Is Tubeless Really That Good? 

I run tubes on both my road and mountain bikes and I can't remember the last time I had a flat.

Having suffered one flat in the last few years, I have zero reason to go tubeless.

About half my bikes are tubeless. My advice is to go with tubes for a while. If you get enough flats to be frustrated, or find yourself avoiding terrain you'd like to go on for fear of getting punctures, then switch. Many, many people get few flats per year, and simply won't gain anything for their area or style of riding. Others seem to commute to work on rock gardens, or live in goat-head territory where tubeless is just magic. Tubeless is kind of black magic. When it works it is amazing. When things go sideways with weeping sidewalls, mounting issues, sealant blobs, clogged valves, failing tape, etc you can be exasperated and will think about swearing it off forever. A downside is that the fit of modern tires, especially road tubeless, has gotten SO tight to meet the ERTO standard that it has made life miserable to change a tube on the side of the road (looking at you GP5000 S TR's). It is to the point that if you get them on a new bike you should immediately get rid of them unless you go tubeless or have the grip strength of a gorilla. We need deeper center rim grooves, or something to let mere mortal change a tube without an epic wrestling match.

I tried tubeless for about a year and ended up hating them: the performance isn't any better than with tubes, air retention can be an ongoing issue, and the sealant is disgusting. Having a non-sealing roadside puncture that included spraying sealant, a tyre that was almost impossible to remount, and bleeding fingers did not improve my attitude. I've since switched to clinchers with TPU tubes and am very much happier (and cleaner).

100% agree. I am to bike maintenance what Elton John is to rugby and yet, after careful review of a few RU-vid videos, I have not had a single issue with, prepping rims, choosing tires, applying sealant, and maintaining the system in over three years of use. GREAT CONTENT GUYS, THANK YOU

1. The issue with Tubeless is that their sidewalls are too firm for good grip in CX. Im surprised this isn’t an issue in gravel too. Personally I prefer tubs and even clinchers. 2. Sealant might seal 8/10 punctures but it’s easier to go through a tubeless tyre than a clincher and an inner. The inner is an extra layer even if it’s not that effective as one. 3. I also feel that Tubeless converts have started to believe that punctures were common place with clinchers. On the road I haven’t had a puncture for 3 years with clinchers and I live in a flint area. As for pinch flats, I’ve only ever had one and that was in a Cross race on frozen ground running 23psi. Edit: I’ve just looked it up and I’ve bought 15 inner tubes since 2013 and that includes the nine which are still in use.

TPU all the way. It’s sort of like tubeless lite without the mess of sealant.

Starting out tubeless had me run into the same issues some have had, along with initial skepticism. Once you get comfortable handling tubeless you'll actually start to appreciate tires that can fix themselves as you ride. I've had punctures but I never noticed until after the ride. Only way to know is the spots of sealant that did their job.

I love the ability to get extra grip from semi slick xc tyres by running pressures that would be a major snakebite risk with tubes.

I have tried going tubeless several times. Being a heavy rider (265lbs/120kg), sealants wouldn't plug a puncture and keep enough pressure in the tire. And when inflated a bit, would blow out where it had sealed. The Silca sealant is the only one I have found that will work for me. I am now in the process of switching all my tires over.

As I put winter tyres on my xc bike this week I thought about putting tubes in. I then pulled five thorns out of the old rear tyre which has never lost any pressure...... convinced me to stick with a tubeless set up.

I use the green slime for automotive applications on all my bikes I've never had to walk home, people often complain about this product but it still works great at freezing temp unlike most latex based stuff. Useful in Canada

Discovered a 25mm long pin in my wife's gravel tyre whilst doing a post ride clean after an uninterrupted all day ride. No flat with tubeless and not done any repair since. Rode for 6 hours yesterday on the same tyre, I'm a total convert to tubeless. Have had one flat from a glass slash which was sealed with a plug and we were on our way within minutes. I do carry a tube and some patches for belt and braces but not needed them in several thousand miles of riding so far.

outstanding content.thanks!

On the last couple of long rides with my husband, he has gotten a flat each time (tubed) while I had none (tubeless). I've finally convinced him to set it up tubeless. I like Silca too, and the Fillmore valves. His main reason to stay with tubes was that he likes to change tires. He has 2 sets of wheels, so the bikepacking wheels are going tubeless, and the other wheels will stay tubed. He can change tires on them.

