Tubeless vs Tubed Tires

I noticed that a mail order place has tubeless mountain bike tires on sale
for $12.99 down from $50. Does this mean tubeless do not work as well as
tubed. I never considered purchasing the tubeless, but it appears to be a
"great tire" at a great price. What is the disadvantage of tubeless?

Thanks

Tom

On Mon, 18 Apr 2005 20:07:41 -0400, mary wrote:

What is the disadvantage of tubeless?

Never ridden them, but I'm guessing that you need to inflate them with
compressed air to make them seat? So only CO2 cartridges on the trail I
guess. Perhaps not the biggest disadvantage. Patching should just be a
matter of doing it just like fixing a car tire--a patch on the inside of
the tire...hey these are starting to sound good! LoL

You do lose the weight of the tube and the chance of snakebite flats,
which is a very nice thing.

Will they ever catch on (or exist) for road bikes?

"maxo" wrote in message
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On Mon, 18 Apr 2005 20:07:41 -0400, mary wrote:

What is the disadvantage of tubeless?

Never ridden them, but I'm guessing that you need to inflate them with
compressed air to make them seat? So only CO2 cartridges on the trail I
guess. Perhaps not the biggest disadvantage. Patching should just be a
matter of doing it just like fixing a car tire--a patch on the inside of
the tire...hey these are starting to sound good! LoL

You do lose the weight of the tube and the chance of snakebite flats,
which is a very nice thing.

Will they ever catch on (or exist) for road bikes?

Disadvantage? none that I know of, if you have a rim that is made for them.
Repair them with superglue without ever breaking the bead seal, I've done it
several times and they've never leaked. My opinion is tubeless tires roll
better than tubed tires, maybe because the sidewalls are a little heavier.
I would think they are coming to road bikes in the near future. Just last
Friday I was riding in some very deep, fine sand, lowered the tire pressure
to about 20 pounds, bike handled very well and never lost the bead seal.

They have not caught on. Yes, they are great in certain applications. Then
again you have to have wheels MADE for tubeless. I would buy them at that
price and run them on an ordinary tubed wheel--with tubes.

They have not been a marketing success. Personally I think they are a scam.
You are not going fast enough to notice the weight loss in rolling mass.

"Brian Wax" wrote in message
ink.net...
They have not caught on. Yes, they are great in certain applications. Then
again you have to have wheels MADE for tubeless. I would buy them at that
price and run them on an ordinary tubed wheel--with tubes.

They have not been a marketing success. Personally I think they are a
scam.
You are not going fast enough to notice the weight loss in rolling mass.

I think they may have been slow to catch on because not many people have
wheels for them, time will more than likely solve that problem as more and
more new bikes will come equipped with tubeless wheels. Unfortunately I'm
old enough to remember when tubeless auto tires started hitting the market,
it took them several years to be accepted and even more to become popular.
Look now, they have 100% of the market, just try to find an auto tube.
I'm sold on tubeless tires for bikes, fewer flat tires, better traction,
better ride and less rolling resistance, but each is entitled to their own
opinion.

On Mon, 18 Apr 2005 22:49:39 -0500, di wrote:

I'm sold on tubeless tires for bikes, fewer flat tires, better
traction, better ride and less rolling resistance, but each is entitled to
their own opinion.

I am too sold, after doing a bit of googling. Does seem that they're
coming to road bikes in the next couple years. I doubt we'll see
affordable trickle down tech for a couple more.

The wheels will actually weigh more since they'll need heavier hooks for
the beads, and I guess wheelbuilding will change--how do you slip in the
nipples when there's no holes on the inside of the rim? :S

What I'm looking forward to on the road is a supple ride, and less
dangerous slow leaking flats vs. blowouts. Flats should prove extremely
easy to repair.

After fixing a few flats on the old motorbike, which has tubes--yeah,
tubeless for everything is my opinion. :P (royal PITA changing a m/c flat
w/ tubes, btw)

mary wrote:
I noticed that a mail order place has tubeless mountain bike tires on
sale
for $12.99 down from $50. Does this mean tubeless do not work as well
as
tubed. I never considered purchasing the tubeless, but it appears to
be a
"great tire" at a great price. What is the disadvantage of tubeless?

I think they're going away. Not even my most gear-headed friends seem
to get excited about them. I always thought they were a solution
looking for a problem.