Are Tubeless Tyres Worth it for Road Bikes? My Actual Experience & Tips

[@heightencraft]

This is a very level headed information sharing video. I knew everything he has said already but it's nice to hear it coherently and to see that someone who doesn't know any better can watch this and get a comprehensive summary and overview in an easy to consume way. Well done mate.

[@TheIndianCyclist]

I was concerned with the video turning out so long, but am now glad I didn't edit it down - thank you for your kind words, much appreciated!

[@rogerpembery4281]

What a great summary. I have gone from tubed, to being an early adopter of tubeless, back to tubes and now am using tubeless again. There are multiple reasons: larger tyres allow a lower pressure, getting used to the technology and including the tubeless maintenance as part of my normal periodic bike maintenance. I am happy using either tubes or tubeless but when I find that my wheel/tyres combination is a real challenge to work on then I will tend to opt for tubeless.

[@TheIndianCyclist]

Thank you for the kind words! Tyre size and related pressure really does make quita a difference. I started with 32c and I've now gone to 35c, might have been a better experience had I started at this size. I'm hoping to eventually go tubeless ... for me that would mean getting to a place where I ride more frequently, and we have sealant that lasts longer!

[@Iamliterallyhim123]

I have been interested in cycling for atleast 2 years but unfortunately have been unaware of this gem of a channel, kudos to the creator for bringing out such great content for us cycling enthusiasts ❤

[@TheIndianCyclist]

Thank you so much for the kind words - all the best for your cycling journey!

[@sumeshsude1990]

Great video. Thanks for sharing. Personally found enough reasons to stick to tubes.

[@NegativeOmega]

Great insight! I have been considering tubeless for awhile but I think I'll stick with tubes now. Thank you!

[@TheIndianCyclist]

Glad it helped! I'm going to keep reviewing tech improvements in this space and maybe at a later time it will be more suitable, along with a change in my riding habits!

[@ketangaydhani2669]

In all honesty, I feel the sealant just makes a big mess irrespective of whether there's a puncture or not. That's why I always feel better to have tubes in the tyre and carry a spare tube along with a puncture patch. Much less of a headache while fixing punctures! That's a piece of very valuable advice about tubeless setup(s) that you have shared here! Good going, I always like your accent in your videos! :-)

[@TheIndianCyclist]

Thanks Ketan! Sealant is messy and that's why I always leave it to the mechs if I have a chance. Did you try tubeless too?

[@ketangaydhani2669]

@@TheIndianCyclist no, I have never tried tubeless yet. It’s like the electric cars feeling - I never feel comfortable without a spare tube at hand! 😅

[@WCIIIReiniger]

Here in Germany I can recommend the Continental Contact Urban together with a good TPU tube. I only recently got some punctures related to my wheel failing and slicing the tube.

[@TheIndianCyclist]

Thanks for sharing your suggestion! I'm quite attracted to how TPU tubes are so small and light ... only don't like the fact that they aren't easy to repair. I wonder if they're more durable than butyl though.

[@am7265]

I wholeheartedly second this recommendation! The only weakness of that combination are the soft sidewalls, but I took my bike on a 100 km ride with about 20 km of rough gravel and the Contact Urbans were flawless. Add to that the rolling resistance is really low, especially with TPU tubes.

[@TheIndianCyclist]

Thanks for the reinforcement on TPU, I really must give it a try!

[@am7265]

@@TheIndianCyclist In my experience (daily commuting about 4 km, weekly recreational rides of 20-30 km and occasional tours (as the above mentioned 100 km ride), the RideNow TPU tubes work really well. No flats so far, excellent rolling resistance and hold air well. For the price, you can't go wrong.

[@amitkumar-wj8gn]

One thing my local store in Guwahati told me was the Indian road temps were not good for tubeless on high volume road tires. The temperatures at road levels are easily over 40-45...I ride tubes with 32c...under 50 psi and have been very lucky with punctures. Cant imagine going tubeless.

[@TheIndianCyclist]

Interesting! Must say I have not heard of this being a problem. I can see how high temperatures could cause more evaporation losses and drying out of the sealant though. 32c under 50 psi does seem rather low though, especially with tubes - surprised you're not getting snakebites all the time! How/why so low?

