Inconvenience of tubeless when switching tires

You've got a bit of a dilemma being a racer and frequently changing tires.

If you want to avoid the need and hassle of sealant, then your choices are full UST, rims and tires, or what shiggy is calling "UST spec" rims and tires a/k/a TLR (tubeless ready) . Full UST, rims and tires, have a measurable weight penalty which is not a racing plus. The TLR alternatives may be lighter, but may or may not require sealant.

Neither helps you all that much since you already have non UST wheels and are thinking of "converting" them to tubeless with the Stans system, and that requires sealant.

If you are interested in 3 things: 1) tubeless performance advantage (no pinch flats, better traction with low pressure); 2) weight savings; 3) and not having to buy new wheels, then I think you can live with the minor hassle of sealant.

Yes, you will have to add more each time you change tires, but it is not likely to completely dry up monthly. So you can salvage some of it, and the only stuff you need to wipe or peel off is what is on the beads. I leave anything that sticks to the casing in place. It is minor.

My experience with Stan's system is that the first time I try to get a tube-type tire to seat on a non-UST rim can be time consuming, and maybe not work. Once you find out what tires work on your rims using Stan's, and learn how to do it, changing tires will be quicker than the first time installation. Not certain you have to clean old sealant much. I usually just wipe the rim and tire bead with a rag, and move on.

But, it is more problem to change tires than using UST rims and UST (or usually tubeless-ready) tires. Messy because you have to use the sealant and usually you have to use a compressor. It will take longer than using tubes, but still, prep, taking tires off, scooping out remaining sealant, and installing new tires can be done in less that an hour. Less than 30 minutes if your tires seat quickly. Of course, changing tubes and tires should take less than 10 minutes, and changing UST tires on UST rims usually takes about the same.

In my situation, it all takes longer anyways, no matter what I use. Even with UST tires/rims, I use sealant because of thorns.

So, yeah, kind of a pain, but workable. Of course, if you like tubeless, and don't need sealant, moving eventually to a UST is the way to go.

Thanks guys, great information and experiences shared there!

Shiggy, good point about UST or TLR system tire changes being quicker than when using tubes.

At the moment I'm not racing that much, but I want to get more into it, and I know from experience how important tire choice can be, especially if it's been raining a lot and all the riders turn the course into mush. If I don't put on some mud tires, my Weirwolfs will collect loads of mud, which is heavy to drag around for a couple of hours.

clydecrash, yeah, I can see that the more one practices this, the easier it gets, and also how different rim and tire combos just work, and others don't.

dwt, yes, I am interested in those three points, so it sounds like a good idea.

gvs_nz, good tip about only using pre-tested tires for races. In addition to what you said, I can see it being a good idea as the overall setup, including tire pressure, has been tested so I can be reasonably sure the tire won't burp air, roll off the rim, etc.

Cool, I'll be giving this a go then!

I ride Mavic Crossmax (UST) wheels with various Specialized 2Bliss (tubeless-ready) tires or one set of Kenda UST tires. Always with sealant, just as a precaution. I do like to change my tires for race day depending on conditions and then back to "regular" tires when not racing. So during a season I'll swap tires around maybe 6-8 times. It is certainly not as quick and easy as switching tires with tubes and to me the main drawback is the messiness of the sealant. I know I could get away with not running sealant, but I still do it for piece of mind. I think the best use of time is to use any tools or tricks for mounting right off the bat and not struggle first only to give in later. I use an air compressor, even though most of the time a regular pump would do the trick. I never bother with soapy water and always dry the rim off with a towel as best I can and go with the pre-seating of the bead trick on the first try. I use a homemade "sealant extractor" made out of a flavor-basting syringe and some flex tubing to suck out the sealant from the tire I'm taking off to add it to the tire I'm mounting up. I pop the bead off of one side all around and suck out the old sealant. Then I take the tire off the rim and use a shop towel to wipe out the old sealant. It isn't a big deal to get it clean, just a wipe-down so it dries more quickly. I see no harm in a tiny bit of dried sealant inside the tire. Then I use a towel to dry off the rim as best I can. Then I put the new tire on, add the old sealant and top off if necessary, then I get right to pre-seating the beads. Then I hit it with the air compressor and usually have success on the first try. This is about a 20 minute routine to change a set of tires over and I always spill some sealant in the process. I have been contemplating going with full UST and no sealant for "normal" riding and only messing with the lighter weight tubeless ready with sealant on race day. Just for the convenience and cleanliness, especially considering the rare trailside flat that requires a tube to complete the ride. What a mess it is dealing with the sealant when that happens.... Over the years I've changed my tubeless tune from convert anything or ghetto tubeless to use UST for convenience.
Bead pre-seating video demonstration: