Gravel / Gravé / Gnarmac / Groad / ATB

After being a massive sceptic converted to tubeless on a couple of bikes about a year ago.

4 massive tubeless disasters in 4 months earlier in the year. All around 50-60psi (I fat). 1st on a road (rarely used road, just after coming off a canal path, massive gusher that wouldn’t seal, plugged it and fired plug out, darted it left for 2 days then it fired the dart out cornering at 30mph) 2nd was on road maybe but of glass, massive cut that wouldn’t seal, 3rd was a pinch puncture off road where sealant was pissing out both sides of the tyre, 4th was back roads caused by a little sharp stone (the type found in bridle ways in Lincolnshire). 2 different well regarded tyres,( 4 different tyres altogether)2 different well regarded sealants, 2 different repair methods.

I realised it’s not just the inconvenience of putting a tube in and getting covered in goo, it’s the disappointment that after all that extra expense and fucking around it still doesn’t work.

Have left MTB and 650x47 gravel bike tubeless for now but everything 40c and below back on tubes.

Back on voyager hypers with tubes done about 5-600 miles issue free.

Have left MTB and 650x47 gravel bike tubeless for now but everything 40c and below back on tubes.

I've always said road tubeless is dumb. This is what I'm talking about. This is the gravel thread. Low pressure, big tyres, rocks and shit. I'm looking to replace the 650Bx47 spare tube with a smaller one, that's all. If I wanted to ditch TL already I'd have fucking done it after the 700x50 debacle or the the WTB swap install or you get the idea.

"Low pressure, big tyres, rocks and shit"

Get a mountain bike?

To be fair 2 of these failures were on 42c “gravel” tyres, other 2 on 38c “gravel” tyres, just happened to be in between “gravel” when they happened - 2 I think were bits of gravel that got pushed through by the tarmac. Ultimately they didn’t seal, although muc off did a much better job of trying than orange endurance.

What I found annoying was that even after a few days the sealant wasn’t set, was expecting a rubberised glue type result.

how low pressure you running?

Maxxis super lite tube an option?

In

#nomud ride in Feb?

#notaroadride

What sealant and what tyres?

Pirelli cinturato M, g one all round, also a vittoria terreno.

Muc off and orange endurance. The orange was pathetic, jetted out like compressed milk. When I took the tyre off to put tube in it was full of milky bubbles.

In my experience, 30-40 PSI is the max for sealant to work. Above that it's a struggle.

Yeah I realised it can’t handle the pressures, weird how some people have such good experiences but I guess they probably just didn’t get any big punctures.

Been on tubeless for the last three or so years, average maybe 14000kms a year. Mixture of 45s to 32s. Only had 2 problem failures, both those were good slashes to the tire that wouldn't seal in the rain. But maybe I also change out tires and check sealant more frequently than others might. I ran a recent 600 tubeless and carried a couple of spare tubes. Might be nice to Carry some lighter ones but those Aerothan being $28 I'd carry the added weight.

vittoria terreno.

Very impressed with the zero, so easy to fit (47mm).

I agree with the sentiment that road tubeless are pretty much a pain, some work great (mavic on mavic), but found they need regular inflation compare to big gravel tyres.

2.5 slick Surly tyres were too easy to inflate with nothing but minimal sealant.

I’m about to fit a pair of 700x38 zero on the CDF for commute and winter road bikes with occasional accidental off road, using tubes. Hoping for a ride similar to the voyager hyper.

i feel like 90% of people's problems with tubeless is not picking stuff that is known to work well.

schwalbe tubeless is pretty faultless. have used enve, hed, easton, and lightbicycle rims with no problems (with schwalbe. had trouble seating rene herse tires).

in like the last 2000 hours of riding i have had 1 flat that didn't seal, and that was an old furious fred with not enough sealant and a big hole. i've had a number of other punctures all of which sealed with enough air that i could get home without much trouble.

i agree that road tubeless is not a super clear win, but i ride rough roads, light dirt, etc on my road bike and i think tubeless is a clear benefit then. i can go to 50psi on 30mm tires without worrying about rim impacts, and get lots of grip and have never had a pinch.

The 90% of problems statement is not my experience. The rate at which I've had punctures which wouldn't seal was too high to tempt me away from tubes on all my bikes.

And I'm good with topping up sealant etc.

A bit like disk brakes really. They sucked any remaining fun out of road bikes by making them too long and too heavy.

Now the new version of my favourite tyres won't go over the same rims the old ones just slipped onto.

Tubeless: awesome on my 29er, good for 'cross. Road? Not so much.

How does a disc brake make a bike longer?

Disc brake bikes tend to accommodate bigger tyres, that'd often come with a longer wheelbase.

Yeah sure but hardly the disk brakes fault

I'm gonna get a couple of those aerothan tubes to replace the back up tubes I never use and rarely carry.

Weight doesn't really matter. It was more about reducing the pack-size of my spares so I could use a smaller bag.

I'm gonna get a couple of those aerothan tubes to replace the back up tubes I never use and rarely carry.

This was what I was talking about but everyone seems to think I asked "could you all tell me your tubeless horror stories" whereas I'm asking about experience with specific tubes.

Anyway, I'll go look through some MTB forum or something. If I can get past the teenagers sick air bro maybe I'll find some info.

If they mostly work then all good, only need to get you as far as the next shop for another back up. I realise for you that might be a few hundred miles more than me but schwalbe claim they're better than butyl and as I'm basically not using them anyway that's enough for me.

Don't they have issues with patchability (this is not first hand info, just what I've read)

I guess its ok if you have a tubeless "malfunction" but if you're in a situation that has put unsealable holes into your tubeless tyres, a non patchable tube might not last very long.

I'm not gone use them so that's fine, and if I were to use them the only problems I've seen that have fucked tubeless tyres are sidewall tears or giant holes, which I'd boot before using a tube anyway or give up and die.