@@reginaldscot165 I myself am in doubt about whether to use a gravel bike without an inner tube, what if I can't close it if I still have an inner tube. My rim is suitable for tubeless. I think I'll go for an inner tube. I'll be done with an inner tube faster than with that other stuff.
Totally, totally, totally agree, tried the tubless system and hate it! Agree with all your points and just want mention that the tubeless tires alone can be a nightmare to mount, add that to the list! Thanks
@@Nivacromcolumbus my friend paid the lbs like 40 euros to fix a puncture and go tubeless. 1 month later he punctured the same tyre..but no sealant. they simply had him pay and believe he got tubeless. Also..I asked multiple shops, most of em don't even know how it works and don't offer any help...in the fucking Netherlands FFS. BTW this is for MTB..and even then I'm thinking why..only cuz i can ride with the most grip and just bash through rocks. Oh wait I can do the same with an insert from tannus, just 300gr heavier..
Tubeless is so messy. If you live in a cold climate like me, the problem isn’t drying out. Problem is that you overfill because nothing has tried out after six months so end up with a lot of sealant in the tire. Also, if you like to switch tires because of a new season and you want maybe winter tires there’s a lot lots of mess from the sealant to clean up also reusing used tubeless tires so hard to fit back again.
Great video! I also tried tubeless and hated it. The cost was never a factor - but I tried due to the hype/trend surrounding tubeless. My issue that drove me back to tubes was the amount of dried sealant that collected on the tire and I also would get small seeps of watery/oily liquid on occasion. I never felt any advantage in speed or ride comfort and did experience sealant spraying out all over after picking up a very small hole (which I thought the sealant should have taken care of). I can leave my tubes in for a long time without messing with them but have to replenish sealant - no thanks. George Vargas is a great dude so glad to see you give him some credit.
I used to ride tubes until 2015 when I switched to tubeless. My experience is that when I had tubes, I was getting a puncture about once every 1000km on average. My first tubeless tyre was a bit rubbish but there wasn't a lot of choice back then. More recently I have found that the tubeless tyres, rims and sealant have become a better combined system. The last time I had puncture that required me to stop at the side of the road is 2018. What I can say is that I have substituted hassle at the roadside for hassle at home in the set up and maintenance. On balance, I prefer it this way.
So, what is your setup? I personally run tubeless with my gravel bike but tending to agree with Reg about TPUs for road wheels. Be interesting to hear more about your success story though.
@@peterharrington8709 I am currently using Schwalbe Pro One TLE tyres and Silca Ultimate Tubless Sealant. It is a 2 part set up. 1st application you add the formula that contains the carbon strands and then subsequent top up applications is the latex fluid only to keep it liquid inside. Needs topped up 2/3 times a year. I just leave the dried up stuff inside the tyre. It seems to create a fairly even mess coated to the inside of the tyre, so don't see the point of cleaning it off until it is time to replace the tyre. My tyres do have little holes and slits in them, but the carbon/latex seems to be providing a good seal that holds pressure no worse than a new tyre. I run my tyres at around 70 psi.
You just became my favorite bike mechanic on TH-cam :). The amount of information and explanations is immense. I wasn't planning on going tubeless anyway, but now after this video i will never bother even thinking about it. TPU tubes will be the next i'll put on my wheels, currently running standard butyl with Conti GrandPrix tires (normal GPs, not 5000). Thanks a lot for your time invested in these videos where you really take your time explaining everything!
I'm not going tubeless either. Wasted 2 seconds of my life looking into it, that just caused me to pull my tubes in a little closer and hug them a little tighter. LOL FOOLS! Thanks again for the great content.
never had an issue with tubeless, i dont see what people issues are, its a bike like rim or discs, what ever works for you, guess i have just hit it lucky with the right tyre and wheel set up
While out riding the other week I saw this guy having a puncture, how did I know 🤔 well the spunk shot up over his back🤣 I shouted “now you know how your boyfriend feels “🤣 before of course offering my assistance, he laughed thankfully and said I’m gonna change back to inner tubes 😊
Absolutely! Never go tubeless now that TPU tubes (and before that, latex tubes) are cheaply available on the market and lighter as a system….well done video!
Never ever tubeless come across my mind. All my 3 bikes runs comfortably with tubes. Only occasionally I need to pump the pressure before the ride. No messy sealant all over the bike, no worries of replacing expensive dried out sealant. Almost maintanance free 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Tubeless. Another way the bike industry wants to convince cyclists that they solve a problem that never existed in the first place, and with the added complexity that is added for it. If it is not broken, don't change it. (but let's not kid ourselves, their PR departments need to find "innovation" even in the expense of the actual user, i.e. cyclist.)
@@TheRimBrakeGuy Let me guess, you're running a 10 speed with friction shifters because all this indexing crap the industry is pushing is too complicated and unnecessary? LOL.
I run Vittoria latex tubes with my GP5000s. Latex leaks like a sieve though and one must pump up tires before every ride, but I do that anyway. The performance is great.
i'm pretty lucky that cost doesn't influence my choice on this issue, however, I still agree with you, after using tubeless for several months on a new bike build there are numerous issues that, on a road bike, are just a complete pain in the arse...changing tyres being one significant issue. Ive been using the Tubolito tubes for a good few years now and absolutely love them, they feel great and I have had hardly any punctures... plus theyre so light I carry two spares around just in case. Havent checked out the Ridenow tubes yet, will definitely watch your vid on those and have a look. cheers
Tubular still king for performance. The glue stays between the tire and the rim - even when flat. Cornering unmatched - so race tubs! Oh and you can ride a flat! Clinchers with tubes for training/commute - butyl for commutes - latex for fast rides. I think this works the best.
I switched to road tubeless three years ago and have ~15,000 miles of use. I use 25mm (optimal for the inner width of my rims) Schwalbe Pro One tires and typically run 90 psi front and 95 psi rear (though I have run as low as 70/72 psi). I've used various sealants and prefer Orange Seal Regular sealant. I've tried the endurance sealant and it does not perform as well (weeping at puncture sites). When using the regular sealant, I have NEVER had a puncture that required me to alter my ride or add air/CO2 to the tire. The sealant cleans easy with a bit of water (yes, I have been sprayed with sealant and it comes off quite easily). Adding sealant is very easy (deflate, remove valve core, add sealant, install valve core, inflate) as is changing a tire (use a basin to clean/remove old sealant). I use a Lezyne Pressure Overdrive pump to seat the tire bead. I've changed the rim tape (I use DT Swiss at proper width for my rims) with no problem. In my experience, a properly configured road tubeless setup is very reliable and easy to maintain.
People who get lucky with tubeless always credit themselves with "setting it up properly", but they're never able to understand that the crappest system in the world would- through force of probability- have a minority of people for whom it happened to work. It's about the sheer number of ridiculous tubeless fails people experience in the real world.
Thank you for sharing your experience and views it definitely puts things into another perspective. I've been thinking of buying a road bike for a while and I will keep this in mind. On my commuter bike I use a combination of tubeless ready tires and a inner tube didn't care about the tubeless feature I just chose them because they offer a good puncture protection with woven fabric in-between tyre walls.
Great video, same experience, I am riding only latex tubes and good cotton tires from Veloflex, Wolpack and Challenge and maybe one flat per year, actually glass cut, not puncture, there is no tubeless that will seal that big cuts. The feeling on cotton tires with latex tubes is far better that any tubeless I have tried.
I agree w you 100%, all your points, which are good and make sense, just reinforces my opinion that tubeless tires are not worth the hassles, thanks for the video.
I don’t know why the bicycle industry has over complicated Itself. I ride Continental Gatorskins 23mm for close to 9 yrs. with only two flats . I’d. rather spend my time on the road rather than the side of the road. Great video Reginald !
Also suffered bad experience going tubeless just recently, that's why, I'm back again to inner tube! I will try the Latex or TPU to improve the rolling resistance. Still using the TLR tire until it wears out. Thanks for the info! GOD Bless!
Excellent summary. Presently, I have two bikes with one set-up tubeless and the other with latex tubes. For me the latex are way better in ride performance than the tubeless. Tubeless like tubed are not immune from snagging a flat. However, when it comes to such situations the success of tubeless is all down to the size of the hole, the running tyre pressure and the quality and quantity of sealant on board all working in your favour. In the event your tubeless set-up fails though it is a major pain on the road-side to sort out. Overall, I tend to feel a roadside hassle with a tubed wheel is way easier to deal with than a tubeless.
In depth! you brought up some good points and scenarios that we don't ever hear about...such as riding behind someone w/ tubeless setup, getting a cut in their tire and the fluid slinging on you and all over the rider!! what a mess that would be, and in that case they would need to have a spare tube + installation tools + pump or CO2 anyways....Yeah thanks for this video it explains a lot!!!!
Hi Reginald. Good vid. Totally agree. Car wheels/tyres are both hookless and tubeless and very sucessful but they have a heavy/stiff bead around their rims (a bit like a non-folding clincher) and they require a deep well in the rim to help fit them. Bike tubeless tyres apear to be foldable (I've never had one so I rely on what I see on videos) so they do not have that safery feature. Car tyres start leaking around the rim after a salty cold winter corodes the aluminium (not an issue in the tropics I suppose). The thing with hookless bike wheels and flexible tyre beads is that it is amazing that they ever stay on at all being as they rely on friction between the rim and tyre. I must admit I had not thought of the antisocial aspect of spraying your pals with sealant. Surely that is reason enough for us ordinary mortals to avoid tubeless. Keep your friends better that way.
Tubeless (on road) seems to work well for some and not for others. I've lost count the number of times I've got home to find sealant up my back and I just never knew I had even had a puncture during the ride, only ever had one that wouldn't seal on its own in 4 years but the tyre would have been a "walk home" even with tubes. If your rims aren't TLR and all you have is a low volume track pump to work with then its pretty big investment to find out, that probably isn't worth it. I'm not hookless though, that seems like one of those "works on paper" things rushed to market for all the wrong reasons.
The determining factor is pressure and volume. Putting like 70+psi through skinny road tubeless tyres is really testing the limits of how fast sealant can coagulate. If you have quite large (by roadie standards) 36mm tyres, maybe because your roads are shit and/or mostly unsealed etc, you'll have a quite nice ride running them at like 35-50psi. At those pressures and often larger volumes it seems pretty successful for the gravel bike crowd.
I’m not willing to invest in a tubeless system but I have tried inner tube sealant which has worked for me flawlessly so far and I can’t really see the need to change as I’m not chasing marginal gains but just enjoy riding my bike.
Hi. Another great video. Thanks. I point I would like to make. If you have a regular puncture with a tube in fixing it, you often check the tyre carcass. If you run tubeless you could have a lot of tyre damage and weakness without realising it until it's too late. The tyre is everything for drive braking and cornering. All this new technology is great if you are a pro getting a full service after every ride!
If I was running narrow tyres at high pressures I would go with tubes. However these days I'm more interested in comfort than outright performance. I'm running tubeless on my mountain and gravel bikes and would not go back to tubes. I run quite wide tyres at low pressures even for my road wheelset (34c at under 50psi). Was out for a ride a month ago and noticed there was a piece of wire sticking out of my back tyre. I pulled it out and it sealed within half a second. I don't carry tubes with me any more. I do carry shoestring plugs but have never needed them. Have only had one puncture which did not seal itself. That was a gash from a piece of metal that effectively destroyed the tyre.
I have so many amazing testimonies to say about road tubeless tires. I had over 9 punctures during a 12-day tour in Europe last year. Never had to even pump up the pressure.
Yes it’s fantastic, until something goes wrong… then it’s a horrible, time consuming and expensive mess. 🤷🏻♂️ As for testimonials, my English friends always tell me how nice some Italian restaurant is, but when I go it’s not to my standard and I’m disappointed. For another example, people tell the the Mazda CX9 is a good car… my wife has one and I think it’s in the top 5 worst cars I’ve ever driven. 😅
@reginaldscot165 still it'd worth much more than countless puncture repairs or tube replacement. And when the worst comes, don't whine. just fix a tube!
I went tubeless back in 2020 on my new bike and then on my MTB have not had puncture on the road since then, I did once find the bike in the garage with a flat, due to a thorn stuck in the tyre, it had gone down over a couple of days. Pulled the thorn out topped up the tyre and never looked back. All your points about cost and weight are valid however it’s a joy not having to fix a flat at the side of the road or up a mountain. Love to see you change a rear flat in 1 min if your running 28 mm or larger.
A tire once fell off the rim in my living room. Sealant everywhere. Since then I've been riding tubes again. For me, tubeless and hookless are just dangerous ideas from the bicycle industry. With normal tubeless tires I have the feeling that they bounce off tires faster than with a tube. The tubeless tires on motorcycles are heavy and are not easy to install. The TPU solution for bicycles is definitely usable.
I've been thinking of at least trying tubeless for a long time. Watched the odd video on it. Thought it looked like more of a hassle than what it's worth. Thanks for putting this one to bed mate. You showed us a lot of good reasons not to bother. The big channels and companies will tell you that you'll turn into flash gordon if you use tubeless and hookless, but I'm sure like everything else in the world, it's all about dollars and not sense. Besides that, I've bought the odd set of road tyres that were "tubeless ready" by mistake. You've nearly gotta be Arnold Schwarzenegger to get them on. Actually, I reckon all tyres have gotten tighter over the 5 or so years. I remember when tyres and tubes were easy to change.... Those were the days. Anyway, good job as always Reginald, we love your work
No idea what the hassle is. It takes me an extra 2min to run a wheel tubeless outside of initial tape(plenty of people use tubeless tape with tubes these days anyway). That's far better than all the time lost to running tubes and getting flats
Fascinating analysis, especially liked the second part (mechanical drawbacks)! This is the first time I’ve heard of balancing bicycle tires with weights (for high speed mountain descents). I’m surprised that’s a thing.