[@Klotrik]

Thanks for charing your knowledge! I've always run tubes and will stick with that. It's worth alot to NOT be the guy on a group ride who gets problems with his fancy tubeless tires. If you run standard size tube tires you can quickly get a new tube, out of your bag or from a friend, stick it in the tire and everyone can continue to have a nice day.

[@TheIndianCyclist]

Agreed! I think quite a few riders don't realize how easy it can be to fix a flat with tubes as well.

[@Fear.of.the.Dark.]

Awesome video. I have similar observations as well after using tubeless for 2 years on my road bike. I am debating to give up tubeless or not after I had a big cut which sealant couldnt do anything but it was such a mess everywhere that I did not want to deal with that with an inner tube installation roadside. But the lower pressure is appealing.

[@TheIndianCyclist]

Is this on a road bike? What pressure do you normally run and how wide are your tyres?

[@Fear.of.the.Dark.]

@@TheIndianCyclist yeah road. I use 30c with 65-70 psi pressure.

[@briandsouza7854]

Thanks for sharing your experience!

[@TheIndianCyclist]

Are you already on tubeless Brian, or thinking of switching?

[@bluegem72]

Very fair and insightful video.

[@TheIndianCyclist]

Am glad people recongize this as fair coverage of both sides of tubeless!

[@brianlee5402]

I've heard so many stories like this before I switched to tubeless tires. However, upon switching to tubeless, I have had no issues myself with sealing. In fact, the sealing happened almost instantaneously without me noticing at all until I got back home after my ride. I use GP 5000 S TR 28mm tires and Silca sealant for anyone who would like to try out my setup. In my opinion, as long as the tires are seated correctly, running a reasonable PSI for your weight (aka, if you're 200+ pounds, don't run a pressure of 40psi..), and you aren't actively trying to ride roads with sharp debris or massive potholes, you shouldn't face many issues. But who am I to say, my experience could be biased 🤷‍♂

[@TheIndianCyclist]

Thanks for providing a good experience anecdote here. I won't say you've been lucky, more like you are nailing [sic] the tubeless use case :D how many punctures do you reckon the system has fixed for you? Have you been using the Silca replenisher on schedule - no issues with it drying out?

[@brianlee5402]

@@TheIndianCyclist yeah my sealant has yet to dry out, I just top up on the sealant every 2-3 months depending on how many punctures I've had, but topping up is usually not that much sealant. When I was getting punctures, my tires were reaching the end of its life (I had been using the same tires for about 8 months of consistent use at that point). I reckon it sealed close to 3-4 punctures, mostly small, but it was able to close one quite sizeable one as well. Silca tends to work best for most people, so I'd recommend going with that if other sealant brands have been failing you. Hope this helps!

[@TheIndianCyclist]

I quickly moved to silica after I found the initial sealant failing, but it didn't work for the couple of punctures I had after the switch. At least the first one it should have sealed, the second could have been because there wasn't enough fresh sealant. If & when I try again, I'll be sure to start with Silca!

[@takearidewithme3589]

I have a Giant TCR running 28c Pirelli Cinturato Velo tires at 72 psi/5bar with Silca sealant and haven’t had a puncture that didn’t seal yet. I have had poor experiences with tubeless when running 25c at higher pressures.

[@takearidewithme3589]

I also forgot to mention that I weigh 220lbs and wear the tires out haven’t had to replace a set due to too many punctures.

[@TheIndianCyclist]

28c Cinturato Velo is actually what I was using at the front after I had to abandon my 32c stock Bontrager R3s (the one with too large a hole caused by my botched plug attempt). This I did add Silca to, but the tyre never got a single puncture for me to test out the sealant! (the rear R3 did puncture and Silca didn't help - possibly because it hadn't been topped up and dried out). I'm now on 35mm Cinturatos - decided to just run tubes because I'm so happy with their puncture protection. Good to know how 28c worked and 25c was poor - does seem from comments that 28c is the minimum size that would be viable for tubeless.

[@takearidewithme3589]

When I first went to tubeless I used Bontrager r3s the tires were leaking air through the sidewalls

[@TheIndianCyclist]

R3s are really such nonsense tyres - loads of complaints about them across different functional areas, from poor durability to delamination. They came stock with my Domane, but must say I did not have that problem with them - no problems with the initial tubeless setup (which was done by the store prior to bike delivery).

