Can you seat road/gravel/cx tubeless consistently with a floor pump? I have one particularly bad tire-rim combination on my MTB (no bead sockets) that I have to resort to using another tire as a compressor to provide the quick blast of air to seat up.

I did 3 tubed tire swaps last week: gravel tires to trainer tire to road tires. But I'm planning on trying tubeless CX in the fall.

+1

Why did you go back? What do you think needs to be different/better for you to stick with tubeless?

Just curious. I went tubeless a few years ago and I would never go back. There always seems to be some debate on this and I'm always curious why some people love it and why others think it's madness.

Most folks I know running tubeless CX are using higher psi than I do (with tubulars or clinchers w/ latex) and the tire itself is less supple. I don't get the attraction.

I can tell you that I have no plans to try it for the foreseeable future.

I've listened to many smarter people than me say it's not ideal for road use. I don't flat much. In the last 10 years I have had 3 flats. One was a double because I didn't find a sliver of glass the first time around in the tire. A tire and latex tube rolls just as fast without the hassle. For now.

I don't think that you can seat a road tire without a compressor or one those special pumps, I am not sure about cx/gravel.

I can seat by hand and inflate with floor pump. Are you using a tire recommended by the wheel manufacturer? I have used Schwalbe Pro one and Pirelli

I don’t know, man. I’ve read all the grievances and I still think sufficient options have been provided. This poll is a word for word redo of a poll taken a year ago.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

I have now switched to tubeless on all road and TT bikes. Fewer flats. Most flats seal themselves. Lower PSI/more comfortable. If you do have a flat too big to seal, you can be back on the road within 90 secs with a plug. Would never go back

I use it almost exclusively for road/triathlon. I had issues with flats though as I'm a bigger guy (200lbs)

Took mine to the LBS who knew what they were doing and it was a pain for them to install them as I watched. Traumatized me lol

In hindsight, I may have been trying to go with Hutchinson Sector 28 on probably a too small Shimano tubeless ready rim/wheel. That big of a tire did not feel fast either. It very well could have been me, the end user.

What took me back right away were three non-tubeless wheelsets with a dozen clinchers and tubes on hand. With that kind inventory it was too easy to say forget about it. I'll have to use up my inventory before switching.

Not having to stop for flats would be great. However, there are better cyclists than me in my "club" that tried tubeless, still had flats that sprayed and decided to go back to what they knew. There might be a sweet spot for tubeless - those who get very few flats due to cleaner roads and those in gravel/MTB bike situations. Seems to work less well in urban areas where there are big things that tear at tires and a multitude of small things too.

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Indoor Triathlete - I thought I was right, until I realized I was wrong.

Interesting. Maybe I got lucky, but my first foray into Tubeless was with my gravel grinder. The setup was pretty simple and I was able to set the bead with a basic floor pump. Once I couldn't get it to and just used a cO2 cartridge.

I love the low PSI and flat protection that I converted my road and my TT wheels over.

That being said, I used to average about a flat a month in the periods of the year I rode outside. It got to the point where I was nervous if I only had one tube on me and I was out on a long ride. I have not had a flat since I switched over to tubeless on my road/tt bike.

To me the biggest barrier for people seems to be getting the tires on. One trick I've learned is that the area by the valve needs to go on dead last. if you try to put that on first you will never get it on. Once I learned that i've never had an issue getting a tire on. And I've tried 4 or 5 different kinds on 3 different sets of wheels

So were your monthly flats while on the gravel bike? What was usual cause of a flat?

My monthly flats on urban bike lanes are usually metal (nails, debris, screws) or glass. Also we run higher pressure on the road, than they do on gravel, MTB. Maybe high pressure works against a fast and easy seal. Seems like the sealant works better when running lower pressures and there is less spray at lower pressure.

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Indoor Triathlete - I thought I was right, until I realized I was wrong.

My flats were always on the road. Usually either pinch flats or your everyday nail

Love tubless i am around 200 pounds and I can now ride with a low psi. I have the mavics and can get them setup with a regular floor pump.

