"I never ride tubeless. Too much effort. And then there's the mess with the latex gunk," were the words of my biker friend before a short holiday in the Bavarian Forest. Two days, several punctures and an exhausted supply of spare tubes later, he had to give it a try. By the end of the holiday, he was a convinced tubeless rider. This is how many people feel when they overcome their fear of tubeless systems and experience the advantages on their own bike. As far as puncture statistics are concerned, the advantages are obvious. The annoying punctures (caused by thorns, for example) are usually sealed immediately and unnoticed by the rider. Punctures occur much less frequently due to the lack of a hose. What's more, you can also ride at low pressures with confidence. In favour of comfort and traction. In rolling resistance measurements, tubeless-ready systems occupy the top position together with latex tubes. Almost all new developments in tyres and rims are now tubeless or tubeless-ready.
Problems when fitting or inflating?
As is so often the case, the success story also has a weak point here: the fact that the fit of tyres and rims is not yet standardised - something that has long been taken for granted in the automotive industry. However, thanks to the intensive cooperation between tyre and rim manufacturers in recent years, well-functioning combinations are no longer the exception, but rather the rule. The signs are therefore very promising, even if there are still exceptional combinations in 2014 that can spoil the fun due to fitting problems or difficult inflation. In the following workshop, the first in our tubeless series, we will show you how most wheels can be converted to tubeless and present a selection of the latest sealing milk products from various manufacturers.
You can read the complete tubeless workshop and a market overview with the sealants and puncture protection products in the BIKE app (iTunes and Google Play) or download the issue from the DK-Shop reorder:
