Comments on: Going Tubeless: The Future http://twentynineinches.com/2009/07/28/going-tubeless-the-future/ 29er Bike Reviews, Rumors and News Sun, 21 Mar 2010 13:31:53 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8 hourly 1 By: MG http://twentynineinches.com/2009/07/28/going-tubeless-the-future/comment-page-1/#comment-60089 MG Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:09:59 +0000 http://twentynineinches.com/?p=3025#comment-60089 Wow, Very well written and straight-shooting article, my brother. Thanks for the frank, honest talk on a subject we both care about deeply. Tubeless, self-sealing mountain bike tires are one of the greatest advances in mountain bike technology we've experienced, on the level of clipless pedals or suspension, in my opinion. The only people who don't know are the ones who haven't ridden tubeless, or haven't invested the time to get it right. And honestly, I'm in no big rush to convert those folks, because I know I'm always on a faster bike than they are on every ride... It's almost unfair. But I digress. My opinion on why manufacturers haven't been more open on the compatibility of their products between rims and tires is because the variability between the bead diameter of even the same model of rim or the same model of tire can vary quite a bit. They don't want the liability of saying "it's compatible," only to have a blowoff-related injury and associated lawsuit hang over their head (and the reputation of their product). Reliability/consistency has gotten quite a bit better lately, based on my experience, but especially in the beginning, we had some significantly slack beads on some tire/rim combos, while others were amazingly tight. Some combinations are still pretty inconsistent... but that's manufacturing. Wow, Very well written and straight-shooting article, my brother. Thanks for the frank, honest talk on a subject we both care about deeply. Tubeless, self-sealing mountain bike tires are one of the greatest advances in mountain bike technology we’ve experienced, on the level of clipless pedals or suspension, in my opinion. The only people who don’t know are the ones who haven’t ridden tubeless, or haven’t invested the time to get it right. And honestly, I’m in no big rush to convert those folks, because I know I’m always on a faster bike than they are on every ride… It’s almost unfair. But I digress.

My opinion on why manufacturers haven’t been more open on the compatibility of their products between rims and tires is because the variability between the bead diameter of even the same model of rim or the same model of tire can vary quite a bit. They don’t want the liability of saying “it’s compatible,” only to have a blowoff-related injury and associated lawsuit hang over their head (and the reputation of their product). Reliability/consistency has gotten quite a bit better lately, based on my experience, but especially in the beginning, we had some significantly slack beads on some tire/rim combos, while others were amazingly tight. Some combinations are still pretty inconsistent… but that’s manufacturing.

]]> By: TOM Bender http://twentynineinches.com/2009/07/28/going-tubeless-the-future/comment-page-1/#comment-60087 TOM Bender Wed, 29 Jul 2009 02:54:43 +0000 http://twentynineinches.com/?p=3025#comment-60087 Ted, Thoroughly enjoyed your tubeless articles. Your info presented is top notch and really will help anyone, tubed or not, get on board. Well done and look forward to more of any and everything big wheeled. Ted,

Thoroughly enjoyed your tubeless articles. Your info presented is top notch and really will help anyone, tubed or not, get on board. Well done and look forward to more of any and everything big wheeled.

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