Tubeless Tire Swaps - How Often Do You?

[brushman]

Being relatively new to tubeless tires, I was wondering....

1. How often do you swap-out your tubeless tires based on trail conditions? Or, do you hesitate to change tread designs due to time and hassle (resulting in sub-par tread choice for the conditions)?

2. For convenience, do you 'temporarily' ride tubes with certain tires and trail conditions, then return to your main tubeless set-up afterwards. Or, do you ALWAYS go with tubeless?

3. And, have you gotten better/faster swapping out tubeless tires? If so, what is your favorite method? Do you always keep sealant/supplies with you (in vehicle, etc.)?

Thanks.

[Bike Whisperer]

1. Not that often, maybe once or twice a year

2. I run tubeless pretty much all the time

3. I currently use WTB TCS rims and tubeless ready tires, swapping out tires is pretty quick but I only do it at my house.

[onobed]

1. I do hesitate to change tires. The good news is that I put on Conti Mtn King 2.4s and found that while they are heavy they work everywhere.

2. No - don't change tires

3. Best way for me to change is to use my CO2 cartridges. Works better than a compressor for me.

In my opinion tubeless is worth every expense and hassle. It is superior in every way.

[ElwoodT]

I break the bead once every every 2-3 months depending on weather/sealant performance. I have 3 bikes plus I pick tires based on longevity and so might not change a tire untill its worn out: 1 to 2 riding seasons.
I only run tubes when toobless fails on the trail (1-3) times a year. I always ride with an extra tube with sealant in it.
I've had 100 percent success with a needle knosed air chuck and an open presta valve (core removed)

[goodmojo]

it doesnt take me any longer to change a tubeless tire than a non tubeless setup. In fact it might be faster because Im a klutz getting the tube back in. I use an air compressor with a nozzle that fits into the core. It takes about 20 seconds to seat the bead and fill the tire.

[cdeming]

I had all those questions too. Went fom never change out of fear of pain in the butt to occasionally.
Try always tubeless. Carry extra sealant, plug, maybe a boot. I've never ad to use a tube.
Yes better. I use co2 on clean tires to seal the bead, fill/refill with floor pump, add sealant with core syringe. If I had a garage I'd have a compressor.

Being relatively new to tubeless tires, I was wondering....

1. How often do you swap-out your tubeless tires based on trail conditions? Or, do you hesitate to change tread designs due to time and hassle (resulting in sub-par tread choice for the conditions)?

2. For convenience, do you 'temporarily' ride tubes with certain tires and trail conditions, then return to your main tubeless set-up afterwards. Or, do you ALWAYS go with tubeless?

3. And, have you gotten better/faster swapping out tubeless tires? If so, what is your favorite method? Do you always keep sealant/supplies with you (in vehicle, etc.)?

Thanks.

[c_m_shooter]

Run 'em til they wear out. Actually, I've never worn out the tread of my trail bike tires, they usually get an unrepairable cut before then.

[ntm1973]

I don't change tires as often since going tubeless because of the hassle of dealing with the sealant. Summer to winter, winter to summer and that is pretty much it. The upside of running tubeless far far far outweight not having the perfect tire for the conditions and there are enough middle of the road tires that work "good enough" since I'm not racing.

[sslos]

The only time I change tires is either when I kill 'em or when I'm swapping over to "race" rubber. And I'm beginning to rethink even that.
I've found a tire set up that works for my riding style in almost all conditions. Could I possibly get better performance from condition-specific tires? Maybe. But I'd rather not worry about little "what ifs."

Los

[Fleas]

Being relatively new to tubeless tires, I was wondering....

1. How often do you swap-out your tubeless tires based on trail conditions? Or, do you hesitate to change tread designs due to time and hassle (resulting in sub-par tread choice for the conditions)?

2. For convenience, do you 'temporarily' ride tubes with certain tires and trail conditions, then return to your main tubeless set-up afterwards. Or, do you ALWAYS go with tubeless?

