Marlingreen wrote on 10/12/16 at 3:30pm:


I went tubeless two years ago after I had to hike my bike out of the woods in the dark.

Sealant? I say yes because whenever I re-do my tires I can see where the sealant sealed up many punctures. Nothing spoils a good ride for me like a flat tire. Since going tubeless (with sealant) I have not had any flats.

ChosenOne wrote on 10/19/16 at 10:52pm:


It depends on the tires. UST tires have a lining that doesn't permit air to leak through (butyl rubber, I think...may be wrong...often am) and these do not require sealant. So they inflate fine and function fine without sealant, but you don't get the puncture-plugging benefit. Specialized 2Bliss (tubeless ready) tires do not have that lining and require sealant to avoid air leaking through the rubber compound over time.

Like many, if not most, tubeless riders I prefer sealant to get the flat prevention in addition to the benefits of tubeless. So I like the Spec 2Bliss tires because with sealant I can get all the benefits of tubeless and save the weight of the butyl lining. I've been tubeless almost 7 years and would never go back. Since then I've never had a flat that didn't seal; though I had to pump one back up after some air leaked before it sealed. I recently bought a new bike and converted it to tubeless the first week. And I really don't care if it's standard or not. Standard is boring.

Cherokee wrote on 10/26/16 at 6:47pm:


The sealant is not just for the tire but also for the spokes/nipples, valve areas that can leak air.

I was riding with a group when one guy had a big flat with sealant spraying out of the tire. The hole sealed up quickly and he topped the tire off with CO2. Told downtime was maybe 2 minutes. I was sold at that moment.