What say ye?  I like the idea of tubes as I have one 25g co2 which provides enough air to inflate one tire. If you get a flat with tubeless do you go straight to the spare tube? Or use the gas and hope it seals?

I have very mixed feelings on tubeless tires, and I'm not sure I'd do it again.

My 29er has 'em... and is currently leaking in the rear, and I think I blew a plug out.*

But yes... if just adding more air doesn't fix it, you go to a tube. And deal with all the sealant all over you. Or walk. Or call a ride (which is what I did when my 29er started leaking again).

I probably don't repair as many flats as I did with a tube. But the ones you do... are a PITA, and filthy.

MOST of the time, they seal. It's when they don't.

*-I was maybe 3 miles from home when it happened. I called my GF for a pickup, because I can probably just put another plug in it and it'll be fine for a while. But I haven't fixed it; been on the road bike since.

Been running tubeless MTB for the past few years. 29er and now 27.5+. The 29er was difficult and leaked, but it was not a tubeless ready rim and I tried to convert it.

I have had terrible experiences with Stan's sealant but it is very popular. It has never sealed a single tiny puncture for me.

Orange Seal has worked much better for me. I got a thorn a few weeks ago though that it took too long to seal and I lost all pressure though, but several previous thorns had sealed with little impact.

I setup a new wheelset a week ago and used Truckerco.com Cream II sealant this time based on a few reviews online (I was ordering their brake pads anyways). Time will tell, but so far I like what I have seen based on how it bubbled at the bead and dried where some spilled.


I carry bacon strips (plugs) and a spare tube on rides that are 60+ minutes away, but don't bother at my local trail. Tubeless success varies considerably based on the rim and tire combo from what I have seen.

My new 26r tires are tubeless ready. When I put them on I changed the rim tape out for Gorilla Tape as a prep to go tubeless but I don’t think I will do it. My rims aren’t tubeless ready so the gamble is there that the could leak. Stan’s won’t seal a rim, the metal will have microscopic flex at the seam and may not seal well.

In my area I don’t really see much advantage, no rocks and all loam/roots on x-country singletrack.

There is the slight weight savings but it is very slight when you compare the weight of the goop compared to quality tubes.  Don’t run Walmart tubes.

I've been doing pretty much every iteration of tubeless since it started gaining popularity. Right now the best tech is use Stans sealant and Stans Dart hole plugger. Assuming you have a good tape job, quality tires, and fresh sealant, you're good for 99% of flats. I ride pretty hard and I've only ever gotten one flat that I had to actually stop and repair, and that was because I didn't have enough fresh sealant to plug a leak, tire got low, and I pinch flatted against the rim. I ride either Vittoria TNT or Bontrager Team (just in the front).

FWIW I am using Conti Race Kings and they have a protective layer on the side walls.  They supposed to seal well but just don't think I will go that route yet.

I started with ghetto tubeless on my fat bike.       4 PSI in the snow FTW!!!!

My 27+ mtb is real tubeless. I run it at 15 PSI year round.

I actually just switched the Reynolds Assaults on my road bike to tubeless this season.  At 75 PSI there is zero road buzz.

I have great success with Stan's.

I'm sponsored by Stans but if I werent, I'd still swear by Stans.  You can run lower pressures with tubeless, and can always carry a tube. I will never run a set of tubes again.

Tubes are.impossible to deal with here. Goat heads everywhere.

I had to fix more.damn leaks when i had tubes.

My tubeless.have small leaks,  but its no where near the frustration i had with tubes, especially on my fatty. 5psi when you have a leak doesn't last long.

I have cushcore on my 29er trail bike, no pinch flats and i run them pretty low too around 20psi.

Here in SC they aren't a thing but when I lived in Phoenix they sure were. I would go tubeless there for sure.

How does Stans work in tubes?
Could a person just put it in the tube for the same effect?

Would ghetto tubeless work better than just putting it in the tube?

It seems some get it to work fine without tubless tires or wheels. Just Gorilla tape, Stans and a regular tire.

Stans works amazing in tubes. Went from flatting every other ride, to getting a full year out of my tubes.

I use an ounce per tube on my road bike.

Similar experience with the mountain bike, with the downside that I still have to run tube psi to avoid pinch flats.

If you can get it in there, it also works great in leaky Footballs, soccer balls, etc... I scrapped a needle to make an injector. Saves you some coin in replacing them.

You can hear the stuff in there, and I'm sure they're not quite as well balanced... but the 9YO isn't going to notice, and I'm not exactly Tom Brady myself...

I have cush core installed, so a spare tube is out of the question. I either hand pump it, use a CO2 cartridge, or walk out.

Most tubeless problems I see are low quality tires, poor taping job, and sealant dried up.

I agree. I have had one serious failure in thousands of miles of trail riding. I got a puncture between tread knobs on a Maxxis DHR II that resulted in rapid loss of air pressure during a fast downhill section. I ended up with a broken carbon rim and a torn sidewall near the bead. The tire was only a couple months old, but at least the wheel was under warranty.

Same here. Got a gash on a chunk of concrete at a road crossing.  Put in my tube.  Tube was leaking, though, so after having to stop and pump it up a few times I eventually split off from the group and beelined it to the truck.  Switched from Schwalbe Racing Ralphs to Maxxis Exo that day.  Haven't had a problem leak since.

Tube, CO2, pump, patches, tools are all on the bike all the time.  It's not unusual for me to be up to 20 miles from home/truck.  They are there so I can get where I need to go (or at least out to the highway.