@@reginaldscot165 In hindsight, that makes perfect sense. When I used to ride fast downhill (my record is 52mph, or 84kph), it felt very chaotic (eyes watering wildly, handlebars vibrating quite strongly, wind roaring past my ears) and I thought "well, of course! What did you expect?". Later I realized that I could have reduced the eye watering effect... if I used wraparound sunglasses (like the pro's) instead of regular sunglasses. And now (from you, thanks!) I realize I probably could have reduced the handlebar vibration significantly if I'd had my wheels balanced. The wheels seem fine otherwise (no wandering, no vibration) while at more normal speeds, so it never occurred to me to that they might be out of balance. Of course, at 2x or 3x faster rate of revolutions, the vibrations are going to be proportionally (or perhaps even non-linearly) magnified. Cheers!
I think tubeless has more distinct advantages in the mtb and high volume tire gravel world. Much lower pressures mean the sealant is likely to work instead of just spraying and less chance to pinch flat. There are plenty of examples of mtb riders denting their rims and the tubeless tire beads still holding air. Regardless the same disadvantages still arise when the tire is slashed and no amount of sealant with plug the gash. In that case, tubes are your only option. I’ve been running butile tubes my whole life and never had issue. I’ve had maybe 4 flats total. 2 were pinch flats, one was a massive gash, and the other was a staple. You make a great case for the tpb tubes. I think I may have to pick a couple up and try them out for myself and see if I notice a difference. I’m not much afraid of getting a flat so the decrease in rolling resistance is quite enticing. Many tires nowadays on the gravel and mtb side of things are basically all tubeless compatible nowadays so it’s kind of impossible to get away from the weight. However for the most part riders in those disciplines seem to enjoy the advantages of a stiffer sidewall, as do I.
I have always enjoyed repairing punctured tubes. I'm not saying changing a tube on the roadside is fun but I do like repairing tubes when I'm at home.😂
Agree with you on the hookless rims. The rest not so much but "different stokes for different folks" I ride MTB, gravel and road. My MTB and gravel bikes are tubeless and for the last four years so is my road bike (hooked rims!!!) In four years, I've never had to put a tube in, never changed the rim tape. I carry a spare tube, extra sealant, a plug kit, CO2 and a pump. The spare tubes I used for my riding buddies but never myself. I've plugged my MTB and gravel bike tires often (2-3 times a year) and maybe once or twice my road bike in four years. Yes there is some preparation/work involved with tubeless but properly done it's at home and not on the road. You need to watch some of these MTBers, with a plug and CO2 at the ready they can plug a tire, air it up with CO2 and be back riding/racing in seconds (rim never comes off the bike). Actually I've never taken a rim off the bike out on a ride to fix a flat since going tubeless. Finally regarding the occasion squirt of sealant when you get a puncture well that is the same if put sealant in your tubes (as you mention in at about the 12 minute mark in the video). I recall washing my bike for the first time after going tubeless and on the back of the seat tube is a light coating of gunk and I realize it's sealant and I start laughing because I never knew to slow down much less stop. Before going tubeless I went thru about 4-6 tubes a year.
Hello Scot, just found your channel. Thank you for the time and effort you put into cycling content. I'll stick with good old fashion tubes, however those new tubes your running have caught my eye-I'll give them a go.
Appreciate this video. I tried tubeless and found it too much work and too expensive as pointed out in this video. I ride a touring bike decked out for the road and ride 38mm-42mm tires for comfort. Will purchase the RideNow tubes. Thank you.
Yes, tubeless needs maintenance. Just like everything else on a bike. Either I'm extremely lucky or they (tubeless) work. Brought my bike in for maintenance and the mechanic showed me 8 punctures in the tubeless tires. I never even knew it. That is 8 tubes at $10/USA and that is not cheap for all those tubes. Also, it is hot and humid where I live, and nothing drives more nuts in changing tubes (which I did for 30 years). Plus, some clinchers are extremely hard to take off and put back on. I have both systems. During the hot months, I will use tubeless. You bring up a lot of good points which are monetary base which makes all the sense in the world. I value the non-monetary value of not stopping in heat and changing tubes. Also, you brought up that if a tubeless tire is slashed it is over. I would say the same with tube tires. Pros and cons for each system and I would say that tubes have more pros. However, not dealing with flat tubes is just fantastic.
@@barrytantlinger1033 Putting to many patches on a tube has caused wheel chatter to me on more than one occasion. That was caused by a wheel imbalance on light wheels. Not very much but noticable at speeds around 40 kph. Additionally, putting 8 patches on a tube seems silly to me. Just another point of failure on a performance bike.
@@barrytantlinger1033 One, latex tubes can't be patched. Never used a plastic tube. By the looks of it they are very expensive. Ignore the cost factor... Again, when it is hot/humid or cold/freezing I just don't want to deal with it. (I sweat really bad.) If you are cost sensitive that is fine go with tubes. To ME I don't like dealing with removing tires (and certain tires are extremely hard to remove, and you need to carry a tool just for that) as that take can a lot of time. And, if you are in a group ride everyone is standing around waiting for you and itching to go. I do group rides all the time and have dealt with several flats this year alone. The riders struggled to get the tire off the rim. Wasted 15-20 minutes dealing with that. Then the tube needs to be installed and hopefully the tube doesn't get pinched. If that occurs, you are down to patching. More time wasted. I do carry a patch kit with a spare tire. Just more time wasted and prayed the patch holds. Then what do you do when you get home? Replace the patch tube or keep riding on it? I assume you are riding with a steel frame and a threaded fork too. They have working on tubeless tires since the 1990's and now they work really well now cost beside the point.
Thanks for the interesting and thorough exposition. I watch tubeless videos to see if anyone can make a case for their use that might make me change. So far none have. The last time I bought new tyres was in 2018 and after thousands of kilometres with clinchers one valve started a slow leak and I replaced the inner tube. We do have broken glass on roads here in Australia but flint is not used for road surfaces. I’ve not had a pinch flat because tyres are always inflated to 100 psi. At this point I don’t know what could convince me to change. Cheers.
Yes it depends where you live and ride. If I lived in France today I might need the extra protection against all the broken glass but as I don’t I don’t see the need to go tubeless. 😁
I went tubeless 15 years ago on my MTBs (when it was first available), and approx 10 years ago on my road bikes. And never looked back... Small punctures I dont even notice, and large are easily filled with worm(s), which do a superb job in solving the larger holes. In all those years, I had only one occasion, on my MTB, that i had to stop and insert a inner tube to be able to continue my ride - and that was decade ago, when sealant and tires were pretty bad. I do it for the comfort o the road, and lower pressure I can ride off-road. So, if you are up to date with sealant and tire technology, there is no hassle. I use TPU only on my vintage road biles, which I ride seldom, so sealant would be needing retopping too often. On bikes I ride regularly, retopping is needed once in 6-12 months, and that is single retopping before tires are worn and need replacing.
I have to say my experience with Tubeless is very different. I have never tried a 23mm Tubeless but I do run 28mm and 30mm Schwalbe Pro Ones and have done around 14000 miles in the last 18 months. One thing you never get with tubeless is a pinch flat but I still carry a tube and CO2 so I can help my ride partners who are not tubeless. I can say for me I have had about 5 punctues in the 18 months that impacted my ride. 3 were slow leaks so I did need to use a CO2 canister a couple of times until home and 2 were tire slices that I just had to deal with, fortunately close to home. None resulted in large volumes of sealant being sprayed but I have heard it does happen. Every few months I take the core out of the valve and using a syringe put 20-30cc of sealant in the tire, usually when its on the stand and I'm washing the bike or inspecting the chain so its just routine. When I do major turnarounds on the tires, like putting new ones on due to wear and tear I do it at home with a foot pump and tire levers. Takes about an hour to do the two wheels, I stop for a coffee or to catch the football scores so its no big deal. I'd rather do that at my leisure than dealing with replacing a tube by the side of the road due to a pinch flat (potholes suck but not so much for tubeless). And final points the comfort, running 5 bar on 28mm tires vs 7 bar on 23mm tires is not only faster its noticeably more comfortable. And safety wise a slow leak is very easy to manage at speed compared to the rapid decompression of an inner tube. If the sealant is having trouble and hissing and spraying you also get a warning of an issue unlike with an inner tube that is almost instantly flat. So for me using what is currently available on the market tubeless is the way to go. I also wax my chain, run disk brakes and own an electric car. Once you get familiar with how they operate they definitely work even though initially they may feel difficult to deal with.
I perfer beatings on the ride... not by equipment choices no one ever ask for. For the whole tubeless system to be even viable at all comes down to reliance of the sealant. Without it, the system is a non starter. Somehow, people got duped that this flawed tire system is the most superior on a road bike. IMO, tubular tires and rims are a superior way of doing a (road) bicycle tire. I can use sealant too if I'm lazy (too weak, too cold... yada, yada) not wanting swap out tubis. I don't wish again for someone to get a puncture with me on their wheel. My bike, my kit was doused in sealant following a chap who got a nice cut in his tire. He payed $200 for the damage to my kit caused by the sealant. You might gather that I do not like tubeless at all.
@@chaosengine3772 and therein lies the beauty of cycling - we are all entitled to our opinions and that's all they are. I'm glad tubulars work for you, I personally have never used them or owned rims suitable for them. I have used clinchers and tubeless and for me tubeless are far superior to clinchers based on my experience on the ease of use, lack of punctures and overall system reliability.
had a set of schwalbe pro ones on bontrager rims, one tire kept leaking despite fresh sealant. eventually decided to just throw on an innertube. no way are you getting that tire off, on the side of the road, without 2 or 3 steel tire levers.
This is a really good video. Everything you said in the video is relevant to me; and I suspect also to most riders (who are unfortunately taken in by the marketing).
The only people not better off running tubeless are people that live in areas with spotless roads without glass/goatheads, and possibly people that ride so little that their tires dryrot before they're 1/3 worn down
This is my first year running tubless on my road bike with 28mm tire and I am much more confident that pinholes will never stop me again. 100% of my flats on tubes were pin holes.
I got back into biking after a couple of years break. Prior to this break, I rode a 1991 Trek 7000. Tubed, rim brakes. I went for a new bike when i started up again, I didn't go for what I had intended to...I always pictured getting a higher performance mountain bike. I went for a fixie/single speed. I've yet to own, or ride more than a few minutes really, anything with disc brakes, hydraulic brakes, or suspension. I am so happy I went the route I did. I've seen vids of changing brake fluids, bleeding brakes, and dealing with tubeless systems. To be frank, I don't want to deal with that stuff. I like the simplicity. Do hydraulic disc brakes stop better? Yes, but rim brakes have always stopped me just fine. Do tubeless tires perform better and more reliable when a flat occurs? Yes, but I often bike through the streets, 20+km daily, and have only had a flat twice in my life. I also have no issue ripping around an average of 30kph, and blow past most any other cyclist, including people with high end road bikes. I'm also losing weight, so I'm only going to get faster...my old tech bike is no slow poke.
Yes I feel the same, it’s all a lot of hassle for not much. I work in a bike shop and I do maintenance for people with that stuff and it’s a real pain to fix and so expensive! 🙁
@reginaldscot165 I also find road bikes look like crap with disc brakes. Disc's give mountain bikes and such a dirt bike look, especially with full suspension, but on a road bike, discs just remove that clean, sleek look
Have put thousands of miles on both. Tubeless is great. It’s easy, low maintenance, puncture resistant, self-repairing (in some instances) and most non self-repairing punctures can be fixed without taking the tire of the rim (bacon jabber and keep rolling)
Your analysis on rolling resistance is correct for that specific tyre, however there are a lot of tubeless tyres on that site that have a much lower RR than their clincher brethren.
Well I just looked up the most popular rolling test Vs tubes/TPU/tubeless. But that might be true. However as for the tyres I use latex and TPU is definitely faster and considerably lighter. 😎
As the statisticians say: If you torture numbers long enough, they will say anything. Best Tubeless tires clearly have lower RR with a wide margin - and also running with sealant.
@@meibing4912 Wide margin? Which tires are you referring to? Common wisdom of the internet is that tubeless is approx. as fast as clincher with latex. The good old heavy butyl tube should not be the comparison. Bicylce Rolling Resistance do their test with butyl tubes, and afaik you can deduct about 2 W with latex. So that would leave you with 0.6 W difference for the Conti GP5000. That’s not a wide margin.
@@sventice have 10 punctures sealed in my tubeless rear tire since September (a lot fewer up front). That's over 2 hours of riding fun vs. frustrating and potentially dangerous flats if every repair would have been both fast and successful, which is not always the case for road side repairs. I had one of my rear punctures going fast downhill in a sharp turn. So happy I was not riding clinchers but could also count on my inserts. I also had two massive strikes into potholes that I refuse to believe any clinchers would have survived. Punctures are a real issue for those of us living with shitty, littered roads.
I just ordered new rims. The bike shop (which took great care of me) suggested I go tubeless. I told them I'd wait. Now I might wait quite a while....thanks.