I understood the Rhyno's? question. I think that TPU inner tubes are the best decision for them . I personally opted out from tubeless. Yes, puncture protection is better, but with TPU tubes tyre pressure is 50-75PSI. Rolling ressistence is low and puncture protection is better than the butyl tubes. TPU set up is lighter than tubeless, repair kit is cheap and the hand pump is a random one. I am happy to change my inner tube once per year, but I'm not happy to get an expensive wheels, tyres, sealing, pump, plugs and spare inner tubes as well. This is what I think. Best regards.

I run Silca Ultimate Sealant in both Road and Gravel bikes. GP5000 AS TR and Pathfinder Pro tires. No issues and very fast rolling.

Just loving my TPU tubes🥰

If you do get a big puncture, keep rolling otherwise the sealant won’t seal the hole. Only issue I’ve had is when a nail flicked up and put 3 large holes in my tyre, decided to change the tyre after that but with a tube, I probably wouldn’t have bothered.

First video I’ve seen where they’re on the money in terms of sealant recommendations. I’ve tried 5 sealants and settled on Muc-Off-I’ll try Silca next.

when doing long rides outside the city, XC and gravel i barely got any punctures. for commuting i got a puncture like every other month from glas shards lying around all over the city. that's the main reason why i converted to tubeless.

Where I ride, I used to get a flat every single day with tubes due to thorns. Tried every tube, even with sealant inside. Tried various tires. Tried all the tube protector inserts. Again, flat the next day almost every time. Went tubeless. Worth every second of prep and time to do it. No flats in 2 years. Only have to add a bit of sealant every 6 months or so and add a bit of air every month or so. Its been a game changer. So much better.

Silca sealant is the best there is! I have used several brands and for a year now Silca in Conti GP5000 Str and every hole is closed within a few tire rotations. Really top stuff

2Bliss all the way for 29er tyres for 7yrs now, will never go back to tubes 🙌🏻

Stopped used Silca for Stan's race. In a shop. Life became a lot easier. Guess everyone is a 'Pro Mechanic ' with a brown envelope.

A few quick comments: 1) Silca sealant is very effective but sometimes too effective. It can do a great job of sealing your valves and that becomes annoying to clear so I use a less aggressive sealant and 2) tire pressures are dropping on modern road tires as the tire widths increase and the tire carcasses are thicker on tubeless tires. I personally am running between 50 to 60 psi which is not too high a pressure for most sealants. Finally a quick tip for inflating your tire with a cartridge: hold the tire in a position where the sealant is pooling right on the puncture while you inflate. That way you reduce the over pressure effect of cartridges.

Thanks for another great video. 2 questions...with Silca sealant is it ok to use the "with fiber" type for top up or do I need to get the "replenisher" variety? Is it ok to use aluminum valves with carbon wheels or do I need to be sure to get brass valves? Thanks much. Keep up the good work.

I have seven bikes, including three road bikes. All are set up tubeless, it's not even a question for me. I haven't had a flat that required me to install a tube ever. Sealant stops slow leaks, Dynaplugs are the way to go in the rare case that you need a plug. I've found that regular Stan's sealant works fine at 70psi and below. I run 65 on the road and I've had it seal punctures. The nice thing about Stan's is that you can refill the sealant through the valve stem. The Silca stuff likely works better but you have to pop a bead every time you need to add sealant. That's a pain.

Panaracer sealant has crushed walnut shells in it. Best sealant I’ve used personally and our go to in our Workshop.

I have 4 brands for you, Rhino. All these fit your constraints. Cushcore, WTB, Pirelli, and Orange Seal. One brand that fits the comfort category for tires, is Challenge.

Two weeks ago went tubeless fitted by shop, second ride punctured sealant (Muc-off) didn’t seal, fortunately had dynoplug which worked however the faff was longer than a regular inner tube change with sealant splattered everywhere from the puncture.

I went tubeless back in 2006/7 on my MTB's and when gravel came along, tubeless on that too - no one I ride with uses tubes, and interestingly unlike years ago when a group ride had a guarantee of at least one if not more punctures, I can't remember the last one anyone had.

I run with Rimpact foam cores and it changed everything. It's not as good as tubulars, but it's spitting distance for an amateur with a lot less cost.

I run tubeless on my gravel bike because gravel tires don't have much built in puncture protection, and those that do are pretty heavy and slow. For road I run tubes and use a decent tire like a Conti 4-Season which still rolls reasonably well but offers good durability. Really light weight race tires are not really practical outside of the pro peloton imo.

