punctures at each end that I knew nothing about. Still carry worms and a spare tube though...just in case!
  • kingstonian
    kingstonian Posts: 2,847
    I've been on tubeless on the commute for the past couple of years, and been almost entirely trouble free. A few days ago the rear tyre started to feel squishy when I was halfway home - a quick inspection showed that a puncture was being fixed with the sealant so I topped up the air with a CO2 canister and rode the remaining 10kms home with no drama. The only time a tubeless tyre has been an issue was when a drain cover put a huge slit on the sidewall, which would have scuppered me with an inner tube too.

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