• Because they are light and weak.

    If you hit something hard enough to pinch flat a clincher, instead of killing the non existent tube you kill the tyre instead - the sidewall gets a cut as the rim slices through it.

    You can pinch flat tubs this way too although it’s slightly less likely.

    Amusingly I’ve never worn out a tubeless clincher - every single one has died this way, or the sidewall has worn out before the tread.

  • The sidewall does all the work - the rubber seems to wear away through the constant deformations and after a while you can start to see the ply (?)

    I get this on all hardworking tubeless tyres - a week in the Alps on an AM bike and you can really see the sidewalls suffer.

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