Can we talk about the push for tubeless on every commuter bike? I swapped a customer's gravel bike back to tubes after three flats in a week.

This was for a guy who rides about 10 miles a day on paved trails in Sacramento. His shop sold him a full tubeless setup last year, sealant, the works. He came to me frustrated because he kept getting slow leaks from tiny punctures that the sealant wouldn't plug, and he hated the mess of topping it off. I put some basic Schwalbe Marathon Plus tubes in there. That was six months ago, and he hasn't had a single flat since. For a lot of daily riders who aren't racing or hitting serious singletrack, the hassle and cost of tubeless just isn't worth the minor performance gain. Am I the only one who thinks we're over-prescribing this tech?

3 comments

3 Comments

walker.max11d ago

Forget the sealant, the real mess is the hype.

joelwells11d ago

Exactly. The hype train left the station and nobody's allowed to get off. It's become a default spec for bikes that never needed it, just to check a marketing box. Customers pay extra for a problem they didn't have. For smooth pavement? A good tire with a tube is a permanent fix. This whole thing feels like a solution in search of a problem for most riders.

haydeng4711d ago

My buddy had the same thing happen with his commuter bike. The shop talked him into tubeless for his city rides, said it was the new standard. He got a tiny sidewall cut that wouldn't seal, left sticky goo all over his work pants. Went back to tubes and Conti Contacts, hasn't looked back since. The whole thing was just a messy headache for no real benefit on his route.