Bikepacking - an alternative way of touring...

[Aushiker]

Bikepacking.com has done a blog post on tubeless bikepacking. Might be of interest.

[singlespeedscott]

Saw this the other day. Very interesting

[RonK]

Preaching to the converted. I did my bikes a couple of years ago. And since then quite a few for acquaintances.

[Stovepipe]

dumb question:
1 of the main benefits I hear of tubeless is "can run at muuuuch lower pressures like 20psi".
Low pressure apparently better for grip, which makes sense for downhill and technical single track. When Ive forgotten to pump up my tyres and they get low it feels sluggish and squishy. When I pump them up it feels like a million bucks and a 50% speed/efficiency increase.

Why is low pressure good for bikepacking (where a lot of the riding is slugging uphill, or not that technical)?

[RonK]

dumb question:
1 of the main benefits I hear of tubeless is "can run at muuuuch lower pressures like 20psi".
Low pressure apparently better for grip, which makes sense for downhill and technical single track. When Ive forgotten to pump up my tyres and they get low it feels sluggish and squishy. When I pump them up it feels like a million bucks and a 50% speed/efficiency increase.

Why is low pressure good for bikepacking (where a lot of the riding is slugging uphill, or not that technical)?

You are making an incorrect assumption. Low pressure is not the reason for going tubeless on a bikepacking bike - it is to minimise punctures. However (with the right tyres) a slightly lower tyre pressure does improve ride quality and comfort over long rides.
I run the 29 x 2.1 Vittoria Mezcals on my bike at 30 psi.

[Stovepipe]

You are making an incorrect assumption. Low pressure is not the reason for going tubeless on a bikepacking bike - it is to minimise punctures. However (with the right tyres) a slightly lower tyre pressure does improve ride quality and comfort over long rides.
I run the 29 x 2.1 Vittoria Mezcals on my bike at 30 psi.

I thought the 'minimize punctures' was 'you can run tyres at lower pressures without the risk of punctures from punch flats' - but otherwise if you are at a pressure where pinch flats dont really occur there is negligible difference in puncture proofing? or do they self seal if you get a little prick?
anyway im not against it at all, I have a bottle of stans and the rest of the stuff to give it a go myself. tried to get the mezcals but they were sold out so got Maxxis Ikon. Mostly keen to feel the weight difference.

[RonK]

You are making an incorrect assumption. Low pressure is not the reason for going tubeless on a bikepacking bike - it is to minimise punctures. However (with the right tyres) a slightly lower tyre pressure does improve ride quality and comfort over long rides.
I run the 29 x 2.1 Vittoria Mezcals on my bike at 30 psi.

I thought the 'minimize punctures' was 'you can run tyres at lower pressures without the risk of punctures from punch flats' - but otherwise if you are at a pressure where pinch flats dont really occur there is negligible difference in puncture proofing? or do they self seal if you get a little prick?
anyway im not against it at all, I have a bottle of stans and the rest of the stuff to give it a go myself. tried to get the mezcals but they were sold out so got Maxxis Ikon. Mostly keen to feel the weight difference.

Well - if I had meant pinch flats I would have said so. It should be self-evident that risk of pinch flats while bikepacking is relatively low.
Tubeless tyres will seal penetrations by thorns and even larger objects such are screws and nails, and larger penetrations can be plugged quickly without dismounting the tyre.
Last time I used tubes on a tour I got a puncture from a tiny staple from a child’s school stapler. And that was using supposedly puncture-resistant Schwalbe Marathon Dureme tyres.
I haven’t had a flat in either of two tubeless equipped bikes in the past 5 years.
There is a lot of difference in rolling resistance between Mezcals and Ikons. Ikons are quite good for mountain biking but don’t roll so well on hard surfaces.

[Aushiker]

I thought the 'minimize punctures' was 'you can run tyres at lower pressures without the risk of punctures from punch flats' - but otherwise if you are at a pressure where pinch flats dont really occur there is negligible difference in puncture proofing? or do they self seal if you get a little prick?
anyway im not against it at all, I have a bottle of stans and the rest of the stuff to give it a go myself. tried to get the mezcals but they were sold out so got Maxxis Ikon. Mostly keen to feel the weight difference.

I have a Salsa Mukluk fatbike and I run tubless so I can low pressures down to 6 to 8 PSI. My "transport" mode pressure is normally 20 PSI.

I have just come back from an overnight ride which I have done twice recently. Once on the Mukluk and then this week on my Surly Long Haul Trucker. On the Mukluk, I averaged 10.91 km/h at 20 PSI riding Marathon Maxxis (not known for their lack of rolling resistance) and the same route on Surly I averaged 11.84 km riding Schwalbe Marathon Mondial HS 428 47-622 which have better-rolling resistance according to Schwalbe Marathon Mondial HS 428 47-622.

The tubeless low pressures come into play on the sand and of course snow. Also tubless is great for handling punctures as suggested.

Two Peoples Bay Beach - {Day 11- 16} by Aushiker, on Flickr

[rifraf]

For those who would like to try tubeless without the expense of tubeless specific rims or tires and dont know, there is always ghetto tubeless.

http://www.mtbtechniques.co.uk/MaintananceGhetto.html

Definitely works fine.

[Aushiker]

For those who would like to try tubeless without the expense of tubeless specific rims or tires and dont know, there is always ghetto tubeless.

http://www.mtbtechniques.co.uk/MaintananceGhetto.html

Definitely works fine.

This is what I did initially, converting Surly Marge Lite rims and they where fine, however, I always had a niggle about my skills and swapped them out for rimless specific rims later on.

[rifraf]

This is what I did initially, converting Surly Marge Lite rims and they where fine, however, I always had a niggle about my skills and swapped them out for rimless specific rims later on.

And that's exactly what I would have done had I'd the spare funds at the time.
Theres just something about doing a job once and doing it right ie. specific rims/tires.

The "Ghetto" simply worked so well for me that I've too easily put any spare funds toward other endless priorities.........

Wish I'd tried it sooner as Yanchep was offering up too regular punctures (by errant thorns)

I don't remember my last loss of full pressure puncture, so I'm certainly a convert with full membership to the choir singing the tubeless praises

[Stovepipe]

Well - if I had meant pinch flats I would have said so.

Yeah OK relax just a question

[Cheesewheel]

Thought it was relevant to post to distinguish bikepacking from mtb'ing

[Aushiker]

Now I know why I bikepack