Tubeless upsides — puncture protection and lower pressures. Downsides — setup and maintenance. When the switch pays off.
YouTube · Gravel + tubeless
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Tubeless is a tire with no inner tube. Instead, sealant — usually a latex-based liquid — sits inside, ready to plug holes of up to 5–6 mm in seconds. The technology arrived in road and gravel from mountain biking in the early 2010s and is now the industry standard.
Cam Nicholls, an Australian cycling-review channel, walks through the pros and cons of tubeless for both road and gravel use cases.
Смотреть на YouTubeWhy you should try tubeless — Cam NicholsOn gravel — unconditionally yes. The benefits (comfort, puncture resistance, lower pressures) are substantial. On road — yes, but with conditions: you need a proper tubeless-ready rim, a proper tubeless-ready tire, and the habit of refreshing sealant every 4–6 months. Skip any of those three and you lose the value.
Self-sealing fluids (Stan's NoTubes, Orange Seal, Muc-Off) close a puncture in 3–5 seconds. The wheel loses a touch of pressure, sealant sprays out in a quick cloud, and you keep riding. This works for holes up to about 5–6 mm. Larger cuts still need a plug or a tube — but those are rare.
For a gravel rider who hits sharp rock once a week, this saves 2–3 rides per year from walking home.
With no tube, pinch flats are essentially eliminated. That lets you run 10–15% lower pressure than you would with a tube.
What does «lower pressure» actually do? A softer tire deforms more — bigger contact patch — better grip, less buzz on washboard. Drop a 40 mm gravel tire from 35 psi to 28 psi and the ride transforms.
Tubeless takes effort. You need:
First-time setup can stretch to an hour, including a trip to find a compressor. That is not a flaw — it is just the reality of the technology. After a season, you'll be doing it in 15 minutes.
Set tubeless up properly once and you forget about punctures for a season. That, honestly, sells the technology.
Sealant dries out. Speed depends on temperature, humidity, and brand — typically 4–6 months. Dried sealant does not seal punctures. Put it on the calendar.
Signs it's time to refresh: tire loses pressure overnight (80 to 75 psi). That means the sealant no longer plugs the microscopic gaps in the casing.
The main challenge in Russia is finding a decent floor pump with a tubeless mode. Lezyne Steel Floor with the boost chamber, or Topeak JoeBlow Booster — both available through marketplaces at reasonable prices. Without them, every setup means a trip to a bike shop.
Sealants: Stan's NoTubes remains the global standard, but Russian Caffelatex and Chinese WeldTite also work fine. Do not use generic silicone sealant from a car shop — it is not designed for tires and will not seal punctures.
Going tubeless — first check that your rims are tubeless-ready (sealed bed and hump profile). All carbon rims from 2020 onward are tubeless-ready by default. Then read our tire pressure guide to find the right starting point for a tubeless setup.
Based on a Cam Nicholls video. Original: see channel @CamNicholls. All rights to the original content belong to the channel author.