I work in a bike shop. Usually I work on my bikes myself (if that doesn't require touching air fork on my MTB - then it goes to professional bike wrench). Even my friend - a professional bike mechanic asks me why I am not on road tubeless yet every time I visit his shop. Answer to that is always "because EFF YOU!". I was perfectly fine with butyl tubes and now, when polyurethane tubes became affordable, we have even better option. It's a superior product in every way imaginable. I've bought a box of TPU tubes cheaper than the same box of butyl ones (smoking deal!) and will install them in all my wheels when remaining butyl tube stock gets punctured into oblivion and I am gonna be lazy fixing/gluing those holes. The reasons are valid. I am tall and heavy (188 cm, 90 kg), therefore I run 8 bar of pressure. Whatever GCN shills will say, NO SEALANT CAN SEAL THE HOLE UNDER PRESSURE OF 120 PSI. At that pressure the sealant is bursting into space until all that remains is measly 3 bar of air which is insufficient to ride home safely even at pedestrian speed. Try to pump it up - and soon you'll find a limit of what the sealant can do at around 5-5.5 bar of pressure. Out of 4 frames I have, only one allows use of tyres wider than 25 mm, therefore narrow tyres and high pressures are a given in my case. That's first. Second, the cost of running is very well covered by your video. Sometimes you get lucky and get 1 puncture per year. Sometimes you get 8 punctures per month. Luck is unquantifiable. What really matters is that overall expenses are the same (give or take) with tubed and tubeless. With tubes you just waste another tube, with tubeless you are required to add fresh sealant every 3 months and sealant costs money and has an expiry date. In real life very few disassemble their wheels to clean the mess clogging up the inner space. This gooey mess adds unnecessary weight and blocks the ability for the valve to get fresh sealant and the air inside. One has to take the tyre off and get his/her hands dirty by cleaning the mess, which is what people don't wanna do, so they take their wheels to the bike shop to get in the queue and wait for the wheels for days - days of no riding. Third: burping. Once blown off, you know the pleasure of being sprinkled by sealant while laying on bloodsplattered tarmac. Tubeless tyres require hookless rims and these are EXTREMELY DANGEROUS, because nothing keeps the tyre bead in place once the air pressure is gone. If somehow you are still able to ride home on your own, how do you fix the tyre that has burped without having a spare bottle of sealant at the moment? By installing a damn tube! There's no other way around. Bottom line: tubeless may have its place on mountain bikes, fat bikes, gravel bikes (if you aren't tall and/or heavy), but on the road tubes and tubulars still reign supreme. The best ride quality you get with tubulars, but those aren't particularly practical for every day use. Though, after puncture you can ride home without the air inside at all - it is safe to do so. Tubes with regular clincher tyres are the most practical and safe solution for every day Joe. No need to waste your time and money for something that gets promoted on such commercial channels as GCN and David Arthur. Heck, watch Durianrider instead. He's strange insecure guy living in unhealthy place, but unlike GCN or David Arthur, he actually cares about you.
I havent tried tubeless yet. But I invested some $10 or so in CO2 instead if bringing a pump. I figured if I rarely flat, the cost per year wont be so bad. And lo and behold, havent had a flat since i bought co2 years ago. Works just like an umbrella. Bring it, and it wont rain.
@@reginaldscot165 It would have to be quite a large hole to cause that scale of mess though. In which case I would suspect the tyre was already too worn out and should have been replaced a while ago? So that may be an issue - people riding their tyres to the ground and then have them split badly even from a small puncture or even explode.
Always found grandads to be older & wiser in any event I'd stop to help a cyclist on the road side but that is a generational difference I'd suggest you would not comprehend...?
A pro tip about the Ridenow repair kit- The patches are actually made from Ridenow inner tubes. Im making my own patches from the same single tube for over a year now.
@@zedtony8110 I'm using regular contact glue for it. Though I have to say that I find the simple adhesive patches from aliexpress to work even better and easier
All my bikes are tubeless and will never go back to using tubes. Some people can't figure stuff out so their answer is to discount the new tech as just marketing.
Everyone’s circumstances are different. For me I don’t even entertain tubeless because I don’t have anywhere to deal with the mess of sealant. Even if I did, I would still run tubes because I just don’t do the amount of riding where I have punctures more often than I would need to top up sealant.
@@mf0u3021 Of course, everyone needs to judge for themselves what fits them best, that’s why articles like this are unnecessary really. For myself and those I ride with we may do over 100 miles a week on our own for training and then do 50 to 60 mile group miles on the weekend rides. Riders like us don’t want simple flats that can be avoided and that’s what tubeless do for us. The newer model tubeless tires that wider and use less pressure e.g. 700x28 at 73psi - Continental SR Tubeless are very good at repelling flats and ride very good for thousands of miles.
I run std Schwalbe tubes 120g for training on conti 5000 23/25 width at 6bar. Haven't had a flat for ~10 years and need re-pump once per month. For races I have a light wheelset with 70g tubes. Was thinking going tubeless for race. You saved my life and money 🥰. Will try TPU tubes in the future but not more.
@@reginaldscot165 Our roads are quite good and clean in Switzerland. Just stay 40cm from the border where the dirt and glass is. The flat was in Italy.
I've had the experience of tubeless sealant spraying my bike, but that was on a mountain bike with relatively low pressure. That was an unusual occurrence because the sealant usually doesn't spray out of those tires. In fact, I have counted over 20 small punctures, all sealed on Schwalbe Knobby Nicks. But I have no intention of trying tubeless on my road bike based on other people's experience with those tires.
the Giant TCR i bought this year came with a tubeless setup, changed them to gp5000 32c clincher tires with butyl inner tubes, just had my first flat which was a pinch flat 2 days ago, if i were still on the stock tubeless system, the flat wouldn't have happened, that being said, i still don't want to go tubeless, just the fact that i have to periodically refresh the sealant is something i don't want to deal with.
I am still testing tubeless. Definitely more expensive. Yes, every 6 months I replace sealant. And what is most upsetting to me is the separate purchase of valve stems. But so far going on 2 years no flats. I do use Maxis refuse tires. Yes I do carry a spare tube. Yes, when I did use tubes, 5 minutes tops to replace. I had not heard of TPU tubes.
I have been using tubeless for a few years now, and while once it is all setup I dont complain to much BUT. When I ride 2 days later, I must check tyre pressure, because probably I lost say 2-10PSI. The simple thumb press, gives a first ok good idea, but of course unsure. So I press the valve and a bit of air gets out... with a bit of sealant. I add the 2-10 psi and yay I can ride, ok. But do that say 2 months the amount sealant in my valve is so much, the air barely gets out. Sealant is excellent in sealing the valve! It means I need to change valve every few months. Also as you said the sealant gets dry and glued together and it wont seal, except the valve, which is the wrong thing. But also by then some more air gets through the tyre. If the sealant would be fresh no problem, but later thats an issue as well. When you then slowly get a puncture, there is no hole, but still doesn't work, because air through the tyre. So you still either call wife/parents/uber/long walk etc, or try get the whole thing of and switch with inner tube system. If you then wanne switch to inner tube, but the rim has these deep airo sections, and you have a standard butyl inner tube, it probably wont work. So check what you carry if that even works in an emergency. And also, these TR-tyres are hard as hell to put on and off, not like I cant, but its up to red hands and blister level. Knowing that, I rather walk say 5km, probably even 10km, then fixing the tyre. Sealant in valves, yeah thats my number one reason to get back even to butyl inner tubes
I switched to tubeless after getting 2 punctures on tubes within 3 hours. Never looked back. I recently got my first puncture on my tubeless, took me awhile to realize where the pink goo was coming from, noticed that if a pebble hit the right spot there would be a little swish of sealant. Finished my ride 3 hours later and had only gone from 65 psi to 57 psi. I agree with most of your arguments, however the promises made by tubeless held up in my case. It is a pricey investment for sure.
Great video. I have three bikes and the only one that is setup tubeless has 27.5x2.25" mountain bike tires on it that I ride through goat head territory with 18.5 PSI.
Awesome content 👍 I gave up on the tubeless mess, so drained the sealant and I'm now running TPU tubes in my tubeless tyres (Pirelli P Zero Race TLR). Seems to work fine. It's cool that you can run TPU at lower pressures than butyl and latex, I'm running the same pressure as I was with my tubeless setup and it's a very comfy ride. No punctures in the last 2000 miles - I'm not sure if tubeless tyres are a bit more rugged than the equivalent tubed version so will have to think carefully whether to replace the worn tyres with tubed or tubeless version. I'm not a weight weenie, so don't mine using heavier tyres if they roll well and are more resilient.
Normally TL tyres are less robust because they move material to the side walls because the glue is supposed to stop any flats. If you want (in my opinion) the best all round tyres, I’d go for the Conti 4 seasons tyres. Amazing wet grip, long life, not slow or particularly heavy (I know people who race on them and do well) and amazing protection against flats. 🙂👍🏻 If you enjoyed the video please do pass it on and don’t forget to like and subscribe if you haven’t. Thank you! ❤️
Tubeless used to be for puncture resistance, not performance. Even back when tubeless was first catching on in MTB circles, it was commonly acknowledged that it was a high-maintenance alternative to tubes rather than a true 'upgrade'.
There are 3 technological advances that were necessary for MTBs but are totally unnecessary and even counterproductive on road bikes. 1)Tubeless tires (eliminate pinch flats when running low pressure which is not at all an issue for road bikes) 2) disc brakes (great for improved braking in off road grimy, muddy conditions when the rim can get covered in mud, not an issue for road bikes) 3) Thru axles, will prevent a wheel from coming completely out of the dropout if the skewer were to open and the bike is airborne, like on a drop or jump, not an issue for road bikes. Each of these three things are not only unnecessary for road bikes, they have drawbacks with zero upside and should be avoided. Following closely behind these three are 1x drive trains and quick engagement rear hubs for road bikes.
Me too.......I bought a set of Token Konax Pro tubeless ready, I took the sticky plastic and put cloth rim tape and a light inner tube with GP5000. After finding out what a mess and pain tubeless can be, I opted for a no go.
One of the big reasons why I don't get roadies going tubeless is your although you're getting a "lighter weight setup", your spare kit gets significantly heavier. Not only do you have a pump, a spare tube and tire levers, now you have to carry a plug, bacon strips, a small knife, potentially some more sealant too. Inevitably, if you're really f*ed, you'll be getting a tube in anyway. Also, for yearly maintenance, you'll now NEED to remove the tire, clean out the tire and then replace the sealant. Whereas with tubes, just top up the pressure and you're all sorted. Not to mention, there's ZERO risk of mess. On top of that, your home tools now need to have sealant remover, a shock pump to seat your tires, tubeless tape and valves. Risk of punctures riding road compared to gravel or mtb are significantly lower. Not to mention due to higher pressures in skinnier tires, the tires are harder to seat and lose pressure quicker in the case of a puncture -- you'll need to pump more even if it's a minor puncture. Too spenny a setup for what you get out of it especially riding road. Cost to benefit ratio for this choice just doesn't add up for me. For ref, I ride road/gravel with 38mm tires with tubes. No issues with setup so far.
Hi Reginald. Great videos. Oh yeah you’ve converted me from Hambini pmsl 😂. Your advice would be appreciated. My friends have tried tpu inners and had plenty of punctures, are they just unlucky (or maybe heavy handed). But they don’t rate them. I actually sent some back, am I wrong? I see your using ridenow? I also run high pressures 120-100psi 23mm tyres. You seem pretty impressed with tpu’s . Thanks
Hello and good to hear! 😁 Yes I do, did you see my video all about them? So at the moment I’m not getting any punctures at all with my TPU tubes and I’m using the 24g on 1 bike and 36g on the other. However, Tyre choice is important. Here’s what I found. Because the TPU tube is so thin anything that even slightly penetrates the tyre will cause a small hole. It’s easily fixed but it is annoying. So I was using Continental GP5000s, excellent race day tyres, but just terrible for their side walls. I wasn’t getting many flats as a result of things going in the tyre tread, but mostly I was getting flats from bits of rocks scraping the side wall. The side walls on GP5000s are paper thin, if you hold them up to the light you can see through them! 😅 Now my problem was that when I’m not racing I tend to ride on roads with lots of rocks and gravel and well I was just flatting all the time! I switched to 4 seasons tyres and gator skins and now I haven’t had a flat in months. So, yes the weight of my system has gone up but if I’m not racing I don’t need to be on the fastest tyre. Also, the weight of a 4 seasons tyre and a 24g TPU tube is still lower than a GP5000 and a normal butyl tube! Save the race tyres for race day on good roads, if your roads are full of junk then use the appropriate tyres. If you are really worried as I said in my TPU video you can put a little sealant in the tube or an armour strip in the tyre, some armour strips are very strong and very light. Finally I never get pinch flats on TPU. Even when hitting a nasty pothole on my last race. 😅 Although I don’t run 120psi like you suggested. (That’s way too high for most roads.) I’m running 95F/96B and I’m 70kg. 😁
@@reginaldscot165 Hi I train atm, used to have 1st cat so pretty experienced. I use Vredestein Superpasso 25 tyres and older Fortessa tri comp 23. I’ve used these for years, can’t rate them enough. I find perfect pressure is around 115psi ,120 on nice days 100 wet days. I ride a Chas Roberts Handbuilt steel frame, carbon forks with Campag Record 39x53 10 speed. Decent alloy wheels. Very comfortable, does everything and I’ve raced on it. I wouldn’t Race on it now as it’s irreplaceable. I’d probably buy a second hand big brand carbon bike as wouldn’t be bothered if I trashed it. Ridden carbon, don’t like it prefer metal any day. Do like your Litespeed, no more rim brakes 🙁Can’t stand the trends now. Electronic, why ?? Cables work perfectly. Hate internal routing. Nothing wrong with rim brakes. Disk brakes another shit trend. Tubeless (why bother) just a pain, ok for racing but not essential. My friend is always having a puncture and your right really unsociable, messy, expensive shit. Fixed cockpit 🙁 Poor QC on carbon bikes, over priced hyped up crap. Watch a 3/4th cat race, riding SWorks etc, winter training on race bikes. I train just using HR absolutely brilliant. I might give TPU a go Thanks for replying, great to see a proper mechanic who does things the right way and doesn’t talk bs. You’re up against it today with all the brain washed cyclists who follow the hype. I love the fact I can change a pucture quickly, change the cables, everything is easy, oh and the BSA bb. No creaking EVER. Oh don’t forget bike insurance riding around on carbon frames. If there is another TPU video I will watch it. Thanks for the advise. 👍
I have used latex and TPU tubes on my steel Restomod MTB. The Latex tubes have constantly lost pressure and I have had to pump the tire every 2 or 3 days. After a couple of month the Vittoria Latex tubes usually ripped open at the seam and had to be replaced. The expensive Schwalbe Aerothan TPUs were nearly impossible to fix. Once a puncture, I mostly tried to repair but gave up. I tried several patches and glues ans never found a working system. I am back to lightweight butyl. Cheaper and more reliable. Though I am tempted to try the RideBow tubes...
