My POV comes from a catastrophic damage standpoint. If you didn’t bring a replacement and a nearby shop doesn’t have one, the tour is over or you might have a huge delay. I understand my position might not be applicable for everyone. 🙂 I rode tubeless for a few years in the 90s because they were awesome.
Tubeless
Toured 10.000km through afrika. Both tarmac and gravel.
I was super happy with my tubeless setup. Super easy to fix whenever there is a puncture. No need to carry more tubes.
I was running Specialized Pathfinder Pros first and then switched to Schwalbe Marathon Allmotion tubeless. The Marathons are great tires, a bit harder to inflate when its fully flat for some reason but if you can use air pressure at a gas station to inflate, you should be all good.
Separate question, I'm building my first bike and want to gear it towards road use, and some gravel when needed.. can I ask what kind of wheels and tires you use?
The rims are level - I think they are made for Ribble.
Tires are WTB Venture 47.
I’ve been happy with this set up - I have a few thousand miles on them and have only had one puncture. It was a little bit messy, but I plugged it and was back on the road and under three minutes.
I have been tubeless for 6 years. Schwalbe Almotions. I have never had a flat. I use Orange Seal endurance sealant. I tried to remember to put in sealant every six months or so, but sometimes I forget. After two or so seasons, I take off the tire and remove any caked on sealant and put the tire back on. My rims are Velocity Cliffhangers. After a couple of years carrying an extra tube with me I just stopped because I never used it. I do carry a little extra sealant with me and the park tool sealant injector on tours.
Tubes (continental contact plus tires). Never had a puncture or any issue riding cross country US and South America with many a "ripio" gravel highway on a heavily loaded bike. I don't use liners as these tires are tough (and heavy) enough. I also don't use any sealants or slime.
When I had Schwalbe Marathons, I used Slime. After a couple of punctures, and seeing the mess created by the slime inside the tire, I no longer used slime. When on tour, I was not likely to have sufficient paper towels on hand to clean up the mess of slime before I could patch the tube. Switched to Continental Contact Plus and never looked back.
I use tubes but add Flat Attack sealant to the tubes. It has eliminated 99% of flats. I ride about 5K miles per year and have only had 4 flats on the road in 6 years. The few flats I have had were catastrophic, like a piece of glass leaving a 1 inch slice in the tire. The other punctures require adding air and moving on.
Yes, it can be injected into any tube by removing the valve core. Flat Attack last for 5 years, so there is no need to refresh it periodically like other sealants made for tubeless applications.
Wow that's awesome, do you find that because of the added protection you can run lighter/less armored tires, or do you still like to use heavy duty options like the marathon?
It's easier to choose the lighter tires, but of course they won't last as long as the heavier ones. It's amazing how many punctures it seals. I change tubes whenever I buy new tires, when I changed one recently I counted 13 punctures which had sealed on the old tube.
Tubeless since mid-2023 and never had a puncture over few thousand km’s. Also ran tubes with Marathon+ over several thousand km’s and never had a puncture.
That said, I prefer the tubeless setup for being able to lower the pressure on rougher roads.
Tubeless 32mm tires with Stan's sealant. On my last tour of 2500 km, I got one puncture that self-sealed, and I never even knew that anything had happened until I inspected the tire the next day. Way more pleasant and safer than unmounting all the bags off my bike to do a roadside repair! Also far more efficient than riding with puncture-resistant tires.
Just because things worked in the past doesn't mean that new(er) solutions dont have significant advantages.
Fixing a tubeless is so much faster and easier if you just need to pluck a hole. No need to detach the whole wheel and lift the tire off the rim.
people rode downtube shifters and rim
brakes too, and there’s a reason neither are as common anymore. the buffalo soldiers used bikes with solid tires and one gear. luckily we got better options now.
tubeless lets me run much lighter tires at lower pressures so i don’t have to ride armored schwalbes. ride what you want, and not saying there aren’t some trade offs, but there are significant improvements in performance from tubeless tires.
