New to Tubeless

[Trigger369]

Hi all . Recently upgraded my wheels to tubless .
Do I still need to carry a spare tube on rides incase of a bad puncture.?
What things do you all carry incase of the inevitable. Thanks

 

[Tenacious Sloth]

I carry:

Stan’s Dart Tool
Small bottle Stan’s Sealant
Valve Core removal tool
1 x inner tube
inner tube patches
tyre levers
small pump
2 x CO2 carts
Thin rubber gloves
cloth
multi-tool
rear hanger
2 x zip ties

 

[Darius_Jedburgh]

Do I still need to carry a spare tube on rides incase of a bad puncture.?

Yes.

 

[figbat]

I carry:

- a tube
- a small pump
- a tyre boot.

I don’t intend to fix tubeless on the trail, I will just fit a tube and deal with the consequences at home. That said, I’ve never yet had to fit a tube to a tubeless tyre - all punctures so far have sealed themselves without me even knowing it happened; only one had got soft enough to force me to stop, add some air, rotate the tyre so the puncture was at the bottom and wait 5 minutes to seal. That tyre is still on the bike.

 

[chriswoody]

My tubeless tires are on the rim for good! they were a right pig to fit and I suspect that they will be a right pig to remove. WTB tires on WTB rims, all the same tubeless system, just a good snug tight fit. So no tubes or tire levers for me, just false re-assurance because I'll never get them on.

So for the last 4000km I've carried a Lezyne tubeless plug kit. I also carry a small tube of Caffe Latex sealant, a spare valve core, a valve core removal tool and a Lezyne micro pump. Thats it, nothing else. I won't use Co2 because it re-acts with the sealant and renders it useless, the pump is sufficient for the 30 psi I run the tires at.

In the year I've been running tubeless, I've ridden off-road for most of it, several multi day tours and not had any problems. I've topped up the sealant a couple of times and had a few punctures, but none that I've noticed until I've got home.

 

[Trigger369]

Thanks for the replys . Much appreciated

 

[neil_merseyside]

If you always ride in a group you can probably borrow a tube/patches/pump

 

[PaulSB]

I still carry a tube. I have once suffered a puncture which needed a tube installing. It was raining. The whole episode was a nightmare; difficult to get tyre off, wet slime everywhere mixed with talc off the tube, extremely difficult to install the tyre.

Next day I went to my LBS who introduced me to plug kits!!! I've since used one plug and it worked like a dream.

My advice would be invest in a good quality plug kit. I've looked at cheap ones and worry it could itself fail. I still carry a tube but really don't need to.

A few weeks ago I went on a 70 mile gravel ride with a new group. I didn't know anyone. One guy had a slow puncture on his tubeless which he said the sealant wouldn't seal. I then realised he had used CO2 to top up!! He didn't have a pump and ran out of CO2!!!

Next time we stopped to top up his tyre I offered to plug it. Two more times we stopped and I offered to plug it. Each time the answer was "the hole is too small for a plug." On the third occasion I was heard to mutter "let's make it feckin' bigger then!"

The moral of this story is carry a pump and don't use CO2 on tubeless. I do carry CO2 in case my pump fails.

Wrap your pump in cling film to exclude all the road crap. Maintain your pump with a little clean and lube every few months.

 

[Venod]

I take a tube but have never used it, I have plugged a quite big hole with success, I have considered ditching the spare tube but sods law says the first time I do I will regret it.

@chriswoody the WTB tyre rim combo is the tightest I have ever used, when deflated its a struggle to move them from the side of the rim to get a lever in, the Tan Wall Exposure ones that came with the bike, had porous side walls, but were replaced under warranty, unfortunately the replacement (plain black ones) one of them has just started delaminating the smooth tread, its a pity as I liked the comfort and easy rolling of the WTB Exposure.
I am going with Panaracer (file tread) as a replacement, it will be my third set of wheels with Panaracer. I have some semi slick and some SK all tubeless.

 

[Chislenko]

I don't take a tube because as intimated above I know I will struggle to get them off and back on out on the road.

I trust to the sealant and if that doesn't work I ring the wife who can come and collect me in the car!!

 

[Darius_Jedburgh]

ETRTO is supposed to be sorting this out, but is a very slow process, and most retailers don't know, or wont acknowledge, that there is a difference between 25 x 622 and 700c x 25. Of course they want to clear their old stock so will say anything.

 

[Venod]

ETRTO is supposed to be sorting this out, but is a very slow process, and most retailers don't know, or wont acknowledge, that there is a difference between 25 x 622 and 700c x 25.

Isn't 622 the rim size and & 700c the tyre designation, 29" tyres fit 622 rims also.

 

[Darius_Jedburgh]

Isn't 622 the rim size and & 700c the tyre designation, 29" tyres fit 622 rims also.

Yes. But as we all know different tyres can be PIA to fit. Some just won't go on some rims.
ETRTO hopefully will get bike tyres like car tyres. They are all the same size instead of different manufacturers having different ideas about what 700 x 25 really means. Probably only small differences in tooling required, but no doubt at large cost. If it stops all the whigeing about such and such tyres are PIA to get on/off then it will be a good thing.

 

[Pale Rider]

I carry a tubeless repair kit, tube repair kit, inner tube, and pump.

The other thing I carry is a short section of an old wooden hammer handle.

Which sounds odd, but breaking the bead on a tubeless tyre can be difficult, so the handle enables me to bear down on the sidewall of the tyre to pop the bead.

Needless to say, I learned that the hard way after becoming stuck for the best part of an hour in rural north Yorkshire.

That was a struggle, although I got there in the end.

Apparently, breaking the bead is a known problem with tubeless tyres, although less so with narrow roadie tyres - mine are 2.4" Schwalbe balloons.

Overall, I'm pleased with tubeless.

Examining the tyres, it's clear the sealant has fixed several small punctures without me noticing.

It's horses for courses, fixing a puncture on a heavy ebike can be hard work.

If I rode a skinny road bike I probably wouldn't bother with tubeless.

 

[T4tomo]

ETRTO is supposed to be sorting this out, but is a very slow process, and most retailers don't know, or wont acknowledge, that there is a difference between 25 x 622 and 700c x 25. Of course they want to clear their old stock so will say anything.

This is incorrect.
All 700C tyres measure 622 BSD (bead seat diameter).

But as we all know different tyres can be PIA to fit. Some just won't go on some rims.
ETRTO hopefully will get bike tyres like car tyres. They are all the same size instead of different manufacturers having different ideas about what 700 x 25 really means.

This is correct.
Tolerances in manufacturing are different, some rim / tyre combo's are hard to fit some are easier, and its exacerbated by the close fit of a tubeless compatible bead.

The second point in this is that not all 25mm measure 25mm, some fit true, some fit wide some fit narrow. e.g. brand A would make a "40mm" tyre that really measured 38mm so they could say it was lighter than Brand B's equivalent "40mm" tyre that fitted true. and of course rim width will slightly alter the actual size of a fitted tyre. ETRTO is trying to get more honest sizing in widths.