What I hate about tubeless road lovers is how they exaggerate having punctures like every few rides or some sht. Know how to seat tubes properly and inflate it according to your weight and tire width as well not using shtty tires and you're set for thousands of kms without punctures
Ah yes.. I’ve received the pearl necklace on a couple of occasions now .. and I refuse to ride behind anyone set up tubeless on group rides. I actually ask if they’re running tubeless.. a few put up their hands and I make sure I never get right behind them. I went to tubeless about six months ago and have had three flats. None of them sealed requiring me to insert Dyna plugs and I had the hardest time re-seating one of the tires because it had lost so much air. Sure, every now and then you’ll get a puncture that will seal but the majority of the time you’re going to get a long slice on the tire that will not seal. You’re still gonna have to stop on the side of the road for 5 to 10 minutes trying to fix this thing ..where it’s going to be a giant mess .. I went back to tpu a couple of weeks ago and I will never go to tubeless until it is ready for prime time but that won’t be for a long long long long time
Went butyl, tubeless and TPU. So far I think TPU is the superior solution. Light, fast and easy. Tubeless is much better than butyl, but TPU is better than tubeless. There is some scenarios where tubeless is better than TPU; if you live somewhere with flint stone debris or thorns on the road giving you a lot of small punctures tubeless is a better solution. For everyone else TPU rolls better. Is faster and so much easier to live with. Your comment on hookless wheels is absolutely spot on. There is absolutely zero benefits to the consumer. It’s only limiting you in tire and system choices.
I wish had your insight 2.5years ago, as I laboured through using tubeless, had 3 instances I had to call the other half to pick me up, because I just did not want to phaff around with sealant all over my hands, the shame of not being able to mount the tyre on the rim and finally wasting the CO2 canister trying to reseat the bead on the side of the road. Tubeless works for lower pressures but for road........... Tubeless and hookless are just marketing strategy ideas. Manufacturers just want you to part with your cash, for the latest developments or the next big thing.
I rode tpu tubes on my rim brake wheels in the mountains last year and the front wheel exploded down a steep descent (I barely managed not to crash) - this year I switched to tubeless and I feel more safe with this setup (although it might be a random coincidence, I still believe that the sealant will prevent such a sudden loss of air).
I did a mountain in Malaysia on TPU rim brakes. After 1000m descending my rim was about 40 C, don’t forget the tube is insulated from the rim by the tyre wall and rim tape. It doesn’t even get warm at that temperature. Perhaps the failure was of a different nature? One of my customers pinched his TPU when installing and that blew up on him quite spectacularly.
My setup runs 28mm and up only, @~65psi or lower per my weight, and so far I've gone thru tires from Specialized, Schwalbe and Goodyear for more than 2 yrs and 20000km on road. I'd like to say all the maintenance cost is true, but so as the result. I've only got puncture beyond fix once, and it turned out to be my rim got cracked jumping over a curb. And I ride 'recklessly' thru all the manhole covers, cracks on road, speed bumps, etc. IMHO if you use narrower tires, needed higher pressure or ride your bike less than twice a week, get TPU/latex setup. Otherwise, you may consider to accept the cost of maintenance at home/LBS for more trouble free rides on road.
Unless you feel compelled to run ridiculously low pressures, you get a lighter, more supple, more efficient ride with non-TLR tires and lightweight latex or TPU tubes. Without the mess.
I already decided for me that the „tubeless“ option is not mine - long before you published this video. The points are: lower rolling resistance with latex inner tubes, lower weight, easier mounting of the tyres and much much less fuss with maintenance. Once i put up a tyre/tube combo i can use it for years, only pumping up regularly, but i can leave it standing around for months without problems. This „tubeless“ thing is the same with this „discbrake“ thing: Plain bullshit for road racing bikes. Just inventions of a marketing industry that has been instructed to find ways to get more money out of cyclists wallets! I am still waiting for somebody to explain to me why techniques in cycling had to be replaced that were good enough for more than a hundred years. Possibly just to make more money? Because if you believe that you „need“ a disc brake bike now, you habe to ditch your rim brake bike, even if it is still good enough to do its job mor many more years to come. - Have you seen the pictures of these fully detached tyres from the rims of a rider (from Bahrain Victorious) in this year‘s edition of paris roubaix? Rims (and probably the frame) fully broken and done. Absolutely stupid and idiotic to change oit the good old tubular tyres for a tubeless solution.
Works on my machine After needing some new wheels two years ago I decided to get some TLR rims, rim tape was a necessary purchase anyway. Price was about the same for a Velox rim strip, that of which I did not completely exhaust, doubled up, and have not had any issues with it expiring on the rim. BUT I have a more particular use case of mixed gravel/road and touring, a tire lasts me long enough that I need to add sealant 2-3 times (5-7k miles, GK Slicks) which is about as often as I would get a puncture, if not less. I love the comfort and there is no placebo perceived increase of speed or slowness that comes from a latex tubed to TLR setup ime. Blowoffs do happen; but this depends entirely on rim/tire combo, looking at you RH, since not everything is manufactured to the same spec or tolerance. But to be honest, I have had more tires blow off running latex tubes than I have running tubeless (none). I still keep a couple TPU tubes on my long rides, though. But I would be doing that regardless and I'm not concerned about an extra 300g on my 9.5kg steel bike. But does all of this make me a slow retrogrouch? Not at all, I love speed and feel like I am a capable rider. I'm just not looking for marginal gains eeking out max KOMs on Strava, but that doesn't stop me. Now, if I were running a TT tire and heavily concerned about powertrain loss and weight? TPU all day. Tubes are generally easier, work and fail more reliably and predictably. I think most people should stick with tubes. But if I want to take the perceived risk, I think that's my judgement call to make.
Tried tubeless twice with my road bike . First time I had to cut the tyre up to get it off of the rim as the bead was jammed solid into the hook. second time was a 10km walk home in the rain when again I couldn't get the tyre off to fit an inner tube for a puncture that wouldn't seal. Id never ride my mountain bike without it again but id never ride my road bike with it again...........
As someone who rides track bikes on the streets, I find tubes to be more convenient as im constantly running through rear tires. I constantly getting holes and rips in the tires that hold solid with tubes but would make the tire useless in a tubeless scenario
that used to be me but then i "discovered" internal gear wheels and i love them. I'm using the 2 speed automatic and kickshift type the most so the bikes still look and maintain like single speeds. There's so little maintenance on the hubs themselves that i don't really notice any difference in that sense. I open up the hubs, regrease and throw it back together. I believe the automatix is about 7 yrs old with thousands of miles and it's still smooth and shifting is still seamless. ..that one can shift under power, it's interesting. The biggest difference is the weight of the rear wheel.
Had allll the hassles with tubeless, and stuck with old fashioned tubes. Love how TPU tubes feel, and I have tried many, but had real reliability issues. Sadly the RideNow ones have stems that are slightly too wide to fit through my rims, so I haven’t tried them. Vittoria one failed where the stem meets the tube. Cyclami was pretty good, but pinch flatted very easily, tubolito is great until you have to pump it up on the road with a hand pump. You will heat and deform the valve stem. You just will. I have some of the Pirelli ones, but I haven’t tried yet. Gave up and went back to butyl.
Tubeless are perfect suit for Criterium Race. Low pressure, high grip, and low resistance. After puncture, Tubeless can help me to hang on a few laps to help my teammates.
I used tubeless for 2 years but have now gone back to tubes (RideNow). Your experience pretty much mirrors my own, but at least I tried...
Ha ha yes that’s true you did try. You get points for that. 👍🏻
😊
@@reginaldscot165 I myself am in doubt about whether to use a gravel bike without an inner tube, what if I can't close it if I still have an inner tube. My rim is suitable for tubeless. I think I'll go for an inner tube. I'll be done with an inner tube faster than with that other stuff.
I tried too. Then one day my rear tire went flat and had to put a tube in. So annoying. Currently have RideNow TPUs and could not be happier!
Simplicyty is Divinity, and the TPU inners tick all the boxes for me, especially in the weight department.
Agreed! “Keep it simple stupid!” As they say. 😁👍🏻
Totally, totally, totally agree, tried the tubless system and hate it! Agree with all your points and just want mention that the tubeless tires alone can be a nightmare to mount, add that to the list!
Thanks
That’s very true, I can’t believe I missed that point. 😁👍🏻
@@miked319 100% right. A friend of mine can’t fit them, so every time he punctures he’s off to the lbs.
Unbelievable
@@Nivacromcolumbus my friend paid the lbs like 40 euros to fix a puncture and go tubeless. 1 month later he punctured the same tyre..but no sealant. they simply had him pay and believe he got tubeless. Also..I asked multiple shops, most of em don't even know how it works and don't offer any help...in the fucking Netherlands FFS. BTW this is for MTB..and even then I'm thinking why..only cuz i can ride with the most grip and just bash through rocks. Oh wait I can do the same with an insert from tannus, just 300gr heavier..
Tubeless is so messy. If you live in a cold climate like me, the problem isn’t drying out. Problem is that you overfill because nothing has tried out after six months so end up with a lot of sealant in the tire. Also, if you like to switch tires because of a new season and you want maybe winter tires there’s a lot lots of mess from the sealant to clean up also reusing used tubeless tires so hard to fit back again.
Great video! I also tried tubeless and hated it. The cost was never a factor - but I tried due to the hype/trend surrounding tubeless. My issue that drove me back to tubes was the amount of dried sealant that collected on the tire and I also would get small seeps of watery/oily liquid on occasion. I never felt any advantage in speed or ride comfort and did experience sealant spraying out all over after picking up a very small hole (which I thought the sealant should have taken care of). I can leave my tubes in for a long time without messing with them but have to replenish sealant - no thanks. George Vargas is a great dude so glad to see you give him some credit.
Great comment, yes he’s very knowledgeable on many cycling subjects. 😁👍🏻
I used to ride tubes until 2015 when I switched to tubeless. My experience is that when I had tubes, I was getting a puncture about once every 1000km on average. My first tubeless tyre was a bit rubbish but there wasn't a lot of choice back then. More recently I have found that the tubeless tyres, rims and sealant have become a better combined system. The last time I had puncture that required me to stop at the side of the road is 2018. What I can say is that I have substituted hassle at the roadside for hassle at home in the set up and maintenance. On balance, I prefer it this way.
So, what is your setup? I personally run tubeless with my gravel bike but tending to agree with Reg about TPUs for road wheels. Be interesting to hear more about your success story though.
Brother makes a good point. I’m glad it works for you and your lifestyle. 😊👍🏻
@@peterharrington8709 I am currently using Schwalbe Pro One TLE tyres and Silca Ultimate Tubless Sealant. It is a 2 part set up. 1st application you add the formula that contains the carbon strands and then subsequent top up applications is the latex fluid only to keep it liquid inside. Needs topped up 2/3 times a year. I just leave the dried up stuff inside the tyre. It seems to create a fairly even mess coated to the inside of the tyre, so don't see the point of cleaning it off until it is time to replace the tyre. My tyres do have little holes and slits in them, but the carbon/latex seems to be providing a good seal that holds pressure no worse than a new tyre. I run my tyres at around 70 psi.
@@hughjanus7354no it hasn't
I barely have punctures with tubes, every now n then i might have one.
You just became my favorite bike mechanic on TH-cam :). The amount of information and explanations is immense. I wasn't planning on going tubeless anyway, but now after this video i will never bother even thinking about it. TPU tubes will be the next i'll put on my wheels, currently running standard butyl with Conti GrandPrix tires (normal GPs, not 5000). Thanks a lot for your time invested in these videos where you really take your time explaining everything!
My pleasure! Glad you found it useful. Normally people complain I talk too much. 😆
@@reginaldscot165 Not just useful. Lifesaving! :)
I'm not going tubeless either. Wasted 2 seconds of my life looking into it, that just caused me to pull my tubes in a little closer and hug them a little tighter. LOL FOOLS!
Thanks again for the great content.
Ha ha great comment 😆
exactly like everything that's marketed we should just spend our money on..
never had an issue with tubeless, i dont see what people issues are, its a bike like rim or discs, what ever works for you, guess i have just hit it lucky with the right tyre and wheel set up
While out riding the other week I saw this guy having a puncture, how did I know 🤔 well the spunk shot up over his back🤣 I shouted “now you know how your boyfriend feels “🤣 before of course offering my assistance, he laughed thankfully and said I’m gonna change back to inner tubes 😊
@@stephentait8734 issue is, mainly, that tubeless thecnology doesnt work with high pressure
Absolutely! Never go tubeless now that TPU tubes (and before that, latex tubes) are cheaply available on the market and lighter as a system….well done video!
Thank you 🙏🏻
Agreed.Tubeless only makes sense for MTB large volumn, low pressure setups. For road bikes it's pointless.
