Tubeless Tires

Page created 7/1/2025; updated 7/3/2025 6:11 AM

In the mountain biking world, tubeless tires make sense. In the road bike world, it's not as obvious. Tubeless claims to offer more flat resistance and lower rolling resistance. Even I was on the fence for a while, but I eventually switched and this is based on my research and experiences.

All of the information available on this page is available elsewhere, but I've found that the sources are scattered all over the place and/or leave something important out, or just aren't organized well.

Benefits of Tubeless

(compared to tubes)

Resistance to flats. The sealant inside the tires generally protects you from traditional pinch flats and small punctures. It does not protect you from slices.
Faster to repair larger punctures. If you have a puncture so large your sealant doesn't repair it, you can use a "bacon strip" to permanently repair the puncture while the wheel is still mounted.
Lower Tire Pressure since you don't have to worry about pinch flats, which means:
1. Lower rolling resistance, leading to improved speed if you're strong enough to notice.
2. Softer rides on bumpy roads.
3. Better Grip.
It's lighter. A tubeless tire with the proper amount of sealant is usually lighter than a tire and butyl tube.

Disadvantages of Tubeless

More maintenance time. Switching to tubeless requires time to switch, and then time twice a year to maintain. Planned maintenance is generally preferred over unplanned flats. Once you get used to the maintenance, it's fairly quick & easy.
Requires Tubeless Ready wheels. If unsure your wheels are TLR, ask your local bike shop.
Tubeless tires are tighter on the rim on purpose; Mounting/removing is slightly harder.
It's messy. Adding sealant can be messy. Punctures and slices spews sealant out of the tire. Further, If you need to install a tube mid-ride, it's even messier. You'll want to clean any sealant off of surfaces/clothing immediately after your ride.
Flats still happen and you need to be prepared. This means carrying a tubeless repair kit on rides in addition to all of same supplies you need for tubes. Some flats are so bad that you need a tube.
It's more expensive. Tubeless tires are a few dollars more expensive, and require you to purchase sealant and other accessories.
Loses air faster, though usually not fast enough to worry about it mid-ride. If you're competing in a 10 hour ride, you may want to factor it in. If you're riding a multi-day adventure, you'd want a pump anyway.
Harder to swap tires for different types of rides. If you have a gravel bike, you may want one tire tread for a ride that will be mostly mud (i.e. CX), one set for dry gravel, one set for tarmac, etc. You can suck up some sealant with an injector tool and put in the next tire. All this may loosen the tire bead over time. Alternatively you can have multiple wheelsets for different tires, but wheels are expensive expensive and swapping the cassette/rotors between wheelsets might take as long as swapping the tires. Plus, multiple wheelsets means more maintenance if they're also running tubeless.

Real world use cases for tubeless

In my opinion, these are the scenarios you would seriously consider tubeless:

Frequent flats. If you get frequent punctures or pinch flats while riding due to your weight or riding surfaces and you haven't been able to optimize tire pressures.
Offroad/gravel riding, where you're more prone to flats and/or you want as much grip and/or cushioning from softer tires.
You need maximum marginal gains, i.e. you're competing.

If you're not competing and don't get a lot of flats, you may be better off with tubes.

Materials Required

Tubeless Ready (TLR) tires.
Tubeless compatible wheels.
Either the original tubeless rim strip that came with the wheel (if applicable), or a roll of tubeless rim tape.
Sealant of your choice.
Tubeless valve stem that's compatible with your wheels & spare cores
Valve core removal tool
Floor Pump. You MAY need: Air compressor OR Air Canister OR High volume pump if you have problems.
OPTIONAL: Sealant injector & pipe cleaners (if compatible with your sealant brand)
91% isopropyl alcohol.
Tubeless tire repair kit. "bacon strips" are simplest.
All of the same roadside flat tire supplies you should already be carrying (tube, boot, inflator, levers)

Process - Initial

For each wheel:

Confirm the original tubeless rim strip is on the wheel. If not, clean the rim with isopropyl alcohol and then install the origional strip or new tape.
Cut a clean hole through the rim tape and install the new valve stem. Finger tight is sufficient.
Mount half of the tire on the rim, following any rotational direction indicators.
Start mounting the other side of the tire to about halfway.
Shake the sealant bottle & measure the proper amount for your tire size, per the sealant manufacturer recommendations.
Pour sealant into the tire. Make note of about how deep the sealant is for later in the season.
While keeping the wheel upright, slowly rotate so the unmounted part of the tire is on top. Mount the remainder of the tire. I've used a little bit of sealant to lubricate the tire for the last section of tire mounting. Soapy water would help too.
Using a standard floor pump, pump up the tire as quickly as you can until the bead seats on the rim. If the tire bead is tight enough, it will inflate. If you have difficulty seating the tire bead, you may want to try one or more of these:
1. Remove the valve core for maximum airflow.
2. Use a charged air cannister (cheapest) OR an air compressor OR high volume floor pump.
3. spray/wipe soapy water around the bead to lube/seal.
4. try to slide the tire bead out of the rim well.
5. Tie a string or strap around the tire to evenly push the tire bead against the rim as much as possible.
If you removed the valve core, re-add it.
Pump up the tire to pressure not to exceed the maximum pressure on the tire's sidewall. The tire will make a popping noise as it seats onto the rim wall.
Ensure the bead seat line is visible and end evenly spaced around the rim on both sides.
Wipe any sealant off the wheel with a wet rag.
Spin & shake the wheel to ensure the sealant makes it to all inside surfaces of the tire.

