What about just hacking around on mtn.bike trails? Do you guys think tubeless makes more sense than standard clinchers? I'm not going to run tubulars on my trails.

Are you puncturing or pinching regularly? Or wanting to run lower pressures but afraid of pinching? If the answer is yes, then tubeless could be of considerable help. If neither of those situations are an issue for you, then there's probably not a reason to switch.

Yes, that's exactly the problem. I have to pump my tires up because I'm afraid of flatting but then the bike is bouncing off of every obstacle. If I could run my tires at a lower pressure without flatting that would make the ride more enjoyable.

A lot of good points made here. I would never argue that tubeless is better than tubbies for racing - can't compete in several areas. But for a midpack "B" racer - justifying an extra set of wheels with super expensive tires for a dozen or so races per year is not easy. With the time required to maintain tubulars, the cost of replacing a damaged tire, etc, I just wouldn't be comfortable training on them. On the other hand, a reliable tubleless set could be used as a daily trainer as well as racing wheelset. And you could buy a set each of mud and dry clinchers for less than the cost of one set of tubulars.

So, my purpose in starting this thread was not to find out why tubular setups are better for racing - I already am aware of and agree with that. I just wanted to find out if anyone had any good tubeless setups that they would recommend. From what I can find, there are reliable setups - you just have to get things dialed in. Once a few more rim companies get on board with good ust rims, it could really be a viable option for the workaday racer and gravel roader. Here are a few links that I found, for those of you that are interested...

http://velonews.competitor.com/2010/09/ ... que_142245" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.cxmagazine.com/going-tubeles ... cing-intro" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (Part 1)

http://www.cxmagazine.com/trying-tubele ... up-part-ii" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (Part 2)

http://www.cxmagazine.com/going-tubeles ... mendations" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; (Part 3 - this one has some interesting follow-up comments at the bottom, worth reading if you're interested)