Agreed 👍🏻
Have you tired it? I've been running road tubeless for years. I have no intentions on going back to tubes.
@@DaveCM no
@@DanTuber Well, don't knock it until you've tried it.
@@DaveCM Rarely get a puncture with tubes so why switch? It's extra expense i don't need.
Never ever tubeless come across my mind. All my 3 bikes runs comfortably with tubes. Only occasionally I need to pump the pressure before the ride. No messy sealant all over the bike, no worries of replacing expensive dried out sealant. Almost maintanance free 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Excellent 👍🏻
Tubeless. Another way the bike industry wants to convince cyclists that they solve a problem that never existed in the first place, and with the added complexity that is added for it. If it is not broken, don't change it. (but let's not kid ourselves, their PR departments need to find "innovation" even in the expense of the actual user, i.e. cyclist.)
@@TheRimBrakeGuyexactly
@@TheRimBrakeGuy Let me guess, you're running a 10 speed with friction shifters because all this indexing crap the industry is pushing is too complicated and unnecessary? LOL.
🙄@@poxcr
I run Vittoria latex tubes with my GP5000s. Latex leaks like a sieve though and one must pump up tires before every ride, but I do that anyway. The performance is great.
Yes latex can be lovely 😊
Switch to Michelin latex. Hold air much better
i'm pretty lucky that cost doesn't influence my choice on this issue, however, I still agree with you, after using tubeless for several months on a new bike build there are numerous issues that, on a road bike, are just a complete pain in the arse...changing tyres being one significant issue. Ive been using the Tubolito tubes for a good few years now and absolutely love them, they feel great and I have had hardly any punctures... plus theyre so light I carry two spares around just in case.
Havent checked out the Ridenow tubes yet, will definitely watch your vid on those and have a look. cheers
Excellent, sounds like you are doing something that works well for you. 🙂
Safe happy riding! 👍🏻
I whole heartedly agree! Screw tubeless. I just did a video about my choice of latex for me. Well done!
Thank you kindly! Safe riding! 🙂
Tubular still king for performance. The glue stays between the tire and the rim - even when flat. Cornering unmatched - so race tubs! Oh and you can ride a flat! Clinchers with tubes for training/commute - butyl for commutes - latex for fast rides. I think this works the best.
Agreed.
Tubular always and will always be the gold standard in performance and safety
I switched to road tubeless three years ago and have ~15,000 miles of use. I use 25mm (optimal for the inner width of my rims) Schwalbe Pro One tires and typically run 90 psi front and 95 psi rear (though I have run as low as 70/72 psi). I've used various sealants and prefer Orange Seal Regular sealant. I've tried the endurance sealant and it does not perform as well (weeping at puncture sites). When using the regular sealant, I have NEVER had a puncture that required me to alter my ride or add air/CO2 to the tire. The sealant cleans easy with a bit of water (yes, I have been sprayed with sealant and it comes off quite easily). Adding sealant is very easy (deflate, remove valve core, add sealant, install valve core, inflate) as is changing a tire (use a basin to clean/remove old sealant). I use a Lezyne Pressure Overdrive pump to seat the tire bead. I've changed the rim tape (I use DT Swiss at proper width for my rims) with no problem. In my experience, a properly configured road tubeless setup is very reliable and easy to maintain.
Looks like you had good luck with it. 👍🏻
People who get lucky with tubeless always credit themselves with "setting it up properly", but they're never able to understand that the crappest system in the world would- through force of probability- have a minority of people for whom it happened to work. It's about the sheer number of ridiculous tubeless fails people experience in the real world.
They are paid to promote tubeless. Same with promoting helmets.
Thank you for sharing your experience and views it definitely puts things into another perspective. I've been thinking of buying a road bike for a while and I will keep this in mind. On my commuter bike I use a combination of tubeless ready tires and a inner tube didn't care about the tubeless feature I just chose them because they offer a good puncture protection with woven fabric in-between tyre walls.
Glad it was helpful! Thanks 😊
Great video, same experience, I am riding only latex tubes and good cotton tires from Veloflex, Wolpack and Challenge and maybe one flat per year, actually glass cut, not puncture, there is no tubeless that will seal that big cuts.
The feeling on cotton tires with latex tubes is far better that any tubeless I have tried.
Agreed and by the way that sounds like a great tyre and tube combination. 😍
I agree w you 100%, all your points, which are good and make sense, just reinforces my opinion that tubeless tires are not worth the hassles, thanks for the video.
Thank you. I appreciate the support. 👍🏻🙂
I don’t know why the bicycle industry has over complicated
Itself.
I ride Continental
Gatorskins 23mm for close to 9 yrs.
with only two flats .
I’d. rather spend my time on the road rather than the side of the road.
Great video Reginald !
Yep me too, riding Gatorskins since 2010 only one puncture and slow one, only discovered the leak on next ride.
Same. And Gatorskins are pretty light too. Can't remember the last time I flatted.
That’s awesome 👏🏻 yes gators are some very reliable tyres. Takes a lot to kill them.
Tubeless isn't complicated so there is that.
Also suffered bad experience going tubeless just recently, that's why, I'm back again to inner tube! I will try the Latex or TPU to improve the rolling resistance. Still using the TLR tire until it wears out. Thanks for the info! GOD Bless!
Thank you kindly Sir! All the best. 🙏🏻
Excellent summary. Presently, I have two bikes with one set-up tubeless and the other with latex tubes. For me the latex are way better in ride performance than the tubeless.
Tubeless like tubed are not immune from snagging a flat. However, when it comes to such situations the success of tubeless is all down to the size of the hole, the running tyre pressure and the quality and quantity of sealant on board all working in your favour. In the event your tubeless set-up fails though it is a major pain on the road-side to sort out.
Overall, I tend to feel a roadside hassle with a tubed wheel is way easier to deal with than a tubeless.
Excellent comment, thank you. 🙏🏻🙂
Major pain to sort out? It is the same as with a tube at that point, albeit the inside of tyre has some sealant on it.
and so often, with both tubeless or otherwise, riders often just get on their phone and call home...
In depth! you brought up some good points and scenarios that we don't ever hear about...such as riding behind someone w/ tubeless setup, getting a cut in their tire and the fluid slinging on you and all over the rider!! what a mess that would be, and in that case they would need to have a spare tube + installation tools + pump or CO2 anyways....Yeah thanks for this video it explains a lot!!!!
You are welcome and thank you for watching. 🙂🙏🏻
Hi Reginald. Good vid. Totally agree. Car wheels/tyres are both hookless and tubeless and very sucessful but they have a heavy/stiff bead around their rims (a bit like a non-folding clincher) and they require a deep well in the rim to help fit them. Bike tubeless tyres apear to be foldable (I've never had one so I rely on what I see on videos) so they do not have that safery feature. Car tyres start leaking around the rim after a salty cold winter corodes the aluminium (not an issue in the tropics I suppose).
The thing with hookless bike wheels and flexible tyre beads is that it is amazing that they ever stay on at all being as they rely on friction between the rim and tyre.
I must admit I had not thought of the antisocial aspect of spraying your pals with sealant. Surely that is reason enough for us ordinary mortals to avoid tubeless. Keep your friends better that way.
Yes and have you seen the machine they use to fit car tyres! Is had a mechanical turn table and a large wedge and a guy with a crowbar! 😁
@@reginaldscot165 Yes indeed, it is impressive. Imagine needing that for your puncture at the side of the road.
Totally agree, Reginald. Keep riding your bike too , the workshop is only a part of the biking experience. Kudos from down under 👍
G-day mate! I appreciate the Support! Safe riding. 🙂👍🏻
Tubeless (on road) seems to work well for some and not for others. I've lost count the number of times I've got home to find sealant up my back and I just never knew I had even had a puncture during the ride, only ever had one that wouldn't seal on its own in 4 years but the tyre would have been a "walk home" even with tubes. If your rims aren't TLR and all you have is a low volume track pump to work with then its pretty big investment to find out, that probably isn't worth it. I'm not hookless though, that seems like one of those "works on paper" things rushed to market for all the wrong reasons.
So your back is slowly becoming waterproof! Nice. 😁👍🏻
Nothing better than being sprayed by Sealant in a group ride. For this alone i run tubes.
@@rothgartheviking858 I'll take sealant spray over having to wait or hold off so that rider can change a tube.
The determining factor is pressure and volume. Putting like 70+psi through skinny road tubeless tyres is really testing the limits of how fast sealant can coagulate. If you have quite large (by roadie standards) 36mm tyres, maybe because your roads are shit and/or mostly unsealed etc, you'll have a quite nice ride running them at like 35-50psi. At those pressures and often larger volumes it seems pretty successful for the gravel bike crowd.
Thanks to your video I have bought a TPU tube to try out. Tubeless seems crazy..even the pros seems to get plenty of punctures whilst using them.
Hope you like them! 😊👍🏻
I’m not willing to invest in a tubeless system but I have tried inner tube sealant which has worked for me flawlessly so far and I can’t really see the need to change as I’m not chasing marginal gains but just enjoy riding my bike.
Good point
Hi. Another great video. Thanks. I point I would like to make. If you have a regular puncture with a tube in fixing it, you often check the tyre carcass. If you run tubeless you could have a lot of tyre damage and weakness without realising it until it's too late. The tyre is everything for drive braking and cornering. All this new technology is great if you are a pro getting a full service after every ride!
Agreed 👍🏻
If I was running narrow tyres at high pressures I would go with tubes. However these days I'm more interested in comfort than outright performance.
I'm running tubeless on my mountain and gravel bikes and would not go back to tubes. I run quite wide tyres at low pressures even for my road wheelset (34c at under 50psi). Was out for a ride a month ago and noticed there was a piece of wire sticking out of my back tyre. I pulled it out and it sealed within half a second. I don't carry tubes with me any more. I do carry shoestring plugs but have never needed them. Have only had one puncture which did not seal itself. That was a gash from a piece of metal that effectively destroyed the tyre.
Sure, for MTB or Low pressure it makes sense to me. 🙂👍🏻
I have so many amazing testimonies to say about road tubeless tires. I had over 9 punctures during a 12-day tour in Europe last year. Never had to even pump up the pressure.
Yes it’s fantastic, until something goes wrong… then it’s a horrible, time consuming and expensive mess. 🤷🏻♂️ As for testimonials, my English friends always tell me how nice some Italian restaurant is, but when I go it’s not to my standard and I’m disappointed. For another example, people tell the the Mazda CX9 is a good car… my wife has one and I think it’s in the top 5 worst cars I’ve ever driven. 😅
@reginaldscot165 still it'd worth much more than countless puncture repairs or tube replacement.
And when the worst comes, don't whine. just fix a tube!
I went tubeless back in 2020 on my new bike and then on my MTB have not had puncture on the road since then, I did once find the bike in the garage with a flat, due to a thorn stuck in the tyre, it had gone down over a couple of days.
Pulled the thorn out topped up the tyre and never looked back.
All your points about cost and weight are valid however it’s a joy not having to fix a flat at the side of the road or up a mountain.
Love to see you change a rear flat in 1 min if your running 28 mm or larger.
Ah but I run 23mm tyres. 😉
Safe riding! 👍🏻🙂
A tire once fell off the rim in my living room. Sealant everywhere. Since then I've been riding tubes again.
For me, tubeless and hookless are just dangerous ideas from the bicycle industry.
With normal tubeless tires I have the feeling that they bounce off tires faster than with a tube.
The tubeless tires on motorcycles are heavy and are not easy to install. The TPU solution for bicycles is definitely usable.
Agreed
I've been thinking of at least trying tubeless for a long time. Watched the odd video on it. Thought it looked like more of a
hassle than what it's worth. Thanks for putting this one to bed mate. You showed us a lot of good reasons not to bother.
The big channels and companies will tell you that you'll turn into flash gordon if you use tubeless and hookless, but I'm sure like everything else in the world, it's all about dollars and not sense.
Besides that, I've bought the odd set of road tyres that were "tubeless ready" by mistake. You've nearly gotta be Arnold Schwarzenegger to get them on. Actually, I reckon all tyres have gotten tighter over the 5 or so years. I remember when tyres and tubes were easy to change....
Those were the days. Anyway, good job as always Reginald, we love your work
Thank you my friend I really appreciate that. 🙏🏻🙂
No idea what the hassle is. It takes me an extra 2min to run a wheel tubeless outside of initial tape(plenty of people use tubeless tape with tubes these days anyway). That's far better than all the time lost to running tubes and getting flats
@@lapisexilis2976 wow, you're an incredible detective!!!
@@veganpottertheveganYou don't get many flats if you put a decent amount of air in😂
@@veganpottertheveganyh, like most vegans, you don't waste time telling everyone🥱🥱
Fascinating analysis, especially liked the second part (mechanical drawbacks)!
This is the first time I’ve heard of balancing bicycle tires with weights (for high speed mountain descents). I’m surprised that’s a thing.
It’s a surprisingly important thing, especially when you hit speeds in excess of 70kph. 😁 Thank you!
@@reginaldscot165 In hindsight, that makes perfect sense. When I used to ride fast downhill (my record is 52mph, or 84kph), it felt very chaotic (eyes watering wildly, handlebars vibrating quite strongly, wind roaring past my ears) and I thought "well, of course! What did you expect?".
Later I realized that I could have reduced the eye watering effect... if I used wraparound sunglasses (like the pro's) instead of regular sunglasses.
And now (from you, thanks!) I realize I probably could have reduced the handlebar vibration significantly if I'd had my wheels balanced. The wheels seem fine otherwise (no wandering, no vibration) while at more normal speeds, so it never occurred to me to that they might be out of balance. Of course, at 2x or 3x faster rate of revolutions, the vibrations are going to be proportionally (or perhaps even non-linearly) magnified. Cheers!