This ^^

Tubeless on my MTB since Stans just became a company, Tubeless on my cross/gravel bike for years - both of these are no-brainers. Tubeless on my road bike for a year now and see no down side but do understand people have different results depending on tire/wheel combo. Two sets of Reynolds Aero wheels with Schwalbe Pro One's (25's measuring 28). Easy to mount by hand and no levers needed, easy to remove with a single plastic lever with no effort. Easy to inflate with a single C02 (understand this is not a preferred method, but for now I'm ok with this). No flats this year but had two punctures that sealed immediately using Orange seal (one was a recent sidewall cut - had pulled over and heard the tire leaking air, turned the wheel sideways/spun and the Orange seal sealed the cut pretty much immediately). fyi @ ~195lbs and running front around 68psi and rear around 75psi.

Not only does sealant tend to be only partially effective at sealing punctures at road pressures, it's also quite the PITA to clean up...especially if it dries before you have a chance to wipe it down :-/

IME, running latex tubes (even without sealant) gets you the majority of the claimed benefits of running tubeless, but without the hassles of overly tight beads and sealant. For the small handful of flats I get on the road each year, I'm OK with that...

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http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/

to me the potential for self-repairing flats is the only benefit of tubeless. there seems to be considerable debate as to whether that really happens at typical road pressures.

that might well be linked to the other thing - ability to run lower pressures. really, i don't want to run pressures lower than what i can happily do with tubes. lower is not always better - certainly not faster beyond a point and comfort/grip only go so far too. i can imagine though that if you are one to take the wide and low pressure trends to extreme levels (possibly with circumstances that justify it) then the sealant will work well and its all good.

MTB, tubeless absolutely no question but thats a completely different situation.

the one reason why i am tempted to give tubeless a try is that i would like to run vittoria cs and they seem to be impractical to run with tubes plus not protective enough to be safe without the self-repairing of tubeless.

it seems to be the way the industry is pushing us though so i expect one way or another i will end up there eventually

Impractical in what way?

I run Corsa Speeds w/latex tubes...mostly because the wheels I run them on don't get used regularly, so setting them up tubeless would be a fool's errand of trying to keep the sealant from going dry between uses...

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http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/

due to the tight beads pinching tubes - maybe not such a problem?

All the claimed benefits except nearly total protection against pinch flats, ability to plug puncture very quickly in the field, ability to seal some punctures almost instantly, and ability to seal most punctures before you're riding on rims.

So...basically none of the "claimed" benefits. :)

I'm running the Corsa Speeds on Hed Jet+ Black rims with latex and it hasn't been a problem...

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http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/

Well...since the subject of this thread is ROAD tubeless applications (i.e. NOT gravel/allroad/mtb, but narrow tires at relatively high pressures), IME you're "overselling" some of the tubeless benefits (and "underselling" latex)



And latex tubes have dramatically lower rates of pinch flatting than when running butyl tubes...so, "the majority of the benefit".


IME, plugs in road tubeless are a "hit or miss" proposition if they'll work, mostly because of the higher pressures. So, after fiddling around with it and not being able to put full pressure back into it, you're left with a soft tire until you can do a proper repair. If you get a hole large enough to get a plug, you're stopping anyway and putting a tube into a non-tubeless beaded tire will be nearly as fast, and a more effective repair. So again, "the majority of the benefit" (if not more).


And IME those types of punctures are very small, and of the type that latex tubes also tend to "fend off". There's some data on this very website attesting to that ;-) Once again, "the majority of the benefit".


Punctures in latex tubes are typically VERY slow deflating. They don't instantly deflate like a butyl puncture. Besides, you can also run sealant inside the latex if this (and the point above) are concerns. Yet again, "the majority of the benefit".


None?

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http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/

Totally agree. Tried it, didn't see any benefit. Back to clinchers on the road and tubulars for tris.

Tubeless provides a huge benefit to me on the mtb, but I didn't see any of this carry over to road use. More of a hassle than anything. And for all this talk about helping to prevent flats, is that actually an issue for people? I've had maybe one flat in the last 5k miles.