Tubes v. Tubeless

Srodders

I'll be getting some new wheels soon and wondered what the benefits are for going tubeless.
What are the benefits and are there any down sides? How easy is tyre changing? Are there the range of tyres/rims available yet? etc

Any help/advice on this matter would be welcome. Thanks.

mtnrider

yes there are goods and bads for each for tubless they have less roll resistence and are lighter. you also get flats less often but when you do you don't usually have the option of paching it you have to put a tube in till you can get to an air compresser. To mount a tubless tire you need an air compressor. But as I said getting flats on tubless specific rims is very uncommon. If you use the Stan's tire sealant it does not work as well. When I did that I had a lot of problems with them especially when I crashed I ripped the tires completly off the rims when I crashed about once a month for a few months. But with tubes you can patch them, don't need an air compressor and are cheaper usually.

-hope that helps

moparchris

i'd look at the notubes rims, i just got the heavy version of the ZTR olympic rims for my SS and theyre damn light, tubeless without a rim strip (lighter again than using tubeless and the rimstrip on other rims), pretty easy to seal, its harder to pull the bead off the edge of the rim witha normal clincher rim and they look cool

if your looking for lightweight wheels get some of the ZTR olympic rims and some DT revoloution spokes annd some lightweight hubs (i used WTB on the front of mine and SS specific that came with the bike on the back)

__________________
GT Ruckus SS
2006 Giant Trance 1
Giant TCR Euro

soneca2

I have been riding on tubulars all my life and the the last 3 years I rode over 20 000 kms on the dirty roads of Brazil. For sure I am byassed, but I could not imagine to use the in general much heavier clincher combination.

Regarding your questions:

1. Weight
With a traditional clincher wheel is easily 100 to 300 gr heavier, than a similar tubular combination for a person with the same weight. Furthermore the lightest wheel combinations nowadays are of carbon. With the present carbon wheel trend for super light wheels you have no choice than to use tubulars. Clinchers cannot be used.

2. Mounting
Like with everything new, the first time can be tough. But I am sure, that mounting a new clincher (worse a tubeless clincher) will as tough or tougher, than glue your first tubular.

2. Toughness and security
The tubeless manufacturers are constantly developing new products and at present I am using Tufo tubulars from Checoslovakia. They have as well tubeless clinchers as tubulars and really very tough ones. I have training tubulars from them, with 2000 km and they are only half life.

A flat clincher means almost for sure a fall. With a flat tubular a fall is less probable, because the tubular looses air slower and does not get out of the rim as the clincher does in such cases.

3. Flats
When you have a flat tyre with a clincher, you will have to loosen the tyre of the rim and afterwards repare the tube or change the tube. This will take you at least 5 to 10 minutes.

With the Tufo system, when I have a flat, I stop, open the air valve of my tyre (clincher or tubeless), empty the tyre, screw in the Tufo sealant tube, inject approximately 10 to 15 gr. of sealant, unscrew the sealant tube, inflate the tyre, close the valve and ride on. This means, I do not have to change the tyre, whether tubeless or clincher, and even better it will be afterwards sealed for wholes of up to 3/4 of an inch. This is not an example it is practice. When I had to do it the first time it took me 5 minutes to find out things. Today it takes me the time to deinflate and inflate the tyre.

4. Price
They always say, that best tubulars are much more expensive than the clinchers. This is just a common opinion. The best Michelin clincher is as expensive as the best tubular from Conti, Veloflex or Tufo and they forget, that you have to include the rim sealant, the air tube, etc.

I hope I replied to your questions.
Best regards,

MidBunchLurker

I think Srodders meant tubeless, not tubulars. Only place I've seen tubular mtb tyres is on thomas frischnecht's olympics mtb, and those were custom made.

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nick.

www.nickcoyne.com

soneca2

Well, just have a look at www.tufo.com, you will find tubeless mtb tyres, tubeless 700C clinchers, etc. They are standard products.

Best regards,

MidBunchLurker

http://www.tufo.com/index.php?lg=en&mn=6&id=37

A fantastic innovation, but hardly an everyday mountain biking tyre!

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nick.

www.nickcoyne.com

woodway

I also ride tubeless (Kenda Nevegals on Mavic Crossmax XL rims). I've only had one flat, and it was because I did not have enough air pressure in my front tire which caused the bead to unseal when I made a sharp turn while landing a small (2 ft. drop) (it also caused me to depart the bike !). Contrary to what the poster above says, I was able to reinflate the tire trailside using my small specialized brand hand pump. I had to pump REALLY FAST, but I was able to get the tire repressurized in a couple of minutes. At home I use a floor pump to inflate the tires. I've never needed a compressor.

I love riding tubeless. The rolling resistance is less, and pinch flats are a thing of the past! I ride mostly x-country stuff, no big drops for me!

moparchris

yeah actually with my wheels i can inflate them with a pump, i did it with a track pump ages ago and thought hey what was easy then i saw this and tryed it with a little blackburn mtn air pump and its not hard, though i have notubes rims and fluid (with non UST tyres) and the tyre has to be tightish around the rimstrip or tape

__________________
GT Ruckus SS
2006 Giant Trance 1
Giant TCR Euro