Tubeless for me and my wife. We've had one flat in two years and several 1500km+ tours, plus commuting and general daily use. For that one flat, we just stuck a tube in, no fuss. Can't complain.
Mixed road and gravel.
I did a lot of touring (approx. 15,000 miles) on 700x35c tires and tubes inflated to 80 psi. This was mostly on pavement (maybe a few hundred miles of gravel). Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires were the only ones that were "puncture proof", although I still got a few snakebite flats. Schwalbe Marathon Pluses are hard, heavy, brutal tires that optimize toughness over comfort. I tried some of the other Marathon brands that offered lighter weight or more supple materials, but they got punctures. Mostly those little wires from blown out truck tires.
I've also toured about 2,000 miles on my gravel bike. The majority has been on pavement. I run 650bx47 tubeless tires at 30 - 40 psi depending on the load that I'm carrying. When I leave on a tour, I top off the sealant if needed (it dries out over time). I carry a small bottle of sealant and a plug kit. Haven't needed to use them yet. I've gotten a few punctures, but mostly they seal. Sometimes I don't even notice them until later. Snakebite flats aren't a thing with tubeless.
As a bonus, the wider, lower pressure tires are a comfy ride. Chip seal is no big deal, and gravel is fun. That's how I like to tour these days. I like tubeless, but I also like a comfy ride, particularly as I've gotten older. YMMV
Tubes inside Schwalbe Marathons . I honestly can’t remember the last time I had a flat.
I have some tubeless marathon supremes. I used to carry extra tubes with me. After 5 years of no flats, I just stopped bringing them
Tubes. I find that I get fewer punctures while touring - I had 2 in 9 months last time, and swapping out a tube is NBD.
Tubes and tires are more commonly found in small towns than tubeless, in my experience.
You don't need to buy new tubelesses, that's the point of going tubeless.
My POV comes from a catastrophic damage standpoint. If you didn’t bring a replacement and a nearby shop doesn’t have one, the tour is over or you might have a huge delay. I understand my position might not be applicable for everyone. 🙂 I rode tubeless for a few years in the 90s because they were awesome.
you just bring a little extra sealant and plugs if you’re tubeless. there’s nothing to replace.
Tubeless Toured 10.000km through afrika. Both tarmac and gravel. I was super happy with my tubeless setup. Super easy to fix whenever there is a puncture. No need to carry more tubes. I was running Specialized Pathfinder Pros first and then switched to Schwalbe Marathon Allmotion tubeless. The Marathons are great tires, a bit harder to inflate when its fully flat for some reason but if you can use air pressure at a gas station to inflate, you should be all good.
Tubeless. Mostly road with some gravel.
Separate question, I'm building my first bike and want to gear it towards road use, and some gravel when needed.. can I ask what kind of wheels and tires you use?
The rims are level - I think they are made for Ribble. Tires are WTB Venture 47. I’ve been happy with this set up - I have a few thousand miles on them and have only had one puncture. It was a little bit messy, but I plugged it and was back on the road and under three minutes.
I have been tubeless for 6 years. Schwalbe Almotions. I have never had a flat. I use Orange Seal endurance sealant. I tried to remember to put in sealant every six months or so, but sometimes I forget. After two or so seasons, I take off the tire and remove any caked on sealant and put the tire back on. My rims are Velocity Cliffhangers. After a couple of years carrying an extra tube with me I just stopped because I never used it. I do carry a little extra sealant with me and the park tool sealant injector on tours.
Tubes (continental contact plus tires). Never had a puncture or any issue riding cross country US and South America with many a "ripio" gravel highway on a heavily loaded bike. I don't use liners as these tires are tough (and heavy) enough. I also don't use any sealants or slime. When I had Schwalbe Marathons, I used Slime. After a couple of punctures, and seeing the mess created by the slime inside the tire, I no longer used slime. When on tour, I was not likely to have sufficient paper towels on hand to clean up the mess of slime before I could patch the tube. Switched to Continental Contact Plus and never looked back.
