This is one of the most asked questions in our Women’s Gravel Cyclists Facebook group, and the short answer is no; like most upgrades, it’s not necessary to set your bike up with tubeless tires. BUT it is one of the best, and usually most affordable, upgrades you can make, especially for gravel riding where the terrain is often rough and remote.

First off, what are tubeless tires?

Tubeless tires are just what it sounds like... tires without the tubes inside keeping them inflated. Instead, the wheel rim itself is taped up, the tire hooks directly into the wheel, and a special sealant is injected into the tire to fill any holes and block air from escaping. If you do get a puncture, you plug it with, well plugs made for tubeless tires. Plug kits are widely available and pretty cheap.

Speaking of cheap, converting your bike tires to tubeless can be one of the most affordable upgrades you can make. At my LBS here in Atlanta, it only costs about $50 total ($25/wheel for parts & labor) to convert to tubeless & it can usually be done on the spot or with a very quick turnaround. And running tubeless tires comes with HUGE improvements in ride quality.

What are the benefits of tubeless?

So what’s so great about tubeless tires? They allow you to run lower tire pressures, which will make riding on rough roads much more comfortable, stable, and confidence-inspiring. Tubeless tires are also less prone to flats because there’s no tube to get pinched & deflated. Even if you do get a small puncture from sharp rocks or other debris in the road, the sealant will do its job, and most of the time you can just keep on riding. This means less time on the side of the road fixing flats. You also don’t have to worry about carrying multiple tubes on really long rides in case of multiple flats. Though it is a good idea to keep a tube with you just in case catastrophe strikes and the hole is too big for sealant or plugs and you need to "boot” it.

Are there any downsides?

In my opinion — no. I’ve heard some people say that they think flats can sometimes be more of a pain to deal with if the hole is too large for a plug and you have to take the tire off and put in a tube anyway, which can be really messy with the sealant. While that can happen, it’s very rare. I’ve been running tubeless for years and have never (knock on wood!) had to resort to a tube. If you live somewhere where there are really sharp rocks that can tear through tires pretty easily, maybe that’s more of a concern. But for general gravel and off-road riding, you should be fine.

A huge screw in my tire! The tire was still holding air thanks to being set up tubeless, and I didn’t even know the screw was there.

This photo is from my rear tire, and I didn’t even know there was anything wrong with it! The tire had been very slowly leaking air for several weeks (like so slow it was barely noticeable and still totally rideable), but they were on the older side anyway so I didn’t think much of it. Well, this is what the bike shop found when they were replacing them!

If that’s not a clear endorsement for tubeless, then I don’t know what is!

Also, some tire companies make different versions of their tires for different scenarios from lighter to tougher casings, so that may be a better solution than trying to still run tubes. Because if sharp rocks can go through tubeless tires, they can go through tires set up with tubes too!

This tire to the left is the regular casing from Rene Herse, but they also make an “endurance” casing which is a lot tougher (though to be fair, the screw would’ve gone through anything!). There are trade-offs with the tougher casings; mainly they’ll be a little bit more rigid so not quite as supple and forgiving while riding through rough stuff. I’m considering trying the tougher casings later this summer for a race road trip out west, just so I can have more peace of mind and enjoy the riding without worrying about flats while traveling.

Other basics.

A key aspect of being able to take advantage of the benefits of tubeless tires & keep costs down is that your bike already has tubeless compatible wheels. Usually somewhere on the side of the wheel is should tell you whether they can be set up tubeless; look for “TCS” (tubeless compatible system) or “tubeless ready” or something similar to be stamped somewhere. Sometimes even if the manufacturer hasn’t deemed the wheels tubeless-ready, they can still be set up tubeless; just ask your local bike shop. My hardtail mountain bike came with WTB wheels that weren’t technically TCS ready, but they’ve still been set up that way since day 1.

I said this before, but you’ll need to get a plug kit, and probably a frame pump (sealant doesn’t always play well with CO2) as well, but those are easy to come by.

Here’s a video explaining some benefits of tubeless tires & how to plug a hole.

Common Issues

Photo from Justine in the Women’s Gravel Cyclists FB group

One of the main issues people have right off the bat is sealant seeping through the sidewalls of their tires right after they’ve been set up tubeless for the first time. This is totally normal! It’s actually just the sealant doing it’s job and filling any spaces it finds. This should resolve itself after a few days or a few rides; if it doesn’t you can talk to your shop, but it’s probably nothing to worry about.

People also find that when they get home from the shop with their new tubeless tires, they might go flat within a couple of hours or even less. This just means you need to go for a ride — even just a quick one around your neighborhood — to make sure the sealant can get all sloshed around everywhere it needs to.

If you can’t take your bike for a spin right away, then at least try to spin the tires every hour or so at first. Once the sealant has had a chance to coat the inside of the tires, you should be good to go!

A note about lower tire pressures

As I mentioned earlier, one of the key benefits of running tubeless tires is the ability to run lower tire pressures. How low are we talking? Like 30 PSI low! There’s a huge misconnection that the higher the tire pressure, the faster you go. I think it largely stems from the road cyclists and triathletes coming over the gravel. But there are a couple of problems with this.

One is that higher pressures are going to mean you’re bouncing through the gravel rather than floating over it, so you’re going to naturally want to slow down so things are so jarring. Plus, the longer you ride like that, the more of a beating this is going to put on your body & you’re going to get fatigued a lot sooner. It’s MUCH better to let those big gravel tires absorb more of the shock since most gravel bikes don’t have “suspension” in the traditional sense. You’ll be able to ride a lot longer and farther the better your body feels.

Also, lower pressures, as well as bigger tires, are actually faster. I’ll say it again. Lower tire pressures are actually faster. I could spend paragraphs explaining the physics, but pro gravel racer and former World Tour pro Ted King held a great chat with Rene Herse tires (and Lael Wilcox!) explaining everything better than I could. I highly recommend taking the time to watch this video!

A lot of people also ask… So what does “lower pressure” mean anyway. Most people resort to the range listed on the side of their tires, but you shouldn’t do that! There are a number of handy charts out there. Enve as this great resource. But for me, ithat one is a little too much! I go by this chart that I think originated with Shimano:

The rider weight is in pounds, and then you just select the size tires you have and it gives you a recommended tire pressure. BUT here’s the thing about tire pressure: It’s largely individual, so use this chart as a starting point and adjust from there!

Alright, that’s all the basics! Hope this either convinces you to give tubeless tires a chance if you haven’t already or helps to get you off and rolling with a bit more confidence!

-Claire

Do I Need Tubeless Tires?