Switching Back To Tubes

ccand51997 wrote:
People who will love tubeless
a. Live in a humid climate where sealant does not dry out. b. lots of goat-heads in your area.  c. you chose a great tire/rim combo and had good luck with tape/valves d.  you only have one bike.  e. you like to run really low pressure in your tires  f. you install your tires and never change them until they are worn out.

I'm sure there are a few others people could add.  If there is one thing I hate about tubeless, it is valve stem air leakage.  I have taped a lot of rims and I do the same thing every time.  Some last for years without issue and some of them I just cannot ever get to seal around the valve.  It is mind numbing and the single biggest reason I'm using tubes in three of my four wheels right now.  

The factors that really swayed me are the Mavic Allroads -- no rim tape, and a Mavic stem, and the fact that the wheels are UST means tires are going to be a tight fit, hence the frustrations I had with changing tubes.  Interestingly, Continental Terra tires held air well without sealant.

Xenophon wrote:^:  Well, do whatever floats your boat is what I say.  I ran tubeless for years and overall it was ok but don't ever think it doesn't have limitations and that you won't bump into them, just like tubes have limitations.  You're a recent convert, in time you'll find out that it's not all roses and sunshine.  I've come to think that tubeless has its place, depending also on the terrain you ride but the holy grail it is not.  

Right now I'm going through a tube phase, running Tubolito CX.  So far so good, 1800 km and counting.  I do believe that they really only have one definite advantage over conventional tubes and that's that they're very compact.  No flats so far and I'm sure that their resistance tests do prove that they're twice as resistant to puncture as latex.  I'm also sure that in practice, that doesn't mean a thing as the average 'strike force' of a penetrating object will probably be a large multiple of the yield strength.

I see that Tubolito makes the Tubo CX/Gravel All tube that weighs the same as a butyl tube but "even more flat resistant material makes punctures impossible during normal use. This promise is guaranteed with a world premiere: a one year warranty for all flats. Given its great robustness X-Tubo CX/Gravel reduces the risk of flats and allows for worry-free rides."

I hope Tubolito makes a MTB version soon.

John wrote:

I see that Tubolito makes the Tubo CX/Gravel All tube that weighs the same as a butyl tube but "even more flat resistant material makes punctures impossible during normal use. This promise is guaranteed with a world premiere: a one year warranty for all flats. Given its great robustness X-Tubo CX/Gravel reduces the risk of flats and allows for worry-free rides."

I hope Tubolito makes a MTB version soon.

Yeah but that warranty....I guess they're working the numbers.   Firstly, you need to register the date of installation with them.  Second, I'm not totally certain how they will interpret 'normal use' and thirdly,you need to bother making a claim.  As I said, there's a huge difference between a flat-test where a spike is slowly pushed through the tube to test resistance and real life.  Couple of months ago I hit a large screw (was running tubeless at the time) which punched straight through the tire.  Nothing short of a metal plate would have stopped that.

Though I didn't flat yet with the Tubolitos, gotta give them that.   Their obvious drawback is the price:  I can get 4 high quality butyl tubes for the price of one tubolito.  They're light, but I'm not a gramme chaser.  Air retention might be marginally better than good quality butyl (and a lot better than tubeless) but not by much.  But they're super compact so ideal to carry as a spare.

The Tubolito X-Tubo-City/Tour and X-CX/Gravel-All are their only models with a warranty.  They're thicker and heavier (130 g) than the non-X CX/Gravel, about halfway between a Schwalbe SV17 (standard 150 g) and SV18 (extralight 105 g).  I have a pair which I haven't ridden enough to comment on puncture resistance but I can say they hold air no better than butyl.

If they're as strong as advertised they might withstand a nail or screw unless it penetrates all the way to the rim.