I did this for some clincher cross tires.

But if I was doing it for a gravel race, I would put sealant in the latex tube. http://www.slowtwitch.com/...t_-_Part_2_4155.html

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Suffer Well.

Just a note based on my personal experience with putting sealant in latex tubes. I did this to all my latex tubes (training and racing) for about two years. Then recently I switched to tubeless for training.

And I've found that the successful seal rate of tubeless is far, far superior to that of latex tubes. I'd estimate that I've had about 90% success rate on tubeless tires (where success is defined as being able to continue riding after a clear puncture), and maybe 50% for tubes. I don't know why that would be. Maybe tubeless are designed to "congeal" sealant better and latex tubes are more slippery.

Given that and the total removal of the possibility for pinch flats with tubeless, I'd definitely go tubeless for gravel.

Latex works great on gravel. It would be my first choice.

Why "tubeless is the best choice" baffles me, as most people I know running tubeless feel the need to run higher psi because of it. Not good.

Yes, latex would be better than butyl for what you're talking about. Except carry butyl for spares.

What tires? Outside of open tubulars, I haven't found a cx/gravel tire that couldn't be used tubeless if you kept the pressures low.

The Kenda Happy Medium 35c has worked well for me in reasonable conditions. Rocket Ron in 33c for slop/snowy conditions. I have heard nothing of anyone having tubeless success with either of these tires. Next tires I buy will be tubeless compatible, but I still have a lot of miles to go on these two pair I currently own.

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"It never gets easier, you just go faster."
-Greg LeMond

I've been using the Challenge latex tubes as they come in the bigger tube sizes. Works great for CX and gravel. No flats.

Strangely enough, I have used both of those tires on a HED rim. 21mm. Well, the Happy Mediums were the 40 flavor, not 35. Same non-SCT bead and DTC rubber though. The Happy Mediums got 'weepy' after several months, but held air wonderfully. It was rare they were used higher than 45 or lower than 35 psi. Zero problems, but they just weren't great tires. Kenda has some of the slowest rolling rubber in existence. Kenda is one of the brands that has such a loose fitting and ribbed bead, that it's a bad candidate for tubeless.....yet it still worked just fine for me. I keep eyeing the WTB Riddler 37 for a similar tire that could do gravel also be used for the super dry CX races.

I threw on a pair of Rocket Rons later on for CX season in 2015. No problem running them tubeless except getting down to 30psi and lateral cornering. Much lower pressure than one would use for 'gravel' riding. Rocket Rons would be a tough sell for gravel riding unless you had wet or loose conditions. I'm *guessing* the rubber compound would make up for the rolling resistance sins of the knobs though.

I might depend upon the "roads" you ride that make tubeless the best choice. Why would you run tubeless higher than with tubes for gravel? That's the opposite of what I would think. Most run tubes with higher pressure to avoid pinch flats and that's not a problem with tubeless.

Also, the road conditions on many gravel races favor something that is more flat recoverable. Flint, thorns, etc can be almost non issues with tubeless with the right sealant. These are sometimes problematic- or worse- with tubes, even those with sealant in them.

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Suffer Well.

Running higher psi because it's tubeless baffles me as well.

Depends on the particular gravel you're riding.
One thing to remember with latex tubes is that the very thing that makes them fast and less susceptible to flatting in most circumstances - their elasticity - makes them much more likely to flat from (very) small cuts in the tire carcass than butyl, because they "squirt" through the cut, and then flat.

Discovered this the hard way in a gravel race a few years ago, unfortunately. Post-race analysis revealed that the butyl-tubed wheels I swapped to to replace the double-flatted wheels I started on had identical cuts - that I could see the tube through - but survived just fine.
Same tires, same wheels, just different tubes.

Started tracking the phenomena with athletes I coach, and correlation seems to be significant enough to be meaningful.

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Tech writer/support on this here site. FIST school instructor and certified bike fitter. Formerly at Diamondback Bikes, LeMond Fitness, FSA, TiCycles, etc.
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