Go Tubeless When Touring?

[TommyBoy]

What do we think about going with a tubeless wheel/tire setup when touring? I've gone tubeless on my road bike with over 5,000 miles and no punctures that did not seal. No plugs needed. My concerns about this set up when touring is the added weight of panniers (perhaps countered by pumping to higher air pressure), the trade off of carrying sealant, being able to "shock" the deflated tire back onto hookless rims (if partial/removal is needed) and so on. I do carry an emergency tube on the road bike.

Thanks!

[davidbonn]

I've ran exclusively tubeless on tour for the last couple of years.  It is not a problem and running with panniers is no problem at all.

Topping up sealant is also fine and not really at all necessary on short trips unless you get a puncture that causes you to lose a lot of sealant.  Sealant is widely available at bike shops pretty much anywhere so replenishing it on journey probably will not be a problem. 

I'd recommend carrying two different brands of tire plugs, largely because depending on the hole in your tire different plugs might be optimal.  I carry both dynaplugs (easy installation and great for most punctures) and Stan's darts (which are better for much larger holes).

On a longer tour where you'd have to replace tires I am not so sure how feasible it would be to install new tires without access to a workshop.  Also I have found tubeless is usually fussy about both your wheel build and what brand of tires you are running.  So if you are on journey and probably can't be that fussy about what tires you install and that might be problematic too.

One unresolved concern is that fixing a broken spoke is going to be much messier and more difficult.  Fortunately I haven't had that problem yet.

[DonKahn1]

After many years of touring and gravel riding with tubes, I decided to give tubeless a try on my gravel bike.  I would say I have had mixed results.  I got two flats, which the sealant did not seal.  I was able to plug the leak, but could never get the tire up above 20 PSI, and had to replace the tire after that.  I usually had to top off my tubeless tires for nearly every ride.  All of this is fine for day rides, when you have access to floor pumps, and are able to work on your bike at home.  Since I have gotten flats with tubeless, the only advantage I see is being able to use lower tire pressure, which is not a really big consideration when loaded touring.
So, for now, I am sticking with tubes for touring, riding Schwalbe Marathons (my last tour on these was 4,500 miles with 0 flats, and am still riding on these on my touring bike).  I am considering using TPU tubes for my next tour, and wondering if anyone has experience touring on these

[davidbonn]

On the average, tubeless systems lose air much faster than tubes.  That isn't a big deal to me because checking the air pressure and airing up the tires if necessary is a daily ritual.

There is a large learning curve on tubeless installs.  Getting rim tape and valve placement just right is still more art than science.

I've also noticed that certain rim and tire combinations work much better than others.  There isn't a good way to find out which ones work well together except asking what other people are running.

It seems like tubeless works better at lower tire pressures than higher tire pressures.  If you want to run higher than 40is psi the whole system won't work as well.

The vast majority of flats I've had have easily sealed up on their own and I just had to add five or ten pounds of air and keep going.  There have been a few where I had to use tire plugs, which require a bit of practice but you can work it out.  At least for me the bacon strips weren't as easy to good as (say) a dynaplug or Stan's Darts.

[TommyBoy]

Thanks to everyone who provided input into my question about going tubeless and touring. As usual, one size doesn't fit all (situations). I appreciate everyone's perspective. Safe travels!