Going tubeless for commuting -- who's done it?

[hoj]

So I'm currently commuting ~75 miles per week on a cross bike with H Plus Son Archetype rims fitted with 700x32 gatorskins. My commute is entirely paved roads and/or paved bike path, but there are some nice trails/gravel roads nearby that I would like to incorporate into my commute to mix things up a bit and make it more fun.

My current set-up works great for paved roads, but I'm tempted to give tubeless a try and do the tubeless conversion on my rims and swap tires for 35mm Schwalbe G-Ones (http://road.cc/content/review/190493-schwalbe-g-one), my rationale being that these tires would still be decently fast on pavement but would allow me to jump on some of the trails whenever I want. I figure they probably don't have quite the same level of puncture protection as the Gatorskins but imagine with sealant installed they should perform reliably well.

Anyone commute on a tubeless set-up that would care to chime in on their experience?

And anyone have personal experience with Schwalbe G-Ones in this type of setting (primarily paved road riding but with the occasional gravel ride thrown in)? How is the durability of these tires?

Any relevant experiences/advice would be much appreciated!

[MaraudingWalrus]

I've run the G One tubeless quite a bit. I liked them well enough. Reasonably fast on the road, more than good enough off-road for everything I tried.

I'm not sure how long they'd last with legitimate, regular on road riding.


I haven't had the best of luck trying to set up a set of archetypes to be tubeless, but your experiences may vary.

For personal use, I certainly don't see the need to attempt to run things tubeless that aren't designed to be. I even more certainly don't see the need to do that in the shop setting.

[R3awak3n]

I commuted on babyshoe pass tubeless for about a year. No problems to report until I got a cut in the tire that was too big for the sealant to fix. Till then though, no flat tires, was actually pretty awesome considering how much glass there is in NYC.

[dougefresh]

I ride 80-100miles per week commuting on Clement Strada USHs set up tubeless on Stan's Crest rims. No issues for me. 50/50 gravel and paved road or path. Have pulled a few staples and such out of them and sealed right up.

[stien]

It's awesome until like the above said, you get a hole too big to seal. Then what? When it happened to me, the Bontrager tubeless strip didn't allow me to stick a tube in. I called it in. Make sure you're a) willing to deal with throwing a tube in, and b) able to do so.

[R3awak3n]

Originally Posted by stien

It's awesome until like the above said, you get a hole too big to seal. Then what? When it happened to me, the Bontrager tubeless strip didn't allow me to stick a tube in. I called it in. Make sure you're a) willing to deal with throwing a tube in, and b) able to do so.

well, I managed to patch the hole but could not set up the tire tubeless again. Could be because the old babyshoe pass is not a "true" tubeless tire or because I did not have a compressor (I have one of those spesh air tanks). Technically you should be able to patch it and set it up tubeless again and all is good.

I just stuck a tube in there and have been using the tire with no problems for a while.

[Rekalcitrant]

FWIW, here is my list of real-world pros and cons of tubeless, based on experience running tubeless for CX and on the road:

PROS: Lower risk of pinch flatting. Small punctures (e.g. staples, small bits of glass) seal up on their own. There is some talk on the interwebs about lower rolling resistance and road fell, but it looks like the benefits here are minimal and can be achieved in other ways. Oh, and I shouldn't neglect the fact that going tubeless is an excuse to tinker with something new, spend money on new flashy tires, etc.

CONS: Tubeless tires still flat, and when they do it is no fun. Sticking a tube into a tire filled with latex on the side of the road sucks. Depending on the tire/rim/valve combo, it isn't always easy to get the tire off/on and/or remove the valve. It can be tough to prevent sealant from getting everywhere, including the brake track. Cleaning everything up at home afterwards is no fun either, nor is patching tubeless tires (although I have had pretty good luck here). Also, sealant dries out, so if it is going to be effective it needs to be topped up/replaced from time to time.

IMHO, the main advantage of tubeless is in applications where there is a serious risk of bottoming out and pinch-flatting (and even here it is far from a magic bullet). I'm a die-hard tubeless advocate when it comes to trail-riding, CX, and gravel racing. For standard commuting, though, I just don't think it is worth it. My daily commute involves some potholes and when college is in session there is often a lot of debris (glass) on the road; but I have found that durable beefy tires are a better option than tubeless.

Just my 2 cents.

[R3awak3n]

/\ I agree with everything you have said but there are different kinds of commutes. Some cities have tons of glass on the roads and tubeless is really good with small glass shards. Some people also have crazy gravel commutes.

But tubeless can be a huge pain in the ass, no doubt about that. Cleaning the tubeless buggers from tires SUCK.

[hoj]

Originally Posted by Rekalcitrant

Oh, and I shouldn't neglect the fact that going tubeless is an excuse to tinker with something new, spend money on new flashy tires, etc.

Thanks for all the replies. Honestly maybe this ^^ is subconsciously why I'm most interested in trying out tubeless lol --- it's new (for me), relatively inexpensive, and is something I could fairly easily try out/play around with on my own.

That being said, I can totally see the reasoning behind it not being the most ideal for commuting. Even though my current setup with gatorskins isn't really that fun/inspiring to ride, it just works. The 700x32mm size really isn't that uncomfortable either.

Dang! I was hoping you all would tell me there are no cons to commuting on tubeless and that it's the best thing ever but instead I get all these rational answers that have me second-guessing myself! I'm probably still going to give it a try just for the heck of it on a spare set of wheels, but sounds like sticking with my current setup probably makes the most sense for now.

[Wasatch]

After about a year trying road tubeless, I have given up. When it works, it works great, but when it fails, it's a disaster that usually requires the call of shame.

My rim/tire combo was impossible to set up at home, requiring me to go to the bike shop every time I needed to take the tire off the rim to patch a big hole (which was suprisingly more often than I expected). Any I supposedly had the "easy" setup (Schwalbe One Pros and Pacenti rims). Can't imagine what it's like with "less easy" setups.

Tubeless is awesome, I just don't think it's ready for primetime with road cycling yet.

[Anarchist]

I commute in a mid size Canadian city.

I commute on tubulars. I see no reason to ever go tubeless.

[CSKeller]

I have commuted up to 200 miles a week on tubeless and done Ride the Rockies (450 miles in a week) on them.

I have run Hutchison and Schwalbe Ones...like the Schwalbes! on my Campy Shamal Ultras. Only had 1 issue where I hit a rock that would have flatted any tire. It took a little to put a tube in because the Campy wheels are a bit tight. It was a little messy but not a problem and imho, a small annoyance to deal with. That is THE ONLY flat I've had with tubeless.

I have had many more issues with regular tubed tires. Now I ride tubulars most all the time.

Just happen to be on my tubeless this week 170 miles of happy and sometime wet commuting this week. YMMV.

[sonicCows]

I will be setting up my commuter to go tubeless (R460/CK Classic) with some fat road thread (probably 30-32cs). Doing it for the durability. I'll carry a patch kit regardless but the sealing and lack of pinch flats will be nice for so I won't need to be covering maintenance all the time