I like tubeless in general and totally understand the benefits, but I find it so goddamn annoying to clean that shit out of the rims and tires when it's dried up even a little bit and you want to change tires. That's taken more time from me than all the punctures I've had in years. Also I could never get my Pathfinders to seal well and they kept losing air worse than a latex tube. Now I use tubes again but carry sealant to put in the tube in case of a puncture. That works extremely well actually.

Tubeless on road and mtb. Have been for 2 years. No complaints

The best point here is about getting tyres and rims that match, although I'm not convinced that all the new tyres and rims onsale today comply with any standards for this. Either that or they're still selling old stock of non-compliant kit. You will see the difference immediately: the tyres will go on nicely trailside without broken levers or thumbs, will seat with a decent roadside hand pump, won't burp air over big bumps or unseat. I've converted lots of people in this situation who've done the sensible thing - go to someone who has done loads of tubeless setups. Only CX racers are still sticking with tubulars as they use really low pressures where tubeless will struggle - although even some CX teams are tubeless now.

How long does the Silica sealant last in very dry desert like climates? In the US southwest I DiY my own sealant because any sealant drys out very quickly & at least my homemade stuff is inexpensive.

Stranded on the roadside covered in Semen - this was what I heard 😂

I’ve done some actual research on tubes/tubeless. I found there were 2 arguments for tubeless and 103,672 against.

I agree with most of this but for lower pressure/higher volume tyres at least it's entirely possible to damage your tyre in such a way that it can't be plugged but could hold a tube. I carry a mini-pump and a CO2 inflator and an emergency TPU tube in case the plug doesn't hold 😜

I think it depends on what kind of luck you've been having lately. I went years of no flats on tubes. Then i couldn't keep a tube whole to save my life. My b riding didn't change. Punctures and valve stem failures. I was chewing through tubes and patches and rim tape. I polished the valve hole and i still couldn't figure it out. Went tubeless and slashed a side wall first ride. I've stuck with tubeless though, and it's solved most of my problems since then. I just did a sealant refresh and it only took 5 minutes using Orange Seal through the valve. Both systems have issues just gotta pick your poison.

I can’t believe this is still a topic for debate. Tubeless works. It works super well. It ain’t perfect, but neither are tubes. They each have their pros and cons, but some folk just drew a line in the sand and said “these cons I can handle and these I can’t.” That’s the debate here. Not tubeless or any other particular bit of tech.

I’ve already gotten tired of having tubeless mounting attempts go bad because the tape has a cut in it somewhere that I didn’t see before putting the sealant in and attempting to get it up to pressure. It happens around 25% of the time, and it’s really irritating.

Got three tiny punctures this week that likely would have been sealed by tubeless sealant. Went tubeless today. Let’s see how it goes.

I've used Stan's sealant since 1998 when I started mountain biking and went tubeless, also on road bikes and TT bikes I used Stan's sealant in the tubes, but mountain biking and gravel biking I use 100% tubeless all the way ... 😉👍

Ridden with a tube for years both mountain and road. My current mountain bike has only ever had one flat in the 4 years I have owned it. My roadbike has had 3 in the last 5 years ( i ride it a lot more ). I just avoid things that will pop my tires or could potentially pop my tires and use a puncture resistant tire on the roadbike to catch the stuff i miss. I think if you do not care about the weight it's mostly still a preference thing. It's just as "difficult" to change a tire with a tube than it is to go tubeless. There are just as many step and small finicky things can make the process a bit of an ordeal. It can go super smooth and easy for either as well. If you are just hammering through road debris and then act shocked when you get bitten by it you sort of deserve a flat tire.

You said to check and refresh sealant every 3 months - is that applicable regardless of how frequently you ride? And at some point, does sealant become "stale" (stop working properly) and need a complete empty and refill?

There is one aspect to this discussion that is almost NEVER mentioned - each time you switch out a tube for what ever reason you get a brand new, clean valve stem. A new tube & stem costs ( in Canada at least) about $10. A tubeless valve stem alone cost $35 cdn per pair. More recently tubeless valve manufacturers recommend switching out stems about once per year because they get gummed up, plugged by the various slimes. I have been using both systems on my bikes ( road, Mtb, & Gravel) since there were only 2 tubeless tire brands available ( Hutchinson & Micheline) One system, I have found simply replaces the inherent hassles with other inherent hassles. Years ago many bike shops would not work on Tubeless wheels because of the messy slime. Those days are gone of course but there really is no clear winner in the long run. Once a tubeless tire is seated, & is holding air well , LEAVE IT ALONE FOR YEARS. Do not get me started on latex tumor's banging around inside a tire after a few years of continuous inflation. When it works it works - but -

I carry a spare tube but every tubeless flat I've had I can plug, inflate and go super fast.

