To go tubeless.?

Go Tubeless or Stay Tubed

  • Tubeless

    Votes: 39 86.7%
  • Stay Tubed

    Votes: 6 13.3%

  • Total voters
    45
  • Poll closed .

j3ayy

Well-known member
Oct 10, 2020
279
504
North Yorkshire
Hopefully picking my Rail 9 up in the next week or so.? (After along wait ?)
In your opinion is it worth going tubeless or sticking with tubes? After 4 punctures last year due to farmers hedge cutting thorns it was becoming a pain.
 

fenwick458

Active member
Oct 6, 2020
298
187
Cumbria
I'd consider tannus armour and tubes. pros, very simple, cons, bit of extra weight
tubeless can be a bit of a faff, valves cores get sticky, sealent weeps though sidewalls over time, needs renewed every year, cuts to sidewall on the trail mean complete removal to fit a tube which is messy
 

steve_sordy

Wedding Crasher
Nov 5, 2018
8,362
8,589
Lincolnshire, UK
As long as you don't try fitting super lightweight tyres and then converting to tubeless (except for the road warriors) you will be fine.
Park your bike overnight with the valves at the bottom of the wheel to delay the sticky valve issue.
Check the tyre pressures before every ride. That not only also delays the onset of stick valves, but warns you that they are becoming sticky. Regular checking also alerts you to the sealant running out (because the air starts to leak out of all the holes).
Yep, fitting a tube trailside can be messy. Which is why I have a pair of vinyl gloves in my pack (they do oily bits as well).
You only need to remove one side of the tyre to fit a tube, but you do need to be able to remove the tubeless valve.
Don't use Gorilla tape as your tubeless rim tape. It is very cheap, looks great and will last a while. But eventually, it will stick your tyre to the rim and two men and a vice will be required to remove your tyre. (I speak from bitter experience).

Since going tubeless and using sealant, I have not had a single flat from a puncture. That must be at least 11 years ago. I did get a problem with two same spec tyres that tore along the bead and that was game over. Both replaced under warranty.

I have a talisman though. As long as I go prepared for a flat, I don't get one. :unsure:

Oh, just remembered, I ran out of sealant once and I went for a ride anyway. The rear tyre failed to seal a puncture. That was my fault, not the fault of the tubeless system. If I'd had the means to plug the puncture I could have been up and running in five mins.
 

salko

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
Aug 29, 2019
1,235
835
SLO
I have a talisman though. As long as I go prepared for a flat, I don't get one. :unsure:
Same here. After going tubeless and more than 7kkm I used spare tubes and tire repair kit several times but only for fellow riders.
 

j3ayy

Well-known member
Oct 10, 2020
279
504
North Yorkshire
My Rail 9.8 came setup as tubeless stock. Pretty sure the Rail 9 will be the same.

My Rail 9.8 came setup as tubeless stock. Pretty sure the Rail 9 will be the same.

I know its tubeless ready but wasn’t sure if the tubes where still in the tyres like on my Trek Roscoe 8 which had tubeless ready tyres but still had tubes inside.
 

7869hodgy

Well-known member
Jul 15, 2020
395
627
Reading
I was out with a mate last night. He hit a flint and the tyre started spewing sealant. A quick spin of the wheel and a finger over where the sealant was leaking sealed it pretty quickly and we were on our way.

When he got home he couldn’t find the hole.

+1 for tubeless.
 

Binhill1

🍊 Tango Man 🍊
Mar 7, 2019
2,574
3,748
Scotland
I got new hope wheels couple weeks ago decided to try tubless after following all the set up it stayed up for few hours I pressumed it was ok . Got up in morning flat cant be bothered with the faff so tubes again for me.
 

fenwick458

Active member
Oct 6, 2020
298
187
Cumbria
I got new hope wheels couple weeks ago decided to try tubless after following all the set up it stayed up for few hours I pressumed it was ok . Got up in morning flat cant be bothered with the faff so tubes again for me.

well you've done all the hard work now , just keep blowing them up, they will seal eventually. depending on the sidewall and casing and how old the tyre is sometimes I need to blow them up 3-4 times over 3-4- days. sometimes blowing them up and removing from the bike and leaving them flat on one side, then the other side, or just blowing them up and going for a short ride.

thats the easiest route for you now, certainly beats taking tyres off and cleaning up all the sealant and undoing all your work!
 

Binhill1

🍊 Tango Man 🍊
Mar 7, 2019
2,574
3,748
Scotland
well you've done all the hard work now , just keep blowing them up, they will seal eventually. depending on the sidewall and casing and how old the tyre is sometimes I need to blow them up 3-4 times over 3-4- days. sometimes blowing them up and removing from the bike and leaving them flat on one side, then the other side, or just blowing them up and going for a short ride.

thats the easiest route for you now, certainly beats taking tyres off and cleaning up all the sealant and undoing all your work!
Too late I binned the idea. I had tubless once upon a time and had a nightmare experience at the top of annoch mor could not get tire off so gondala up gondala down that was 2012 that put me off till I got them wheels the other week.
 