3. And, have you gotten better/faster swapping out tubeless tires? If so, what is your favorite method? Do you always keep sealant/supplies with you (in vehicle, etc.)?

Thanks.

I was thinking this was an anti-tubeless thread.

...but those same concerns are what keep me from going tubeless. I had some wheel trouble, then some tire swapping - it seems like it would've been extremely inconvenient to go tubeless in that scenario. Plus I'll be switching back when the snow clears. If I race XC, I will swap tires. If I'm just banging around the forest, I ride heavier tires. Seems like a lot of work on multiple bikes for tubeless.

...I only run tubes when toobless fails on the trail (1-3) times a year. I always ride with an extra tube with sealant in it....

Even if you do double my miles, that's a lot of tubeless failures. I don't have that many tubed failures (thankfully - knock on wood).

-F

[LyNx]

Yeah Fleas, I'd have to concur, that's a lot of flats even if that's over a few years. Remember having a slight slow leak while testing the HR2s end of 2011 and just kept topping up the air every couple days, when I finally removed them and checked I found a huge thorn about 5/8" long and 1/16" thick in the tread of the tyre. Actually since running tubeless consistently for the last 4 or so years I can only remember 2 flats and both were torn sidewalls on non-TLR, thin casing tyres - Racing Ralph and Crossmark.

I run tubeless and tubed, depends on what's happening at the time, if I'm testing various tyres, if they require being run tubed or tubeless, if they can be run tubeless if they're not designed for it, or if conditions are changing quickly. Right now running all my wheels tubed, but will shortly go back to tubeless most likely on the Flow/Pro2s on the Prime once I've finished testing the current tyres on there. Last year I pretty much ran a Maxxis HR2 proto tubeless all year and when I did switch between Maxxis TLR tyres it was as fast as doing a tubed swap about. Building a set of wheels for the rigid with wide rims soon and when I do they'll for sure be setup tubeless.

Even if you do double my miles, that's a lot of tubeless failures. I don't have that many tubed failures (thankfully - knock on wood).
-F

.........I only run tubes when toobless fails on the trail (1-3) times a year. I always ride with an extra tube with sealant in it.

[jct]

since i'm lucky to ride pretty much year 'round, i'll run a wet conditions-ish tire in the winter and something a little faster in summer. i have an ardent 2.4 tubeless right now on the front with a 2.2 Purgatory on the rear. i think i may move to a Geax saguaro when there's no more threat of rain. i like that the saguaro is high volume and rolls up better than the purgie.

[CommuterBoy]

I dont' buy that many tires... I set them up tubeless, and add goo as needed until the tire is worn out. Trail conditions don't influence me to change tires, but I love it when the tires I have are just right for the conditions... the rest of the time I just deal with it.

That being said, on the commuter bike I do have my 'normal' tires set up tubeless, and a second wheelset with studded tires set up with tubes...the studs sit around so much that tubeless isn't practical, and you need them to be ready to go at a moments notice without worrying about how much sealant is in there. Putting a tube in on the side of the road in single digit temps sucks. All of my other tires on 3 bikes are tubeless. The road bike has tubes.

[brushman]

So far, it seems, most 'tubeless' folks DO NOT swap tires very often and live with their primary tire based on the dominant home area trail conditions (even with various fluctuations, etc.).

[sslos]

So far, it seems, most 'tubeless' folks DO NOT swap tires very often and live with their primary tire based on the dominant home area trail conditions (even with various fluctuations, etc.).

Honestly, even before I went tubeless I would rarely change tires. Maybe I'm lazy, maybe it's the tens of thousands of flats I've fixed over the last 2 decades. Or maybe it's that I get to know a tire, and like that I can usually know how it's going to react in a given situation. If I'm riding an unfamiliar location, that's one less variable for me to adapt to.

Los

[zippinveedub]

I used to run two wheelsets. One with race rubber the other with fun mountain rubber. Moved to a 29er and now only have one wheelset so I have two sets of tires (summer-ikons, winter - bonty 293). I run the winter tires from nov to march or so. I use a floor pump to mount them and never really use tubes.