I just sold my Salsa Rangefinder which had tubeless. I just upgraded to a Cannondale Habit which has tubes with tubeless ready wheel. Should I upgrade to tubeless??

What do you do, if you are covered your back with spray of sealant, it dries out cause you have to ride 2h home and how do you get sealant out of your expensive clothes?

I just use Mr Tuffy with a tube, ride road, gravel, and MTB. Have not had a flat in 30 years. For me tubeless is not worth the hassle, they leak air too fast so when I am on a day ride I have to top up the tires with air. Mr Tuffy with a tube weighs slightly more than Sealant, I do not notice the difference, rolling resistance is the same as tubeless.

Switched all my bikes to tubeless and never had to stop for a puncture in 4 years. Ive raced gravel and Grand Fondos, and do about 12,000km a year. Absolutely pain free. In fact, I punctured both wheels at a gravel event, and didnt even noticed until I washed the bike back home.

Will tubeless work well in winter condition with minus -10 to -15 Celsius ? 🥶

I’ve tried tubeless but it isn’t for me. I run my road bike tyres at 90psi and you can’t do that with tubeless safely. Forget comfort from lower pressures, road bike should be fast and hard. Comfort isn’t a priority for me. Currently using clinchers and TPU tubes and it’s perfect for me haven’t had a picture in 2 years.

So if you don’t have the high end stuff (tyre, rim, and sealent) is not worth it to go tubeless. Got it!

What about setting them up? That’s pretty hard to do with a floor pump

Yes! As much as people love to give hookless a bad rap (sometime the companies that push the tech do deserve it), I love the hookless wheels for 30mm+ tires. Install the tires most of the way, pour some Silca sealant in, push the tires the rest of the way, and just use a floor pump. I used to have to use an air compressor, but that's no longer necessary with hookless, and after 1000+ miles of riding, haven't had a puncture yet.

Which TPU tubes are recommended?

Having tried it all, I'm now sticking with inner tubes on my road bike and tubeless on my MTB. I've pulled out thorns after a ride from my MTB tires which would have punctured any inner tube, here tubeless worked great. At 6+ bar pressures for road bikes, I find that the latex just doesn't seal, so the additional pain to set is up and maintain it isn't worth it. All the drawbacks, zero benefits for road bikes. On my TT bike I ride on TPU inner tubes nowadays, before that I rode latex. With TPU you don't have to pump your tires every ride, so that's a good development. I always get upset when I see people riding around on 5k€+ TT bikes for "buying speed", who can't be bothered to switch from butyl to latex/tpu.😅

There are tubes with preloaded sealant - conspicuously missing from the conversation.

But if the reason is puncture resistance, and on a road bike, I never have punctures, then there is not enough of a reason?

Silca makes tubeless work as it’s supposed to.

I run tubeless in my 29’er hardtail and my gravel bike with 700c rims-I haven’t gone tubeless on my road bike yet but will when I change the tyres next spring.

If you ride frequently and either puncture frequently or want the benefits of lower pressure and comfort it's great. If you don't ride regularly, don't puncture much, and can deal with slightly higher pressures, TPU tubes all the way. I have TPU in my commuter, road bike, and touring bike. Tubeless for gravel though TPU would be fine for my use case. For MTB, tubeless is near mandatory...

Went tubeless in my road bike around ‘08 and have never looked back. The only time I’ve been let down is when I tried Muc Off sealant, that stuff sucked. Went back to Stan’s and haven’t had any issues. The truth is if you like tubeless you don’t understand why everyone doesn’t use them. If you don’t like tubeless you don’t understand why anyone would use them. So why argue?

Has anyone tried putting the tubeless sealant in an inner tube? From my MTB racing experience if you had a pinch flat your pressure is too low

i live in Philadelphia (absolute shit hole) and had 5 flats in a month. almost always in the slick part of my semi-slick of my 38mm gravel tires. always from verrrry small pieces of glass. i upgraded to 45mm (not slick in the middle )and also went tubeless and haven't had to do any maintenance on them for 3 months. i either haven't had a puncture at all or haven't noticed it happen! ...probably time for a top-off though

I will just say Tubeless all the way. Cycling for the last 4 years 3-4 times a week, 7000-9000km per year. 28c GP 5000 S TR, Orange regular sealant, milkit tubeless kit and Topeak joblow booster (what a name😂😂) and you can do it at home no shop needed. I went tubeless 2 months ago for the first time and no problem. Much more comfortable ride compared to tubes!! Ps I did try Doc Blue sealant first and for me it was useless!!! unfortunately.

