Wrote off tubeless for years until a guy at the Boise co-op showed me his rim tape job
I was picking up tubes at the shop on State Street last month and watched him mount a tire in maybe 90 seconds, no soap, no compressor, just a floor pump and patience. I had sworn off tubeless back in 2019 after a sidewall tear left me walking 3 miles, but he pointed out my old setup had cheap tape and I was running way too little sealant. Been running it on my gravel bike for 6 weeks now with zero flats, even after a goathead patch on the Greenbelt. Any of you still on tubes by choice, or did something specific win you over?
The "just a floor pump and patience" part is what gets me, because that is how most things in life actually work once someone shows you the right way. I fought with my chain for years, dropping it on every climb, until a guy at a race told me my chain was just too long. Five minutes with a tool and it never happened again. Same deal with my tubeless setup, I blamed the system when it was really just bad tape and me being stingy with sealant. We love to write stuff off after one bad experience, but half the time we were just doing it wrong the whole way. Your goathead story sold me more than any shop guy ever could, those things have ended rides for me on tubes twice this year.