hadukla wrote:
So cycling news posted an
article about tubeless tires and the one thing that stuck out to me was that adoption in the pro peloton has been rare due to lack of reliability... Am I the only one confused by this? I feel like most of the complaints has not been about reliability but more around what benefit it really brings to us. Maybe I haven't been paying enough attention but since I converted to tubeless early last year, I've been thrilled
I just read through the article, and I don't think it really gave enough detail to explain the situation (likely because it's not feasible for the author to interview the hundreds of current and past mechanics and team directors that would be necessary to paint a complete picture).
A few thoughts:
-First and foremost, they don't define what they mean by 'reliability'. Consistency of wheel/tire fit? Puncture protection? Hassle for the mechanics? Air retention? Something else?
-What time frame are we talking about? Some teams experimented with tubeless many years ago, when tire fit was *really* all over the map. Sometimes a team tries something early-on and it sucks... and they're scared to revisit it years later after the technology has improved. We need more info.
-As far as the mechanical side of it - while tubeless can be some hassle, I can't see it being worse for a team than a truck full of tubulars. But I haven't been to any grand tour races to work with the mechanics in quite a few years (i.e. I could be missing something).
-The thing that I still see that makes sense for pro peloton riders to use tubulars is the ability to ride them flat for a while. Plus they still tend to be the lightest possible wheel/tire setup.
-Finally, I received the same press release that sparked their article. Equipment sponsors make announcements. Writers often have quotas to hit. It's within reason that this article just could've been written because that author needed an article to write this week, and they explained the situation to the best of their ability under their given constraints (i.e. time, pay, etc). All I'm saying is - there may not actually be much news here, and it shouldn't necessarily inform your personal equipment choices. I see this situation all the time, where readers think that there's a big agenda, but really it's just that a freelance writer is trying to put words out to make a few bucks.