So the question becomes, for the average rider more than 40 years old (and his family), are tubeless MTB tires simpler, more cost effective, less tiring, and more reliable than tube type tires.
A most excellent question, Mr. R! Since my great enthusiasm of yesterday about going tubeless for our entire family's fleet of bikes, I have since tempered that with a mild dose of reality. I called a few friends and family who are mtn. bike nuts, but of the non-racer persuasion, and also talked to a couple of shop guys, to get some other opinions. The consensus is split, not surprisingly, among exactly those two groups -- the shop guys (who all race, BTW) said tubeless is great, go for it, etc.; whereas friends/family said it's not worth the all the work for the marginal gain if you're a recreational rider.
From these conversations, and from reading some objective reviews online, I have decided that I will try tubeless for my bike, because the tires and rims are TLR, as an experiment to see how easy/hard it is to do and how reliable it is with gear that was designed for this. But for our other three bikes, which do not have TLR rims or tires, I will not be doing it, and for the following reasons:
-- too much work...with a busy small business to run, and two very active teenage girls at home, I simply don't have time to fuss around with sealants and BMX tubes and keeping on top of leaks -- it's enough work just keeping all four bikes in good running tune....mtn. biking is not my life, but is a fun pastime, and bike maintenance shouldn't take more time than actual riding;
-- I don't have the tools....meaning I don't own an air compressor, and don't intend to buy one just for going tubeless;
-- it's messy....leaking sealant all over our garage floor does not appeal;
-- marginal weight gain....yes tubeless removes the tube, but ghetto tubeless puts half a BMX tube back in again, plus a whole lot of liquid goo; alternatively, if I bought UST tires, they all weigh more to begin with....typically at least 100g more; so either way, I'm not convinced I'd actually be saving much weight at all.
Seems to me that this would all be for marginal performance gain anyway. A bit of extra grip and a few ounces lighter really won't make much difference for our bikes or where we ride (easy to intermediate single track, mostly hard clay with a bit of sand, round stones and roots thrown into the mix -- nothing sharp or jagged or rugged). Let's face it, we are recreational riders, just out for fun, fresh air, camaraderie, and to enjoy the great countryside we live in. We rarely do rides longer than 2 hours, and are all fit enough to roll a few ounces extra weight for that amount of time.
To put this in a different perspective, all of us -- myself, my wife, and esp. the girls, who are totally new to this sport -- still have a lot of fundamentals to learn (or relearn in mine and my wife's case -- we rode a lot until 16 years ago when our first daughter came along, and are now getting back into the sport). Balance; using body angles and position for climbing/descending/cornering/jumping/hairpins; gear selection; braking; acceleration......y
ou name it....basic good, flowing, riding skills...and gaining confidence at the same time. Worrying about tubed vs. tubeless is rather low on the list of priorities. We all have great bikes, and I do keep them well tuned and running silky-smooth. And there are good tires on all our bikes. As I've mentioned, I have been running lower pressures in these already -- down to 30 psi for the lighter gals; 35 psi for me -- which all seems to be working fine. Much better grip than say, 45+ psi, and no pinch flats so far (cross fingers). When looking at replacement tires, I will choose some that have robust sidewalls that won't be prone to pinch flats, which should continue to keep us out of trouble.
So, Josh, thanks for all the tips and help. I really appreciate your time to educate us all here about having this option for our bikes. For the right rider and situation, it looks like a great way to go. But until I have more time and energy to spend on this sport, and until we all become much more skilled riders and thus more demanding of our equipment, I think I will try tubeless only for my bike. I would like to shed a bit of weight, as the 29er is not exactly feather-light, and because the tires and rims are already TLR, this seems like a great way to do it. I'll let you all know how it turns out later.
Cheers!