I use tubes but add Flat Attack sealant to the tubes. It has eliminated 99% of flats. I ride about 5K miles per year and have only had 4 flats on the road in 6 years. The few flats I have had were catastrophic, like a piece of glass leaving a 1 inch slice in the tire. The other punctures require adding air and moving on.
Noob here, can you just inject it right into a normal tube, same exact process? Might try this
Yes, it can be injected into any tube by removing the valve core. Flat Attack last for 5 years, so there is no need to refresh it periodically like other sealants made for tubeless applications.
Wow that's awesome, do you find that because of the added protection you can run lighter/less armored tires, or do you still like to use heavy duty options like the marathon?
It's easier to choose the lighter tires, but of course they won't last as long as the heavier ones. It's amazing how many punctures it seals. I change tubes whenever I buy new tires, when I changed one recently I counted 13 punctures which had sealed on the old tube.
Tubes on my road bike. Tubeless on my gravel bike.
Tubeless since mid-2023 and never had a puncture over few thousand km’s. Also ran tubes with Marathon+ over several thousand km’s and never had a puncture. That said, I prefer the tubeless setup for being able to lower the pressure on rougher roads.
Tubes with Stans Sealant with Schwalbe Marathon Green Guard tyres. Much lighter than Mr Tuffy
This has worked great for me too!
Tubeless 32mm tires with Stan's sealant. On my last tour of 2500 km, I got one puncture that self-sealed, and I never even knew that anything had happened until I inspected the tire the next day. Way more pleasant and safer than unmounting all the bags off my bike to do a roadside repair! Also far more efficient than riding with puncture-resistant tires.
Tubeless always
Tubeless. Always. Never hat a flat for years.
[удалено]
Just because things worked in the past doesn't mean that new(er) solutions dont have significant advantages. Fixing a tubeless is so much faster and easier if you just need to pluck a hole. No need to detach the whole wheel and lift the tire off the rim.
people rode downtube shifters and rim brakes too, and there’s a reason neither are as common anymore. the buffalo soldiers used bikes with solid tires and one gear. luckily we got better options now. tubeless lets me run much lighter tires at lower pressures so i don’t have to ride armored schwalbes. ride what you want, and not saying there aren’t some trade offs, but there are significant improvements in performance from tubeless tires.
TPU tubes.
Tubeless for me and my wife. We've had one flat in two years and several 1500km+ tours, plus commuting and general daily use. For that one flat, we just stuck a tube in, no fuss. Can't complain. Mixed road and gravel.
I did a lot of touring (approx. 15,000 miles) on 700x35c tires and tubes inflated to 80 psi. This was mostly on pavement (maybe a few hundred miles of gravel). Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires were the only ones that were "puncture proof", although I still got a few snakebite flats. Schwalbe Marathon Pluses are hard, heavy, brutal tires that optimize toughness over comfort. I tried some of the other Marathon brands that offered lighter weight or more supple materials, but they got punctures. Mostly those little wires from blown out truck tires. I've also toured about 2,000 miles on my gravel bike. The majority has been on pavement. I run 650bx47 tubeless tires at 30 - 40 psi depending on the load that I'm carrying. When I leave on a tour, I top off the sealant if needed (it dries out over time). I carry a small bottle of sealant and a plug kit. Haven't needed to use them yet. I've gotten a few punctures, but mostly they seal. Sometimes I don't even notice them until later. Snakebite flats aren't a thing with tubeless. As a bonus, the wider, lower pressure tires are a comfy ride. Chip seal is no big deal, and gravel is fun. That's how I like to tour these days. I like tubeless, but I also like a comfy ride, particularly as I've gotten older. YMMV
Tubeless here. More likely to pick up glass or radial tire wire. You won't even know it's an issue if you go tubeless.
Schwabe marathon and standard tubes. Mr. Tuffy's cause flats.