Another rider

Member
Sep 27, 2020
39
19
Dorset
Hopefully picking my Rail 9 up in the next week or so.? (After along wait ?)
In your opinion is it worth going tubeless or sticking with tubes? After 4 punctures last year due to farmers hedge cutting thorns it was becoming a pain.
Fitted a new rear tyre last week and when I took the old one off I found quite a few thorns embedded in it. Every one would have been a puncture repair if I'd had tubes in. But running tubeless I hadn't even noticed. Where I ride thorns are a huge problems and I used to get masses of punctures. I'm never going back.
 

j3ayy

Well-known member
Oct 10, 2020
279
504
North Yorkshire
Fitted a new rear tyre last week and when I took the old one off I found quite a few thorns embedded in it. Every one would have been a puncture repair if I'd had tubes in. But running tubeless I hadn't even noticed. Where I ride thorns are a huge problems and I used to get masses of punctures. I'm never going back.
Thats a good idea, We have loads of thorns also.
 

Binhill1

🍊 Tango Man 🍊
Mar 7, 2019
2,574
3,748
Scotland
Too late I binned the idea. I had tubless once upon a time and had a nightmare experience at the top of annoch mor could not get tire off so gondala up gondala down that was 2012 that put me off till I got them wheels the other week.
You have got me thinking though.
 

Canmore TLCC 29

Active member
Jun 16, 2020
142
115
Canmore, AB Canada
A bit off subject. I wonder whether the O-ring should go on the inside of the valve stem or on the outside under the lock ring. Anybody know? I have tried both. The wheel with the valve with the O-ring on the inside leaked initially but sealed of NP.
 

fenwick458

Active member
Oct 6, 2020
298
187
Cumbria
A bit off subject. I wonder whether the O-ring should go on the inside of the valve stem or on the outside under the lock ring. Anybody know? I have tried both. The wheel with the valve with the O-ring on the inside is leaked but sealed of NP.

definitely between the rim and the locking. I have sometimes even had to apply PTFE tape to the valve stem as air would simply leak up the inside of the o ring between the valve threads. I think it was due to the convex shape of my rim deforming the o ring, as it would often seal when it was only just fingertight, but when it was nipped up tight it would leak....
an old kitchen spray bottle with a drop of fairly liquid and filled with water is brilliant for leak detecting when setting up tubeless, and even for lubing up your beads so they pop on nicely

I'm currently in a dilemma of whether to bother setting up tubeless for my new e-road bike, I have previously never bothered with the road bikes but the fact it has a hub driven rear motor means an extra faff in removing the wheel to replace the tube is making me lean towards a tubelss rear at least.
also road riding buddies are telling me they can run their 28 -32 tyres at as little as 60psi and they still roll ok and give a nice ride, something I wouldn't dream of with tubes only one mis hit cattle grid/manhole cover or pothole would surely spell disaster with tubes that low.
I'm definitely on the fence regarding tubeless, currently 50/50 on my E-MTB (Tannus rear with tube and tubeless front as i'm sick of sidewall damage on rocky stuff) and realistically I can see me just opting for a tubeless rear on the road bike which would mean 50/50 on that too
 

Bones

E*POWAH Master
Subscriber
Apr 3, 2020
745
985
Harrogate
23 thorns in my front tyre and it's still OK

IMG_20210706_155634.jpg
 

fenwick458

Active member
Oct 6, 2020
298
187
Cumbria
every tubeless valve I've ever had has a rubber block at the bottom that is deigned to seal on the inside, and as far as I know the o ring is designed to seal the on the outside of the rim between the lockring and the rim...
 

salko

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
Aug 29, 2019
1,235
835
SLO
Mine only have o-ring from inside. I don't see point having seal from outside, sealant will seal any potential tight airleaks anyway ...
If you look your second picture, what will make a seal from outside and oring will deform too much when you tighten the lockring...
 

Another rider

Member
Sep 27, 2020
39
19
Dorset
Mine only have o-ring from inside. I don't see point having seal from outside, sealant will seal any potential tight airleaks anyway ...
If you look your second picture, what will make a seal from outside and oring will deform too much when you tighten the lockring...
All the valves I've used are designed so that there is a rubber seal that sits on the inside of the rim and an o-ring that sits on the outside under the lock ring. The o-ring is there to stop the lock nut damaging the ring. You may get different shaped rubber seals to suit different shape rims with some valves.
 

Another rider

Member
Sep 27, 2020
39
19
Dorset
The shop told me that rails like mine come with everything except sealant ready to go. They just bung the sealant in when they know the customer is coming to collect the bike. ?
You will probably need valves unless they supply you some. You take the tubes out and you're left with a hole in the rim. What they probably mean is that the rims come 'taped up',
 

maker

Member
Feb 13, 2020
62
32
North Wales
Tubeless are a faff but worth it after I found loads of spikes from thorns that penetrated tyre and would have leaked a tube. Worms help with larger holes.
 

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