I think tubeless has more distinct advantages in the mtb and high volume tire gravel world. Much lower pressures mean the sealant is likely to work instead of just spraying and less chance to pinch flat. There are plenty of examples of mtb riders denting their rims and the tubeless tire beads still holding air. Regardless the same disadvantages still arise when the tire is slashed and no amount of sealant with plug the gash. In that case, tubes are your only option. I’ve been running butile tubes my whole life and never had issue. I’ve had maybe 4 flats total. 2 were pinch flats, one was a massive gash, and the other was a staple. You make a great case for the tpb tubes. I think I may have to pick a couple up and try them out for myself and see if I notice a difference. I’m not much afraid of getting a flat so the decrease in rolling resistance is quite enticing. Many tires nowadays on the gravel and mtb side of things are basically all tubeless compatible nowadays so it’s kind of impossible to get away from the weight. However for the most part riders in those disciplines seem to enjoy the advantages of a stiffer sidewall, as do I.
Yes I see the advantages in a MTB context for sure. 👍🏻
Oh definitely give TPU a try, even if you just use them as a backup. 🙂
I have always enjoyed repairing punctured tubes. I'm not saying changing a tube on the roadside is fun but I do like repairing tubes when I'm at home.😂
Glad to hear it. 😁👍🏻
Haha, me too!
Agree with you on the hookless rims. The rest not so much but "different stokes for different folks" I ride MTB, gravel and road. My MTB and gravel bikes are tubeless and for the last four years so is my road bike (hooked rims!!!) In four years, I've never had to put a tube in, never changed the rim tape. I carry a spare tube, extra sealant, a plug kit, CO2 and a pump. The spare tubes I used for my riding buddies but never myself. I've plugged my MTB and gravel bike tires often (2-3 times a year) and maybe once or twice my road bike in four years. Yes there is some preparation/work involved with tubeless but properly done it's at home and not on the road. You need to watch some of these MTBers, with a plug and CO2 at the ready they can plug a tire, air it up with CO2 and be back riding/racing in seconds (rim never comes off the bike). Actually I've never taken a rim off the bike out on a ride to fix a flat since going tubeless. Finally regarding the occasion squirt of sealant when you get a puncture well that is the same if put sealant in your tubes (as you mention in at about the 12 minute mark in the video). I recall washing my bike for the first time after going tubeless and on the back of the seat tube is a light coating of gunk and I realize it's sealant and I start laughing because I never knew to slow down much less stop. Before going tubeless I went thru about 4-6 tubes a year.
Good points of experience. 👍🏻
Hello Scot, just found your channel. Thank you for the time and effort you put into cycling content. I'll stick with good old fashion tubes, however those new tubes your running have caught my eye-I'll give them a go.
Yeah check them out on my other video. Amazing product. Glad to have you as a viewer! 🙂👍🏻
Appreciate this video. I tried tubeless and found it too much work and too expensive as pointed out in this video. I ride a touring bike decked out for the road and ride 38mm-42mm tires for comfort. Will purchase the RideNow tubes. Thank you.
Great choice, it’s an excellent upgrade! 😁👍🏻
Yes, tubeless needs maintenance. Just like everything else on a bike. Either I'm extremely lucky or they (tubeless) work. Brought my bike in for maintenance and the mechanic showed me 8 punctures in the tubeless tires. I never even knew it. That is 8 tubes at $10/USA and that is not cheap for all those tubes. Also, it is hot and humid where I live, and nothing drives more nuts in changing tubes (which I did for 30 years). Plus, some clinchers are extremely hard to take off and put back on. I have both systems. During the hot months, I will use tubeless. You bring up a lot of good points which are monetary base which makes all the sense in the world. I value the non-monetary value of not stopping in heat and changing tubes. Also, you brought up that if a tubeless tire is slashed it is over. I would say the same with tube tires. Pros and cons for each system and I would say that tubes have more pros. However, not dealing with flat tubes is just fantastic.
Good points 🙂👍🏻
Why wouldn't you patch your tubes?
@@barrytantlinger1033 I was also thinking the same.
@@barrytantlinger1033 Putting to many patches on a tube has caused wheel chatter to me on more than one occasion. That was caused by a wheel imbalance on light wheels. Not very much but noticable at speeds around 40 kph. Additionally, putting 8 patches on a tube seems silly to me. Just another point of failure on a performance bike.
@@barrytantlinger1033 One, latex tubes can't be patched. Never used a plastic tube. By the looks of it they are very expensive. Ignore the cost factor... Again, when it is hot/humid or cold/freezing I just don't want to deal with it. (I sweat really bad.) If you are cost sensitive that is fine go with tubes. To ME I don't like dealing with removing tires (and certain tires are extremely hard to remove, and you need to carry a tool just for that) as that take can a lot of time. And, if you are in a group ride everyone is standing around waiting for you and itching to go. I do group rides all the time and have dealt with several flats this year alone. The riders struggled to get the tire off the rim. Wasted 15-20 minutes dealing with that. Then the tube needs to be installed and hopefully the tube doesn't get pinched. If that occurs, you are down to patching. More time wasted. I do carry a patch kit with a spare tire. Just more time wasted and prayed the patch holds. Then what do you do when you get home? Replace the patch tube or keep riding on it? I assume you are riding with a steel frame and a threaded fork too. They have working on tubeless tires since the 1990's and now they work really well now cost beside the point.
Thanks for the interesting and thorough exposition. I watch tubeless videos to see if anyone can make a case for their use that might make me change. So far none have. The last time I bought new tyres was in 2018 and after thousands of kilometres with clinchers one valve started a slow leak and I replaced the inner tube. We do have broken glass on roads here in Australia but flint is not used for road surfaces. I’ve not had a pinch flat because tyres are always inflated to 100 psi. At this point I don’t know what could convince me to change. Cheers.
Yes it depends where you live and ride. If I lived in France today I might need the extra protection against all the broken glass but as I don’t I don’t see the need to go tubeless. 😁
I run Marathon Plus tyres (not very light) and TPU tubes (light). Not the lightest but works for me.
Yes it’s a good balance, strong tyre and TPU. 👍🏻🙂
I went tubeless 15 years ago on my MTBs (when it was first available), and approx 10 years ago on my road bikes. And never looked back... Small punctures I dont even notice, and large are easily filled with worm(s), which do a superb job in solving the larger holes. In all those years, I had only one occasion, on my MTB, that i had to stop and insert a inner tube to be able to continue my ride - and that was decade ago, when sealant and tires were pretty bad. I do it for the comfort o the road, and lower pressure I can ride off-road. So, if you are up to date with sealant and tire technology, there is no hassle. I use TPU only on my vintage road biles, which I ride seldom, so sealant would be needing retopping too often. On bikes I ride regularly, retopping is needed once in 6-12 months, and that is single retopping before tires are worn and need replacing.
Yes it works if you are basically riding a gravel bike with fat tyres and Low pressure. 👍🏻
I have to say my experience with Tubeless is very different. I have never tried a 23mm Tubeless but I do run 28mm and 30mm Schwalbe Pro Ones and have done around 14000 miles in the last 18 months. One thing you never get with tubeless is a pinch flat but I still carry a tube and CO2 so I can help my ride partners who are not tubeless. I can say for me I have had about 5 punctues in the 18 months that impacted my ride. 3 were slow leaks so I did need to use a CO2 canister a couple of times until home and 2 were tire slices that I just had to deal with, fortunately close to home. None resulted in large volumes of sealant being sprayed but I have heard it does happen.
Every few months I take the core out of the valve and using a syringe put 20-30cc of sealant in the tire, usually when its on the stand and I'm washing the bike or inspecting the chain so its just routine. When I do major turnarounds on the tires, like putting new ones on due to wear and tear I do it at home with a foot pump and tire levers. Takes about an hour to do the two wheels, I stop for a coffee or to catch the football scores so its no big deal. I'd rather do that at my leisure than dealing with replacing a tube by the side of the road due to a pinch flat (potholes suck but not so much for tubeless).
And final points the comfort, running 5 bar on 28mm tires vs 7 bar on 23mm tires is not only faster its noticeably more comfortable. And safety wise a slow leak is very easy to manage at speed compared to the rapid decompression of an inner tube. If the sealant is having trouble and hissing and spraying you also get a warning of an issue unlike with an inner tube that is almost instantly flat.
So for me using what is currently available on the market tubeless is the way to go. I also wax my chain, run disk brakes and own an electric car. Once you get familiar with how they operate they definitely work even though initially they may feel difficult to deal with.
Glad it works for you. 🙂👍🏻
I perfer beatings on the ride... not by equipment choices no one ever ask for. For the whole tubeless system to be even viable at all comes down to reliance of the sealant. Without it, the system is a non starter. Somehow, people got duped that this flawed tire system is the most superior on a road bike. IMO, tubular tires and rims are a superior way of doing a (road) bicycle tire. I can use sealant too if I'm lazy (too weak, too cold... yada, yada) not wanting swap out tubis.
I don't wish again for someone to get a puncture with me on their wheel. My bike, my kit was doused in sealant following a chap who got a nice cut in his tire. He payed $200 for the damage to my kit caused by the sealant. You might gather that I do not like tubeless at all.
@@chaosengine3772 and therein lies the beauty of cycling - we are all entitled to our opinions and that's all they are. I'm glad tubulars work for you, I personally have never used them or owned rims suitable for them. I have used clinchers and tubeless and for me tubeless are far superior to clinchers based on my experience on the ease of use, lack of punctures and overall system reliability.
had a set of schwalbe pro ones on bontrager rims, one tire kept leaking despite fresh sealant. eventually decided to just throw on an innertube. no way are you getting that tire off, on the side of the road, without 2 or 3 steel tire levers.
This is a really good video. Everything you said in the video is relevant to me; and I suspect also to most riders (who are unfortunately taken in by the marketing).
Thank you, nice comment. 🙏🏻🙂
The only people not better off running tubeless are people that live in areas with spotless roads without glass/goatheads, and possibly people that ride so little that their tires dryrot before they're 1/3 worn down
@veganpottertheveg Still being bitchy about strangers, i see
This is my first year running tubless on my road bike with 28mm tire and I am much more confident that pinholes will never stop me again. 100% of my flats on tubes were pin holes.
Potholes? I guess it depends where you live and road conditions. I run tubes on my gravel bike with 35mm tyres and never get flats. 🙂
I got back into biking after a couple of years break. Prior to this break, I rode a 1991 Trek 7000. Tubed, rim brakes. I went for a new bike when i started up again, I didn't go for what I had intended to...I always pictured getting a higher performance mountain bike. I went for a fixie/single speed. I've yet to own, or ride more than a few minutes really, anything with disc brakes, hydraulic brakes, or suspension.
I am so happy I went the route I did. I've seen vids of changing brake fluids, bleeding brakes, and dealing with tubeless systems.
To be frank, I don't want to deal with that stuff. I like the simplicity. Do hydraulic disc brakes stop better? Yes, but rim brakes have always stopped me just fine. Do tubeless tires perform better and more reliable when a flat occurs? Yes, but I often bike through the streets, 20+km daily, and have only had a flat twice in my life. I also have no issue ripping around an average of 30kph, and blow past most any other cyclist, including people with high end road bikes. I'm also losing weight, so I'm only going to get faster...my old tech bike is no slow poke.
Yes I feel the same, it’s all a lot of hassle for not much. I work in a bike shop and I do maintenance for people with that stuff and it’s a real pain to fix and so expensive! 🙁
@reginaldscot165 I also find road bikes look like crap with disc brakes. Disc's give mountain bikes and such a dirt bike look, especially with full suspension, but on a road bike, discs just remove that clean, sleek look
Have put thousands of miles on both. Tubeless is great. It’s easy, low maintenance, puncture resistant, self-repairing (in some instances) and most non self-repairing punctures can be fixed without taking the tire of the rim (bacon jabber and keep rolling)
Cool 👍🏻
Whats ur tire pressure?
Agreed. I run latex tubes. I like how they sound.
Yes, quite. 😁
Your analysis on rolling resistance is correct for that specific tyre, however there are a lot of tubeless tyres on that site that have a much lower RR than their clincher brethren.
Well I just looked up the most popular rolling test Vs tubes/TPU/tubeless. But that might be true. However as for the tyres I use latex and TPU is definitely faster and considerably lighter. 😎
As the statisticians say: If you torture numbers long enough, they will say anything. Best Tubeless tires clearly have lower RR with a wide margin - and also running with sealant.
@@meibing4912 Wide margin? Which tires are you referring to? Common wisdom of the internet is that tubeless is approx. as fast as clincher with latex. The good old heavy butyl tube should not be the comparison. Bicylce Rolling Resistance do their test with butyl tubes, and afaik you can deduct about 2 W with latex. So that would leave you with 0.6 W difference for the Conti GP5000. That’s not a wide margin.
@@reginaldscot165 The latest tubeless tyres are far superior to clinchers. Your video is spec'ing 10 year old tubless tyres.
@@sventice have 10 punctures sealed in my tubeless rear tire since September (a lot fewer up front). That's over 2 hours of riding fun vs. frustrating and potentially dangerous flats if every repair would have been both fast and successful, which is not always the case for road side repairs. I had one of my rear punctures going fast downhill in a sharp turn. So happy I was not riding clinchers but could also count on my inserts. I also had two massive strikes into potholes that I refuse to believe any clinchers would have survived. Punctures are a real issue for those of us living with shitty, littered roads.
Finaly someone speaking the truth!!! There is no reason at all to go tubless! It's just a massive pain in the A$$! AWESOME VIDEO btw!
Thank you very much. I try to be as honest and blunt as possible. 😎😁
I totally agree...