Park Tool - Setup Tubeless

Park Tool - Tubeless Troubleshooting

Process- Maintenance

Every 2-3 months and as-needed

Depending on how much you ride, where you store your bike, the sealant you use, etc, you may want to check the sealant level in the middle of the riding season. OR, if you noticed a significant loss of air during a ride, you may have lost some sealant and need to top if off. In either case, here are the steps:

Release air pressure in the tire.
remove the valve core
Insert a soft/thin item to see how much sealant is in the tire. A ziptie or a pipe cleaner will work.
Use a sealant injector to top off the sealant into the tire. Use the same brand that you used in the beginning of the season.
Note: if your sealant manufacturer does not recommend injecting through the valve, you'll want to pop the bead and re-add like you did with the initial setup.
Use a pipe cleaner or something similar to clean the sealant from the inside of the valve stem.
re-install the valve core.
Re-inflate the tire.
Wipe any sealant off the wheel with a wet rag.
Clean the injector.

GCN Tubeless maintenance

Annual Maintenance

Annual assumes you don't ride in the cold winter. If you ride year-round, you may need to do this more often:

Release air pressure in the tire.
Remove the tire from the rim.
Remove old tire sealant from the tire & rim, paying close attention to the tire bead. Use isopropyl alcohol on the rim if necessary.
Inspect and clean valve stem/core. Replace core if it's too gummy.
Note: After removing the valve core, you can poke a thin screwdriver through the valve stem to unclog it.
Re-add sealant using the "initial" instructions above.

GCN maintenance - cleaning

Roadside Repair

There are different types of common issues. The common ones are:

Small puncture - the sealant will fill the hole. If it takes a while, you may want to add more air to the tire.
Large puncture - you need to insert one or more bacon strips or your product of choice. You may need some of your drink to find the exact spot of the puncture.
Slice or other bad cut that's too big for bacon strips.
1. Remove the wheel from the rim.
2. Remove as much sealant as possible.
3. Remove the valve stem from the wheel.
4. Use a tire boot or spare piece of tire if the issue is bad enough. Even a dollar bill that's been folded a few times.
5. Insert a tube; Mout the tire; inflate.
6. Ride home or continue your ride depending on the level of damage.
7. After returning home, permanently repair or replace tire.

When you get home, be sure to clean sealant off of everything. If you used your drink to find the puncture and it was anything but water, rinse that off your bike too.

Other Notes

Depending on how many tubeless tires you run, you may want to consider purchasing a quart of sealant at a time. If the bottle is sealed properly and depending on the brand, it should last a few years.
If you get sealant on anything, wash it as soon as possible. If you missed sealant on your bike frame, goo gone can help to dissolve dried sealant.
Different brands of sealant perform differently. Some are so effective at sealing punctures that they may be more likely to gum up your valve stem/core. Different brands may have different freezing temperatures, lifespans, etc. Although most brands should be biodegradable, not all are.
If inflating your tire with compressed CO2, as you're aware the expanding gas is cold and may temporarily freeze the sealant,
You do not need to bring extra sealant with you for mid-ride top-offs, unless you're on an unsupported multi-day ride.
"True Tubeless" tires (if you can find them) don't require any sealant and are much thicker/heavier and not as soft/fast as "Tubeless Ready" (TLR) tires.
TPU tubes are smaller/lighter than butyl tubes, and it might be an alternative to carrying a spare butyl tube in your saddle bag. However, TPU tubes may be a bit expensive for a one ride use item. I'm also not certain of the shelf life of TPU tubes that have been sitting in my saddle bag in my hot garage for potentially years, and if I should trust that to get me home.
Besides bacon strips, there are other products out there including Stans Darts and Dynaplug which you may prefer. I've read mixed reviews on Darts, and I don't like the idea of a brass pointer floating around my rim. GCN - Dynaplug
If marginal gains are your thing, have you looked into Latex tubes? GCN - tube comparison