Chill out then, that’s ^^^^ the only real thing that is any worse than tubs/tubes. Once they are holding air there isn’t much for you to do just top up the air every so often like a tub/tube. Every so often depending on your storage conditions you’ll have to remove the valve core and top up the sealant (somewhere between 4 months and a year) but during that time you might have had 3 or 4 race ending p’tures with tubs/tube so in comparison it nothing.
You might want to buy some sort of tyre plug (worm) for a road side repair in the rare event a hole doesn’t seal but your mechanic will probably take care of that rare event too.
I will have a second set of wheels for a race, but some fondos don’t have support vehicles, so I might need to meddle with a flat. I’m going to be running some Specialized Turbo race tires. Any good plugs for a tire like that? I’ve never used them (but I have seen several videos about how cool they are).
I just use a heap £3 tubeless repair kit (I’ve only actually used it once in about 5 years). With my cheap one its just a case of pushing a worm in with the tool, pumping the tyre up and trimming it with a blade. I also fixed a mates tubeless disc with one pre race and it was good for a 20mins 10. Its quite quick but some of the dearer tools look neat
You’d learn a lot installing them yourself. You can read the tips in many topics on the forum.
If you flat during a road race with no sag support and you don’t have a clue as how to plug a tire, it’s going to suck. It really helps to practice it if you can.
What second wheelset did you pick? I have a BMC Time Machine as well and only have the clinchers that came with it. On other bikes, I run tubeless set ups and was a bit hesitant to return to clinchers as I have had great success not flatting on tubeless. I am now more comfortable setting up and maintaining tubeless than I am changing out tubes.
The wheels that came with it were 50-60, so I went with Vision Metron 81s front and rear. I wanted a pure aero set so I could mix and match according to terrain and conditions. We also have a 1 mile flat sprint TT race nearby that they would be perfect for. But I love the ones that came with it. I will post a pic as soon as they are ready!
Dumb question, but what do I do if I get a flat while riding? Let’s assume it’s small and doesn’t require a plug. Will the tire go flat and all I need to do is pump it up, or will it stay inflated thanks to the sealant? Basically, should I carry a C02 because any flat will need to be filled up, or does the sealant prevent flats full-stop (unless it’s a major slice)? Thanks!
It really just depends. You may not notice. Or, it may squirt all over and you end up at 30psi by the time it seals. Or, it doesn’t seal and you need to plug it.
If you get a squirter, I’d pull over immediately and put my finger on the hole. Then I’d rotate it to the bottom and then modulate the air with my finger and try to get it to seal. Definitely don’t let all your air and sealant just leak all over the road. If it doesn’t seal, plug it. On my gravel bike, I’ve been able to plug leaks and not lose all my air and sealant.
once a week or so, open and close your valves. If you’re riding them week in week out, no need to worry as you’d be doing this to top up tyre pressure, but if you leave it a few weeks you might need pliers to open the valves next time. How much of an issue this will be depends on the valves and sealant you use and how long they’ve been in use, but a simple regular job.
at the same time, check to loosen and tighten the lock nut on the tubeless valve. It only needs to be finger tight to keep the seal. If the valve has seized on and you get a major flat, you won’t even get as far as seeing if you can get the tyre off at the roadside to put a tube in. Unless you have pliers in your kit…
If its tiny you’ll not notice it. You’ll lose circa 5-10psi and it’ll seal you won’t have to do anything. Even a larger hole that seals won’t really be noticed apart from the line of sealant spray on the ground/ seat tube
Very occasionally a hole will be on the side of the tyre and you may need to dismount and put the wheel on its side to get the sealant to it.
The one exemption to the above is the Finishline never dry out formula, that should be avoided. It cant seal anything properly and the tyre will gradually deflate . As said avoid that
Just got back from my first ride on the wheels/tires. Performed marvelously. We even hit some gravel sections.
I don’t plan on using them all the time, but the mechanic said to just put some air in them regularly, which will take care of the opening and closing the valves. Thanks for all the help!
Maybe some can enlightened me here. So I had to replace my tire due to a cut on the sidewall. I did lose some sealant before it sealed. I had to hold tire on its side after using a CO2 cartridge. Upon removal when I got back home the only visible liquid in the tire remaining looked like water. It is Stan’s sealant. Did I loose the sealant and liquid was condensation from the CO2? Does the color leave first trying to seal a bigger hole? I did do a long 7 hour ride in the rain a week before. But there is no way rain got inside the tire. I am having trouble figuring out what happened.
That’s what’s left of your sealant. Im guessing it’s been in the tire 3+ months. The latex in the sealant sticks to the tire over time and what’s left behind is water.
Thanks for the input. The sealant was probably only a month old but what you are saying does explain it I believe. That and the other reply related to the Co2. That was my first time using CO2 on a tubeless setup. You guys are great I couldn’t find much on Google on the subject.
16 years of riding tubeless on my MTB. No way I would ever go back to tubes. However, I had some horrible experiences with road tubeless. Made me go back to tubes for training. For racing I stick with tubeless and now I’m positively surprised:
Hunt 30 Aero (20.5mm internal)
GP5000 TL 28mm (recent batch)
Mounting: fairly easy, with some technique, but not too bad
And more important, when standing roadside with a flat, dismounting: this is super, super, super easy. I’ve already had to cut tires to get them off this rim but the 5000 was really easy.
The tire comes out at 29mm width. Probably stretches out a further mm or so.
. As said avoid that 
