Are you still using inner tubes? I’m not. My journey to tube-freedom started while researching tires for the Leadville Trail 100. According to what I read online, tire choice seems significant for a 100-mile mountain bike race and a lot of people were talking about “tubeless”.
Find the thorn – © 2009 Barry Munson. All rights reserved.
A “tubeless” setup is exactly what you have now only you replace the inner tube with just a stem. Why lose the tube? Because you want to go faster without punctures.
Reason 1 – Lower your pressure
I used to run my tires at 50 psi to avoid the dreaded pinch-flat. That’s where the force of a bit hit pinches the tube between the rim and the tire leaving two neat holes for all the air to rush out. Running at a higher pressure keeps the tire from compressing and saves you the flat.
My friend was racing the Julian Death March, solidly in second place when he got a pinch flat in a technical descent. His front tire basically went to zero psi instantly causing him to go flying over the bars. He whacked his head, got tons of trail rash and a nasty case of poison oak. Thanks inner tube!
Running at higher pressure keeps your tire hard and bouncy, which reduces control and cornering ability. Your tire can’t mold to the shape of the terrain, it just bounces off.
Since I no longer have an inner tube, it’s impossible to pinch flat so I run at 32psi (many XC racers run in the 20’s). I’ve gained a ton of control – I descend faster, corner faster and climb technical terrain much, much better. I can’t stress enough how big a difference this made to my riding. I’ll never go back to high pressure and tubes.
Reason 2 – Flats are stupid
Do you ever get punctures in your tire? It sucks, right? Having to stop, replace or patch the tube while your buddies either leave you behind or tease you for getting a flat. And then maybe you don’t find the second thorn so you get an instant flat as you re-inflate. You did bring a second CO2 canister, right?
If you think getting flats is lame, then watch this video
Since there’s no tube, you have room to squirt some of Stan’s NoTubes tire sealant in. You’ll never worry about flats again.
How do I go Tubeless?
There are a lot of options for your mountain bike. If you already have “tubeless ready” rims, you just need to purchase the stems and tubeless tires. Most mountain bike tires come in tubeless versions already. A tubeless tire is usually a little thicker with a more pronounced rim bead to hold the tire on securely. Don’t forget to buy some of Stan’s NoTubes tire sealant.
If you have older rims, you can still go tubeless. Just check out Stan’s NoTubes site for a tubeless conversion kit. That’s what I did and it works perfectly.
I also went tubeless on my road bike this week. While I’m not concerned with running lower pressure on my road bike, I would like to stop worrying about ever getting flats again. Tubeless technology for road wheels is still a little new so there was really only one option – I went with Stan’s Road Tubeless kit which includes two Hutchinson Fusion tires, stems and tire sealant. It was a great deal and installed easily.
Yesterday, I was pedaling home after a tough workout and noticed a bunch of glass in the bike lane. I thought to myself, “Whatever.”
2010 Leadville Trail 100
2010 Julian Death March
I Do Not Ride Alone
My Secret Leadville Plan
Previewing the Leadville 100 MTB Course
2010 Triple Bypass
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Huh. That tells you how long it’s been since I’ve been on a mountain bike. Didn’t even know that had tubeless for those.
I’ve sort of paid attention to the tubular/clincher debate from afar for my tri bike. I get the pros, but they frankly seem like too big of a pain in the ass. Glue, wait, meh. I also don’t like the idea of being basically totally screwed if I flat during a race.
Of course, I’ve been lucky so far. No flats in any tri. Actually, very few flats at all while riding. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t haunt me as I continue to stick with my 2 month old “lucky” tubes, but I guess it’s something.
Tubeless is different from “glue on’s” or “sew ups”. In a tubeless system, you have a tire, just no tube. The magic is that the tube is a little different (thicker with a better rim bead) and the rim is sealed to prevent leaks around the spoke holes.
If your tubeless gets a hole that the sealant doesn’t seal for some reason, the fix is straightforward, you just put a tube in and inflate it. From what I can tell though, the hole that can’t be sealed by the sealant is probably a game-ender for the tire. I actually carry a piece of rubber from an old inner tube for just this sort of calamity. I once got a sidewall tear in my tire from riding over a broken road turtle (reflector). Anyways, I do a lot of long-distance backcountry rides and you need to be a boyscout to get yourself home.
An additional benefit of road tubeless for the tri-guy is reduced weight. If you run a pair of really lightweight tubeless tires, you can save several hundred grams of rotational weight – which is the most significant weight, right on the outside edge of your rotating wheel.
My general, non-tubeless rule of thumb on flats (for road tires) is to buy quality tires (Conti!!!) and replace them often. You’ll avoid most flats this way.
Cool. I guess by “afar,” I meant I wasn’t barely paying any attention at all; or at least not near enough. Thanks for the clarification and good info. Very interesting. It’s really a shame how little upgrading/maintenance I’ve done on my bike. I have the best of intentions, but the least of spare time (at least, spare time that I don’t want to devote directly to training). I shutter to think of the calamity (and bill) that awaits me as a just reward for my negligence, but I guess I just figure that “they’ll be time for that” after Nicole gives birth and my season effectively ends in a few weeks.
The good (and bad?) thing about doing tri’s is that there are a lot of things you can focus on to improve your overall time – like how fast you can change your socks
You inspire me cause I can barely manage to ride my bike, much less run and swim all in the same day.
Enjoy your upcoming off-season
This is intriguing. Flats are definitely a part of cycling I could do without. Will you do a follow-up after a few thousand miles of road riding? For that matter, trail riding too!
This could be huge for my commuter bike. It’s a mountain bike fitted with road slicks. Conti and Panaracer make some ok flat-resistant tires but I haven’t found anything to ward off those pesky Michelin wires that work their way through the Kevlar and are close to impossible to find once they’ve been sheared off.
I’d like to know how messy it is to change a tire after it’s worn out – what happens with all that sealant?
Sure Scott, I’ll keep you posted. I’ve got enough miles on the MTB tubeless to know I’d never go back, mainly because of the low pressure factors. Lower pressure is just way, way better.
I’ve replaced the tires on my MTB and the sealant is in there – I just hosed it out and wiped my rims down with a rag. There was also a little strip of dried sealant around the old tire to deal with, but neither of these things were serious impediments.
Good to know. I might try this on my next tire change.