Chooooobless.

Nice videos, 5 mins is a good length

Which weighs more??

Changing a tube is no hassle!! Unless you are racing, it's a nice break! If you are worried about dirty fingers just carry a pair of disposable gloves.

I love tubeless but and there is a big butt i really wish tyre companies maxxis would make there tyre thick enough that you can run them without sealant if you choose major pittfall in my eyes .

If you know where the hole is you only need to expose a small section of tube and stick a Park glueless patch on without removing the wheel.

cushcore and stan's that all you need

With a new and light weight inner plastic tubes, there is no sense to go into troublesame and messy tubeless system. Full stop. 3-4 Sterling for a plastic tube. Is this expensive?

Haveing to break into your tyres once every three months seems a lot of effort. Frequently I won't touch tubed tyres for years.

I agree that it makes sense with high volume low pressure tires but in my opinion it totally sucks in small volume high pressure road tires

Putting Sealant in the inner tubes provides the best of both worlds. Lowest maintenance, highest reliability

To years of tubeless without getting stranded. Still carry a tube

Haven't had a puncture in 4000km and i run 35-38psi on 45c. I'm not seeing the benefit of low pressure or less puncture. But the math was a good point. Sealant will seal 8/10 puncture but tubes just won't....

When your tubeless tire gets flat - and that happened to me twice - you'll be lost with just a hand pump.

Im not huge into maintenance but if you take your time and use common sense anyone can set tubeless up. I used to run real low tire pressure on rigid bike with tough rims that would make contact with the rim over root and you guessed it no flat. If you ride where there are thorns or commute on a bike where road trash and boulevard plantings can cause flats tubeless is a life saver. Use whatever you want and if you ride enough you will know.

slime in the inner tube seals without all the hassle of tubeless

I really like going road tubeless.

For Gravel bikes it makes sense, because pinch flats are more common running tubes, because of running lower tire pressures, same with MTB, unfortunately it is more maintenance. But for road riding, tubes are fine.

My view is tubeless for MTB and maybe Gravel.. Road go tubes.. for me anyway just my opinion.. Pete

If Tubeless is so good , how come everyone i known still carry a spare just in case tube !!!!!!!

A good tube sealant and tubeless is unnecessary. I’ve done thousands of kilometers on my sealed tubes and not gotten a single flat, compared with one every couple hundred before I added sealant.

I think tubeless are overrsted. I recently switched to tubeless on a gravel. i opted for conti terra trail 40 mm and over 1500 km I had 4 punctures already. They all got sort of selead by the sealent. They leak but the drop in pressure is the same as in the other fine tire. This is too expensive. Tubeless tires are way pricier, then you need to buy the rim tape, the valve and constantly top the sealent up. And out on the ride you need to carry some plug knots and a spare tube as a last resort anyway so what is the point? I admit, they are faster than tube tires but it is not worth the price.

Can't see why anyone would want to run inner tubes. Lower pressures = more comfort = more speed. Worst I've had in 3 years is 2 slow punctures one of which I rode on for 3 months because I couldn't be bothered to fix. The number of times a club mate has got a puncture for a small thorn and then missed it and got a second puncture. Tubeless you just pull it out and keep on riding. Schwalbe are my favourite tyre currently on GP5000 and they are far stiffer will be going back when I've killed the conti's

I'm not convinced tubeless is the way to go. I'm also not convinced wheels should be round.

Do it yourself, pump will cost you £50 and most shops would charge more than that for fitting two tyres, only thing that can go wrong is the rim tape won’t stick, so buy an extra roll.

Seen pro triathletes needed to get tubes to repair their tubeless bike been able to finish... So guess if you want to keep going and non stop... Tubes are on need

As far as I know Muc-off sealant is CO2 compatible no problem. Silca isn’t.

Definitely run tubeless for cyclocross or mtb but not road 😊

Ultimately, if you want the best system for road use, there's only one choice- TUBULAR, get serious, forget the rest.

A vote for muc-off here for gravel and mtb, often available on sale and smells good too😅