Thanks 😊
I just ordered new rims. The bike shop (which took great care of me) suggested I go tubeless. I told them I'd wait. Now I might wait quite a while....thanks.
You are welcome 🙏🏻
I work in a bike shop. Usually I work on my bikes myself (if that doesn't require touching air fork on my MTB - then it goes to professional bike wrench). Even my friend - a professional bike mechanic asks me why I am not on road tubeless yet every time I visit his shop. Answer to that is always "because EFF YOU!". I was perfectly fine with butyl tubes and now, when polyurethane tubes became affordable, we have even better option. It's a superior product in every way imaginable. I've bought a box of TPU tubes cheaper than the same box of butyl ones (smoking deal!) and will install them in all my wheels when remaining butyl tube stock gets punctured into oblivion and I am gonna be lazy fixing/gluing those holes.
The reasons are valid. I am tall and heavy (188 cm, 90 kg), therefore I run 8 bar of pressure. Whatever GCN shills will say, NO SEALANT CAN SEAL THE HOLE UNDER PRESSURE OF 120 PSI. At that pressure the sealant is bursting into space until all that remains is measly 3 bar of air which is insufficient to ride home safely even at pedestrian speed. Try to pump it up - and soon you'll find a limit of what the sealant can do at around 5-5.5 bar of pressure. Out of 4 frames I have, only one allows use of tyres wider than 25 mm, therefore narrow tyres and high pressures are a given in my case. That's first.
Second, the cost of running is very well covered by your video. Sometimes you get lucky and get 1 puncture per year. Sometimes you get 8 punctures per month. Luck is unquantifiable. What really matters is that overall expenses are the same (give or take) with tubed and tubeless. With tubes you just waste another tube, with tubeless you are required to add fresh sealant every 3 months and sealant costs money and has an expiry date. In real life very few disassemble their wheels to clean the mess clogging up the inner space. This gooey mess adds unnecessary weight and blocks the ability for the valve to get fresh sealant and the air inside. One has to take the tyre off and get his/her hands dirty by cleaning the mess, which is what people don't wanna do, so they take their wheels to the bike shop to get in the queue and wait for the wheels for days - days of no riding.
Third: burping. Once blown off, you know the pleasure of being sprinkled by sealant while laying on bloodsplattered tarmac. Tubeless tyres require hookless rims and these are EXTREMELY DANGEROUS, because nothing keeps the tyre bead in place once the air pressure is gone. If somehow you are still able to ride home on your own, how do you fix the tyre that has burped without having a spare bottle of sealant at the moment? By installing a damn tube! There's no other way around.
Bottom line: tubeless may have its place on mountain bikes, fat bikes, gravel bikes (if you aren't tall and/or heavy), but on the road tubes and tubulars still reign supreme. The best ride quality you get with tubulars, but those aren't particularly practical for every day use. Though, after puncture you can ride home without the air inside at all - it is safe to do so. Tubes with regular clincher tyres are the most practical and safe solution for every day Joe. No need to waste your time and money for something that gets promoted on such commercial channels as GCN and David Arthur. Heck, watch Durianrider instead. He's strange insecure guy living in unhealthy place, but unlike GCN or David Arthur, he actually cares about you.
Amen 🙏🏻 to that brother! This comment gave me feels. 😆 I laughed at your reply to the fellow mechanic. 😉
I havent tried tubeless yet. But I invested some $10 or so in CO2 instead if bringing a pump. I figured if I rarely flat, the cost per year wont be so bad. And lo and behold, havent had a flat since i bought co2 years ago. Works just like an umbrella. Bring it, and it wont rain.
Lucky 🙂
Makes me happy every time I see a cyclist on the side of the road trying to find the leak in an inner tube. Keep up grandads 😊
What you mean the guy struggling to plug a tyre with with sticky stuff all over him? 😁
@@reginaldscot165 never seen that!
Yeah, happened to me once or twice before switching to tubulars. On one occasion on a very cold winter afternoon. No system is perfect.
@@reginaldscot165 It would have to be quite a large hole to cause that scale of mess though. In which case I would suspect the tyre was already too worn out and should have been replaced a while ago? So that may be an issue - people riding their tyres to the ground and then have them split badly even from a small puncture or even explode.
Always found grandads to be older & wiser in any event I'd stop to help a cyclist on the road side but that is a generational difference I'd suggest you would not comprehend...?
A pro tip about the Ridenow repair kit-
The patches are actually made from Ridenow inner tubes.
Im making my own patches from the same single tube for over a year now.
I believe they are cut from the 36g tubes. 🙂👍🏻
What about the glue?
@@zedtony8110 I'm using regular contact glue for it. Though I have to say that I find the simple adhesive patches from aliexpress to work even better and easier
All my bikes are tubeless and will never go back to using tubes. Some people can't figure stuff out so their answer is to discount the new tech as just marketing.
Same. Tubeless has made my ride better and many less flats than otherwise.
A lot of the claims are false and clearly marketing… but I will concede that I’m not smart enough to see the need for it. 😁👍🏻
Everyone’s circumstances are different. For me I don’t even entertain tubeless because I don’t have anywhere to deal with the mess of sealant. Even if I did, I would still run tubes because I just don’t do the amount of riding where I have punctures more often than I would need to top up sealant.
I ‘figured it out’, used it then ditched it. Now using TPU tubes. Tubeless is just too much of a faff and unnecessarily complicated.
@@mf0u3021 Of course, everyone needs to judge for themselves what fits them best, that’s why articles like this are unnecessary really. For myself and those I ride with we may do over 100 miles a week on our own for training and then do 50 to 60 mile group miles on the weekend rides. Riders like us don’t want simple flats that can be avoided and that’s what tubeless do for us. The newer model tubeless tires that wider and use less pressure e.g. 700x28 at 73psi - Continental SR Tubeless are very good at repelling flats and ride very good for thousands of miles.
great informative video ... think I'll stick with inner tubes ... just want to maximize riding time
Less fuss. 😁👍🏻
I run std Schwalbe tubes 120g for training on conti 5000 23/25 width at 6bar. Haven't had a flat for ~10 years and need re-pump once per month.
For races I have a light wheelset with 70g tubes.
Was thinking going tubeless for race. You saved my life and money 🥰. Will try TPU tubes in the future but not more.
All the best! 10 years! That’s amazing!
@@reginaldscot165 Our roads are quite good and clean in Switzerland. Just stay 40cm from the border where the dirt and glass is. The flat was in Italy.
I've had the experience of tubeless sealant spraying my bike, but that was on a mountain bike with relatively low pressure. That was an unusual occurrence because the sealant usually doesn't spray out of those tires. In fact, I have counted over 20 small punctures, all sealed on Schwalbe Knobby Nicks. But I have no intention of trying tubeless on my road bike based on other people's experience with those tires.
Thank you, safe riding. 🙂
the Giant TCR i bought this year came with a tubeless setup, changed them to gp5000 32c clincher tires with butyl inner tubes, just had my first flat which was a pinch flat 2 days ago, if i were still on the stock tubeless system, the flat wouldn't have happened, that being said, i still don't want to go tubeless, just the fact that i have to periodically refresh the sealant is something i don't want to deal with.
Sounds like a sensible perspective to me. 🤷🏻♂️👍🏻🙂
Request: I would LOVE to see you make a vid doing a 1 minute roadside flat change, and you have to use that 22g pump!
1 minute is to remove the old tube and put in the new one, but yes pumping takes extra time. If you are in a hurry CO2 is your best option.
I am still testing tubeless. Definitely more expensive. Yes, every 6 months I replace sealant. And what is most upsetting to me is the separate purchase of valve stems. But so far going on 2 years no flats. I do use Maxis refuse tires. Yes I do carry a spare tube. Yes, when I did use tubes, 5 minutes tops to replace. I had not heard of TPU tubes.
Thanks for sharing 👍🏻🙂
I have been using tubeless for a few years now, and while once it is all setup I dont complain to much BUT. When I ride 2 days later, I must check tyre pressure, because probably I lost say 2-10PSI. The simple thumb press, gives a first ok good idea, but of course unsure. So I press the valve and a bit of air gets out... with a bit of sealant. I add the 2-10 psi and yay I can ride, ok. But do that say 2 months the amount sealant in my valve is so much, the air barely gets out. Sealant is excellent in sealing the valve! It means I need to change valve every few months. Also as you said the sealant gets dry and glued together and it wont seal, except the valve, which is the wrong thing. But also by then some more air gets through the tyre. If the sealant would be fresh no problem, but later thats an issue as well. When you then slowly get a puncture, there is no hole, but still doesn't work, because air through the tyre. So you still either call wife/parents/uber/long walk etc, or try get the whole thing of and switch with inner tube system. If you then wanne switch to inner tube, but the rim has these deep airo sections, and you have a standard butyl inner tube, it probably wont work. So check what you carry if that even works in an emergency. And also, these TR-tyres are hard as hell to put on and off, not like I cant, but its up to red hands and blister level. Knowing that, I rather walk say 5km, probably even 10km, then fixing the tyre.
Sealant in valves, yeah thats my number one reason to get back even to butyl inner tubes
Thank you for your comment! Very useful information! 👍🏻🙂
I love tpu inner tubes I’ve had the same tubes for almost two years they both have like 10 punctures in them they patch right up like new every time
They are super easy to patch. 😁
I switched to tubeless after getting 2 punctures on tubes within 3 hours. Never looked back. I recently got my first puncture on my tubeless, took me awhile to realize where the pink goo was coming from, noticed that if a pebble hit the right spot there would be a little swish of sealant. Finished my ride 3 hours later and had only gone from 65 psi to 57 psi. I agree with most of your arguments, however the promises made by tubeless held up in my case. It is a pricey investment for sure.
Sure, if you only run 65psi. 😁
Great profile picture by the way… I have a lot of their books. 😉
It’s ..not that pricey. You don’t even throw away your existing tubes as they would be good for backup
@@longebane awesome point.
Great video. I have three bikes and the only one that is setup tubeless has 27.5x2.25" mountain bike tires on it that I ride through goat head territory with 18.5 PSI.
Thank you kindly! That seems very sensible to me. 😁👍🏻
Awesome content 👍
I gave up on the tubeless mess, so drained the sealant and I'm now running TPU tubes in my tubeless tyres (Pirelli P Zero Race TLR). Seems to work fine.
It's cool that you can run TPU at lower pressures than butyl and latex, I'm running the same pressure as I was with my tubeless setup and it's a very comfy ride.
No punctures in the last 2000 miles - I'm not sure if tubeless tyres are a bit more rugged than the equivalent tubed version so will have to think carefully whether to replace the worn tyres with tubed or tubeless version.
I'm not a weight weenie, so don't mine using heavier tyres if they roll well and are more resilient.
Normally TL tyres are less robust because they move material to the side walls because the glue is supposed to stop any flats. If you want (in my opinion) the best all round tyres, I’d go for the Conti 4 seasons tyres. Amazing wet grip, long life, not slow or particularly heavy (I know people who race on them and do well) and amazing protection against flats. 🙂👍🏻
If you enjoyed the video please do pass it on and don’t forget to like and subscribe if you haven’t. Thank you! ❤️
Tubeless used to be for puncture resistance, not performance. Even back when tubeless was first catching on in MTB circles, it was commonly acknowledged that it was a high-maintenance alternative to tubes rather than a true 'upgrade'.
Is that so? I don’t know the MTB history 🙂
Excellent presentation.
Thank you so much 😊
There are 3 technological advances that were necessary for MTBs but are totally unnecessary and even counterproductive on road bikes. 1)Tubeless tires (eliminate pinch flats when running low pressure which is not at all an issue for road bikes) 2) disc brakes (great for improved braking in off road grimy, muddy conditions when the rim can get covered in mud, not an issue for road bikes) 3) Thru axles, will prevent a wheel from coming completely out of the dropout if the skewer were to open and the bike is airborne, like on a drop or jump, not an issue for road bikes. Each of these three things are not only unnecessary for road bikes, they have drawbacks with zero upside and should be avoided. Following closely behind these three are 1x drive trains and quick engagement rear hubs for road bikes.
Excellent comment 👍🏻👏🏻
Sealant in the tube yes it's heavy but it works
👍🏻 thanks 🙂
Me too.......I bought a set of Token Konax Pro tubeless ready, I took the sticky plastic and put cloth rim tape and a light inner tube with GP5000.
After finding out what a mess and pain tubeless can be, I opted for a no go.
Cool 👌🏻 🙂
One of the big reasons why I don't get roadies going tubeless is your although you're getting a "lighter weight setup", your spare kit gets significantly heavier.
Not only do you have a pump, a spare tube and tire levers, now you have to carry a plug, bacon strips, a small knife, potentially some more sealant too.
Inevitably, if you're really f*ed, you'll be getting a tube in anyway.
Also, for yearly maintenance, you'll now NEED to remove the tire, clean out the tire and then replace the sealant. Whereas with tubes, just top up the pressure and you're all sorted. Not to mention, there's ZERO risk of mess. On top of that, your home tools now need to have sealant remover, a shock pump to seat your tires, tubeless tape and valves.
Risk of punctures riding road compared to gravel or mtb are significantly lower. Not to mention due to higher pressures in skinnier tires, the tires are harder to seat and lose pressure quicker in the case of a puncture -- you'll need to pump more even if it's a minor puncture. Too spenny a setup for what you get out of it especially riding road.
Cost to benefit ratio for this choice just doesn't add up for me. For ref, I ride road/gravel with 38mm tires with tubes. No issues with setup so far.
