I use inner tubes on all my road bikes: Here's why I still haven't embraced tubeless
I use inner tubes on all my road bikes: Here's why I still haven't embraced tubeless
The mess, faff and roadside risks are just some of the reasons why all my road bikes still use inner tubes
I know there's an actual product category called "tubeless," but do airless tires fall into this category? Because after a run of bad luck where I was getting flats nearly every other time I rode, I put a set of Tannus on my bike and it was the best bike-related thing I think I've ever done.
I run TA inserts on my electric fatbike: Slows things down a decent amount, but I have not gotten any sort of flat since installing them.
Not sure that would really be classified as "tubeless" though they technically are without tubes, those are usually classified s solid tires if you're talking about the actual tires they make and not the inserts (though the inserts do give me run-flat, which isn't too terrible).
Right; this was my question. Technically, they are tubeless - just not in the original and traditional way the term was coined. I'm not using inserts, BTW - I went the whole-tire route, and - yeah - they're solid.
I can't really tell the difference, but I'm a casual rider. The benefit to me is that they've improved my riding experience immeasurably, as I no longer have anxiety about getting a flat on long rides. I hate changing tires in the middle of a ride; it's dirty, and never easy, and takes time I'd rather be riding. So any extra firmness or weight which - again, I really can't detect - is well worth being able to enjoy the ride without worry.
My wife, who still has tubes, says she can feel that they're more firm, but not substantially. Mine are three years old now, and I think it'll be interesting to see what improvements will be available by the time I ride the rubber off and need to change them. I'm really excited to see reviews about METL tires - also airless and tubeless, but not solid like Tannus.
In any case, I was mostly curious about the taxonomy. Airless, then, are not considered tubeless even though they don't have tubes, merely because of how tire technology has evolved - right?
If I rode regularly or long distances, I would go with tubes. Nothing would suck more than having a flat far from home, and that tire goop doesn't always work.
You can still put a tube in a tubeless bike FYI, many people who ride tubeless still keep a tube or two as an emergency backup.
See, this is why I join these communities. I learn a thing or two!
I've thought about tube vs tubeless with regular riding, like commuting, and have a slightly different conclusion. For the record, I'm 100% tubed and still haven't managed to give away sealant that I got for free.
Tubeless has two nice commuting/regular-riding benefits. First is when there are frequent encounters small punctures, like thorns or steel wire. The maintenance time benefit of tubes disappears quickly in this case. Minor punctures with tubes can be mitigated with puncture resistant tires or liners, but that compromises ride quality and speed.
Second, every moment of your time isn't created equal. Time when traveling is not as fungible as maintenance time. I can schedule tubeless maintenance. I cannot schedule when I get a puncture. Tubeless is zero delay or just a quick pump-up compared to patching a tube. Even catastrophic punctures are a wash; both setups need a new tube.
What setup to use really does come down to "it depends." Are you always cutting it close to get to where you need to go, but are good with routines? Consider fast tires in a tubeless setup. Do you struggle to maintain your bike or are always early to your destination? Marathon Plus tires with butyl tubes would be a solid choice.
As for me? I only carry patches for most of my rides. It works on every one of my bikes and I'm not usually riding somewhere with less than 15 minutes of buffer time. Although it does suck to patch a tube when riding at night. That's a suck I'm willing to take.
I did not like liners but I found puncture resistant worked well enough that I have not gone tubeless.
He kinda touches on this in the article but I always felt tubeless was more for off-road applications anyway. Personnally I have a few bikes and my enduro bike is the only one with a tubeless setup
Sorry, but tubes are significantly better for off-road performance. What do you off-road?
Edit: I can't really say why I wrote this comment like this. Very aggressive. Sorry again.
I run tubeless on my eMTB and road bike, because they have proper tubeless rims. Tubes on my fat tire and cargo bikes with a rim liner and slime, because they don't have tubeless rims.
I live in an area with goatheads and I've picked up 30-40 per tire before in a bad area. Sealant works well for me.
I haven't tried tubeless yet, but I can say that I'm quite happy so far with the Ride now TPU tubes you can buy for cheap on AliExpress.
I generally aim for as low maintenance stuff as possible, so this fits well into that philosophy.
I run tubeless on my mountain bike, and tubes on my city bike. Tubeless seals punctures way better, but requires a bit more upkeep in the form of new fluid. In the city, my city bike stays mostly on asphalt, so there's little risk of thorns, roots, or rocks.
I still prefer tubeless, though. I'd probably have had 3-4 popped tubes by now, judging by coagulated tubeless fluid on the tread of my MTB tires.
I use FlatOut in my tubes still lol
The only time I had a tubeless setup with liquid sealant was on an e-scooter.
Got a puncture, the sealant did not close the puncture but made a huge mess.
On my bikes, in well over 12,000 km, I've had only a single flat. And that flat was caused by rookie error when installing a new tube after replacing my tires.
I see no compelling reason to spend money on sealant, worry about topping it up, still needing to carry a tube, and also needing to carry a tubeless puncture kit.
I've run Flatout in mine and it works great, but from what I've heard, Slime sucks.
I forgot the brand I used, but it was one of the "best" and most recommended at the time (only a few years back). It was purple.
On my current e-scooter, it runs tubeless by default, but has a gel liner, rather than liquid, so it self-heals without maintenance or mess. That would be awesome to have in a bike tire.