[@dcercado100]

Good, extensive explanation!

[@TheIndianCyclist]

Glad you think so, thank you :)

[@amalfrancis9590]

you have a link to the patch kit?

[@TheIndianCyclist]

For Tyres: amzn.to/4c9mVBi For Tubes: amzn.to/3Vjv9QF

[@rolandcolavizza5368]

Ive gotten snake bite with tubless road tyres the things arnt that great but they do roll really fast.

[@dbk81]

I’ll stick with my butyl inner tubes, will they cost me a watt or two? Yea probably. Will I ride thousands of kilometres maintenance free without punctures? You god dam right, almost wore out a set of GP5000’s same tubes, no issues. I’ll take the zero maintenance option.

[@TheIndianCyclist]

I really think great tyres could solve 90% of the issues!

[@thbde]

My roadbike with Conti 5000 S TR and my daily driver / gravel with 40mm tires run perfectly well tubeless since thousands of km... However, one must make sure the tires are pressured at all time - otherwise the sealant hardens and is of no use... If you don't bicycle every other day, don't bother to go tubeless with your bike...

[@TheIndianCyclist]

That's one of my primary issues, I don't ride more than 3x a week, most of the time just twice. What sealant have you been using? Your experience gels with the fact that it's pretty good for gravel and wider tyres.

[@Alex-gl2dw]

Sounds like more trouble than it's worth for road tyres narrower than gravel width ones.

[@TheIndianCyclist]

Yes, ultimately the higher pressure can make a significant difference to the efficacy of the system.

[@davidcarino6500]

Road bikes, I went back to tubes with sealant. Little heavier but quick and easy to set up tires and hold air much longer! Got so tired of the mess and if you change it on the road OMG my hands ( some people shin is sensitive ). Mountain bike yes tubeless, I've even used tubes with sealant in my mountain bike no difference.

[@TheIndianCyclist]

Interesting! How do you maintain the sealant in the tube though? Do you keep adding more every few months?

[@Peo_Sahlin]

Only tubular on my road bikes.

[@d9918]

I bought a $2000 Giant flat bar bike, if I didn't use it after a couple of weeks both tyres went down. Now back using tubes, tubeless tyres are a fad and the only people that are sticking with them are only doing so because they don't want to be proven wrong.

[@TheIndianCyclist]

LOL. I would love to agree with you completely about people sticking to tubeless, but I do believe there are some road bikers who genuinely benefit from it. I would wager they're in the minority though!

[@Sai-tb1xt]

this sounds more like a skill/knowledge issue than a technology issue

[@TheIndianCyclist]

Skill and know how will make a difference for sure, but the tech issues like sealants' inability to seal at high pressure and sealant drying out and clumping are bigger challenges IMHO.

[@АрсенийРозенберг-э2л]

Seems like your experience is too negative. I set tubeless on vintage rims (not tlr, works absolutely fine), bought cheapest skinwall tires (30€ per one, 16 on sale). Both 25 and 28 mm set up with cheapest decathlon floor pump with 1-2 shots every time with no extra efforts. About half a year - no problems. Recently got 1.5 cm cut (6mm through cut) on side. Glued park patches and get home, lost only 20 psi per 45km. I assume that or I lucky or maybe it because I'm using not top tier tires, they maybe heavier but have more "meat". Some friends of mine also had very poor tubeless experience and get back to tubes, but they used much more expensive and fancy tires that I can't afford, maybe this is the reason.

[@bluegem72]

Too negative? The man did clearly say some people have good experiences with tubeless and explained its advantages over tubes.

[@TheIndianCyclist]

@bluegem72 I believe he is referring to my personal experience with tubeless, not my review. I agree that it really has been very negative! @user-so8qg8ys5b it sounds like the opposite in your case, an experience that is way too positive! Especially being able to set up easily with a basic pump with non tlr, vintage rims. Interesting theory about basic, heavy tyres making things easier and more robust. What sealant did you use - how many punctures do you think it fixed on your setup?

[@erek200]

Treks tubeless system sucks

[@TheIndianCyclist]

Can't disagree. On the Domane SL5, bad tyres and bad sealant give you a terrible first experience with tubeless. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jZvFiqWEiZebaKs