Excellent points well made! 🙂👍🏻
Spot on. Have moved away from tubeless for the reasons mentioned
Glad I got something right 😁👍🏻
@@reginaldscot165 great minds, great minds…
Hi Reginald. Great videos. Oh yeah you’ve converted me from Hambini pmsl 😂. Your advice would be appreciated. My friends have tried tpu inners and had plenty of punctures, are they just unlucky (or maybe heavy handed). But they don’t rate them. I actually sent some back, am I wrong? I see your using ridenow? I also run high pressures 120-100psi 23mm tyres. You seem pretty impressed with tpu’s . Thanks
Hello and good to hear! 😁
Yes I do, did you see my video all about them?
So at the moment I’m not getting any punctures at all with my TPU tubes and I’m using the 24g on 1 bike and 36g on the other. However, Tyre choice is important. Here’s what I found.
Because the TPU tube is so thin anything that even slightly penetrates the tyre will cause a small hole. It’s easily fixed but it is annoying. So I was using Continental GP5000s, excellent race day tyres, but just terrible for their side walls. I wasn’t getting many flats as a result of things going in the tyre tread, but mostly I was getting flats from bits of rocks scraping the side wall. The side walls on GP5000s are paper thin, if you hold them up to the light you can see through them! 😅 Now my problem was that when I’m not racing I tend to ride on roads with lots of rocks and gravel and well I was just flatting all the time!
I switched to 4 seasons tyres and gator skins and now I haven’t had a flat in months. So, yes the weight of my system has gone up but if I’m not racing I don’t need to be on the fastest tyre. Also, the weight of a 4 seasons tyre and a 24g TPU tube is still lower than a GP5000 and a normal butyl tube!
Save the race tyres for race day on good roads, if your roads are full of junk then use the appropriate tyres.
If you are really worried as I said in my TPU video you can put a little sealant in the tube or an armour strip in the tyre, some armour strips are very strong and very light.
Finally I never get pinch flats on TPU. Even when hitting a nasty pothole on my last race. 😅 Although I don’t run 120psi like you suggested. (That’s way too high for most roads.) I’m running 95F/96B and I’m 70kg. 😁
@@reginaldscot165 Hi I train atm, used to have 1st cat so pretty experienced. I use Vredestein Superpasso 25 tyres and older Fortessa tri comp 23. I’ve used these for years, can’t rate them enough. I find perfect pressure is around 115psi ,120 on nice days 100 wet days. I ride a Chas Roberts Handbuilt steel frame, carbon forks with Campag Record 39x53 10 speed. Decent alloy wheels. Very comfortable, does everything and I’ve raced on it. I wouldn’t Race on it now as it’s irreplaceable. I’d probably buy a second hand big brand carbon bike as wouldn’t be bothered if I trashed it. Ridden carbon, don’t like it prefer metal any day. Do like your Litespeed, no more rim brakes 🙁Can’t stand the trends now. Electronic, why ?? Cables work perfectly. Hate internal routing. Nothing wrong with rim brakes. Disk brakes another shit trend. Tubeless (why bother) just a pain, ok for racing but not essential. My friend is always having a puncture and your right really unsociable, messy, expensive shit. Fixed cockpit 🙁 Poor QC on carbon bikes, over priced hyped up crap. Watch a 3/4th cat race, riding SWorks etc, winter training on race bikes. I train just using HR absolutely brilliant.
I might give TPU a go
Thanks for replying, great to see a proper mechanic who does things the right way and doesn’t talk bs.
You’re up against it today with all the brain washed cyclists who follow the hype.
I love the fact I can change a pucture quickly, change the cables, everything is easy, oh and the BSA bb. No creaking EVER.
Oh don’t forget bike insurance riding around on carbon frames.
If there is another TPU video I will watch it.
Thanks for the advise. 👍
Thank you for your honesty...absolutely brilliant 👏 😀 👍
I hope all the clowns that are mocking me for starting with tubs see your fantastic video 🎉🎉🎉
They will if you pass it on to them! 😁😉🤭
I have used latex and TPU tubes on my steel Restomod MTB. The Latex tubes have constantly lost pressure and I have had to pump the tire every 2 or 3 days. After a couple of month the Vittoria Latex tubes usually ripped open at the seam and had to be replaced.
The expensive Schwalbe Aerothan TPUs were nearly impossible to fix. Once a puncture, I mostly tried to repair but gave up. I tried several patches and glues ans never found a working system.
I am back to lightweight butyl. Cheaper and more reliable. Though I am tempted to try the RideBow tubes...
Why not! 😁👍🏻
I have been thinking about going tubeless just to try it. One thing I like about the hobby is trying different stuff
If you have the money to burn why not! 👍🏻😁
What I hate about tubeless road lovers is how they exaggerate having punctures like every few rides or some sht. Know how to seat tubes properly and inflate it according to your weight and tire width as well not using shtty tires and you're set for thousands of kms without punctures
Tyre choice is certainly very important. I think I will be switching to something a bit more practical than the GP5000 soon unless I’m racing. 😁
Most punctures can be avoided by not riding old worn out tyres
Ah yes.. I’ve received the pearl necklace on a couple of occasions now .. and I refuse to ride behind anyone set up tubeless on group rides. I actually ask if they’re running tubeless.. a few put up their hands and I make sure I never get right behind them. I went to tubeless about six months ago and have had three flats. None of them sealed requiring me to insert Dyna plugs and I had the hardest time re-seating one of the tires because it had lost so much air. Sure, every now and then you’ll get a puncture that will seal but the majority of the time you’re going to get a long slice on the tire that will not seal. You’re still gonna have to stop on the side of the road for 5 to 10 minutes trying to fix this thing ..where it’s going to be a giant mess .. I went back to tpu a couple of weeks ago and I will never go to tubeless until it is ready for prime time but that won’t be for a long long long long time
Agreed 👍🏻
Tubeless on the road is a solution looking for a problem. Gravel/MTB? No brainer. Road? Not worth it.
Agreed 👍🏻
Went butyl, tubeless and TPU. So far I think TPU is the superior solution. Light, fast and easy. Tubeless is much better than butyl, but TPU is better than tubeless. There is some scenarios where tubeless is better than TPU; if you live somewhere with flint stone debris or thorns on the road giving you a lot of small punctures tubeless is a better solution. For everyone else TPU rolls better. Is faster and so much easier to live with. Your comment on hookless wheels is absolutely spot on. There is absolutely zero benefits to the consumer. It’s only limiting you in tire and system choices.
I agree 🙂
I wish had your insight 2.5years ago, as I laboured through using tubeless, had 3 instances I had to call the other half to pick me up, because I just did not want to phaff around with sealant all over my hands, the shame of not being able to mount the tyre on the rim and finally wasting the CO2 canister trying to reseat the bead on the side of the road. Tubeless works for lower pressures but for road...........
Tubeless and hookless are just marketing strategy ideas. Manufacturers just want you to part with your cash, for the latest developments or the next big thing.
Unfortunately it seems to be the reason. Sorry you had a bad experience. 🙏🏻
unlike with carbon frames - you are RIGHT on this one :)
I AM ALWAYS RIGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING!!! 😅 Only joking. 😜
Do any TPU tubes have removable valve cores so you could add sealant to the tubes?
Yes, the ones in my last video do🙂👍🏻
I rode tpu tubes on my rim brake wheels in the mountains last year and the front wheel exploded down a steep descent (I barely managed not to crash) - this year I switched to tubeless and I feel more safe with this setup (although it might be a random coincidence, I still believe that the sealant will prevent such a sudden loss of air).
I did a mountain in Malaysia on TPU rim brakes. After 1000m descending my rim was about 40 C, don’t forget the tube is insulated from the rim by the tyre wall and rim tape. It doesn’t even get warm at that temperature. Perhaps the failure was of a different nature? One of my customers pinched his TPU when installing and that blew up on him quite spectacularly.
Another awesome video!!
Thank you! 🙏🏻
My setup runs 28mm and up only, @~65psi or lower per my weight, and so far I've gone thru tires from Specialized, Schwalbe and Goodyear for more than 2 yrs and 20000km on road. I'd like to say all the maintenance cost is true, but so as the result. I've only got puncture beyond fix once, and it turned out to be my rim got cracked jumping over a curb. And I ride 'recklessly' thru all the manhole covers, cracks on road, speed bumps, etc. IMHO if you use narrower tires, needed higher pressure or ride your bike less than twice a week, get TPU/latex setup. Otherwise, you may consider to accept the cost of maintenance at home/LBS for more trouble free rides on road.
Interesting points. 👍🏻
Unless you feel compelled to run ridiculously low pressures, you get a lighter, more supple, more efficient ride with non-TLR tires and lightweight latex or TPU tubes. Without the mess.
Agreed
I already decided for me that the „tubeless“ option is not mine - long before you published this video. The points are: lower rolling resistance with latex inner tubes, lower weight, easier mounting of the tyres and much much less fuss with maintenance. Once i put up a tyre/tube combo i can use it for years, only pumping up regularly, but i can leave it standing around for months without problems. This „tubeless“ thing is the same with this „discbrake“ thing: Plain bullshit for road racing bikes. Just inventions of a marketing industry that has been instructed to find ways to get more money out of cyclists wallets! I am still waiting for somebody to explain to me why techniques in cycling had to be replaced that were good enough for more than a hundred years. Possibly just to make more money? Because if you believe that you „need“ a disc brake bike now, you habe to ditch your rim brake bike, even if it is still good enough to do its job mor many more years to come. - Have you seen the pictures of these fully detached tyres from the rims of a rider (from Bahrain Victorious) in this year‘s edition of paris roubaix? Rims (and probably the frame) fully broken and done. Absolutely stupid and idiotic to change oit the good old tubular tyres for a tubeless solution.
I think you have the right attitude towards bikes and the bike industry in my opinion. 🙂👍🏻 Safe riding!
For some reason, tubeless sealent reminds me of Fix A Flat for car tires. And a caveat for Fix A Flat is that it's highly flammable.
Flammable is always fun. 👍🏻
Works on my machine
After needing some new wheels two years ago I decided to get some TLR rims, rim tape was a necessary purchase anyway. Price was about the same for a Velox rim strip, that of which I did not completely exhaust, doubled up, and have not had any issues with it expiring on the rim. BUT I have a more particular use case of mixed gravel/road and touring, a tire lasts me long enough that I need to add sealant 2-3 times (5-7k miles, GK Slicks) which is about as often as I would get a puncture, if not less. I love the comfort and there is no placebo perceived increase of speed or slowness that comes from a latex tubed to TLR setup ime. Blowoffs do happen; but this depends entirely on rim/tire combo, looking at you RH, since not everything is manufactured to the same spec or tolerance. But to be honest, I have had more tires blow off running latex tubes than I have running tubeless (none). I still keep a couple TPU tubes on my long rides, though. But I would be doing that regardless and I'm not concerned about an extra 300g on my 9.5kg steel bike. But does all of this make me a slow retrogrouch? Not at all, I love speed and feel like I am a capable rider. I'm just not looking for marginal gains eeking out max KOMs on Strava, but that doesn't stop me.
Now, if I were running a TT tire and heavily concerned about powertrain loss and weight? TPU all day. Tubes are generally easier, work and fail more reliably and predictably. I think most people should stick with tubes. But if I want to take the perceived risk, I think that's my judgement call to make.
I think this is a very sensible comment. And I think you are making very logical decisions. Good for you! Happy riding. 🙂👍🏻
I agree with you for once 👍 Don’t get me started on hookless rim rubbish too.
Nice 😊
Tried tubeless twice with my road bike . First time I had to cut the tyre up to get it off of the rim as the bead was jammed solid into the hook. second time was a 10km walk home in the rain when again I couldn't get the tyre off to fit an inner tube for a puncture that wouldn't seal. Id never ride my mountain bike without it again but id never ride my road bike with it again...........
Yes it makes sense for MTB, but people forget the physics and necessities of road is different from MTB.
Safe riding!
As someone who rides track bikes on the streets, I find tubes to be more convenient as im constantly running through rear tires. I constantly getting holes and rips in the tires that hold solid with tubes but would make the tire useless in a tubeless scenario
I always wonder that about fixed gear Riders. But surely a rip or bald spot wouldn’t seal? 🤔
that used to be me but then i "discovered" internal gear wheels and i love them. I'm using the 2 speed automatic and kickshift type the most so the bikes still look and maintain like single speeds. There's so little maintenance on the hubs themselves that i don't really notice any difference in that sense. I open up the hubs, regrease and throw it back together. I believe the automatix is about 7 yrs old with thousands of miles and it's still smooth and shifting is still seamless. ..that one can shift under power, it's interesting. The biggest difference is the weight of the rear wheel.
I still remember when some private cars still uses tubes. Yes I'm that old, I'll bet lots of people said tubes were better than tubeless too bck then.
Good point 👍🏻
Had allll the hassles with tubeless, and stuck with old fashioned tubes. Love how TPU tubes feel, and I have tried many, but had real reliability issues. Sadly the RideNow ones have stems that are slightly too wide to fit through my rims, so I haven’t tried them. Vittoria one failed where the stem meets the tube. Cyclami was pretty good, but pinch flatted very easily, tubolito is great until you have to pump it up on the road with a hand pump. You will heat and deform the valve stem. You just will. I have some of the Pirelli ones, but I haven’t tried yet. Gave up and went back to butyl.
Why not make the hole in your rim slightly bigger? It won’t be much? .5 of a mm at most I should imagine. 🙂
@@reginaldscot165 you may be right. Just not sure how to do that. Suggestions? Carbon rims.
@@mikesupergFile
Tubeless are perfect suit for Criterium Race. Low pressure, high grip, and low resistance. After puncture, Tubeless can help me to hang on a few laps to help my teammates.
If one does not race or participate in a drop ride. Then a Tubeless is not necessary.
Interesting 🤔