Tube vs tubeless tyres: All you need to know

As the name suggests, a tube tyre consists of a tube of air that is placed inside the tyre. The air acts as a cushion and makes driving over bumpy roads a bit smoother. It also maintains the shape of the tyre and most importantly supports the weight of the vehicle, keeping it stable.
On the other hand, a tubeless tyre weighs less and reduces un-sprung weight of the vehicle. This gives you superior handling characteristics and inspires confidence in the driver.
Technology advances happen every year and tyres have not been left behind. There were times when tube tyres run the market; as time went on, tubeless tyres also hit the market. One of the motorists who were quick to try out and embrace tubeless tyres is Andrew Nkora.
He says he had to stop using tube tyres because whenever they were or are hit or scorched by the sun, probably in a parking area that has no shield from the sun, they would heat up and develop punctures easily.
“I used to drive on tube tyres and whenever one of them was pierced with a nail or any other sharp metal or sharp stone, the tyre would lose pressure within the shortest time possible. When I started using tubeless tyres, even when I get a puncture on the road, it allows me to continue driving until I reach a place where it can be repaired without the car breaking down,” Nkora explains.
While it is easy to feel and notice a tube tyre that has got a puncture while driving, it is instead hard to notice and sometimes feel that there is a problem or a puncture if you are driving on a tubeless tyre. This, according to Nkora is because tubeless tyres have thick and strong bodies. When punctured, a tubeless tyre will not release or lose or emit its pressure as fast as a tube tyre would.

Tubeless tyres are easy to fix
Julius Kaggwa, a motorist recalls, one of his journeys from upcountry while driving a Toyota Fielder that was fitted with tubeless tyres. Along the way, he noticed the car was loosing balance. When he parked by the roadside to check the tyres, he realised that one of the rear tyres had been pricked by a nail that got stack therein.
“I drove for approximately 25 more kilometres until I reached a fuel station. The mechanic removed the nail and in less than 15 minutes, I embarked on the journey to Kampala,” Kaggwa recalls.
Abby Ddungu, a mechanic, says the disadvantage with tube tyres is that if you are the kind of motorist who applies brakes so much when driving no matter what speed you drive at, the brake disc heats up. When it does, the heat is absorbed into the tube protector and eventually gets to the tube.
“This explains why there are incidences where you see a car on the road moving normally and the tyre bursts. It means that the tube failed to absorb and contain the heat. If it is a tubeless tyre, it has the capacity of containing the heat generated from the brake disc for a long time until you park and it cools by itself,” Ddungu explains, adding that unlike tube tyres, you can drive on tubeless tyres for some days without ever noticing that you got a puncture if it was small. This is because tubeless tyres are made out of thick rubber or latex compared to tubed tyres.
In the case of Kaggwa, Ddungu reasons that by the time you feel uncomfortable with a punctured tubeless tyre, it means that the pricking object was perhaps big and created or left a big opening to release pressure from the tyre.
According to topdifferences, an online portal, the puncture repairing process of tube tyre involves a complicated process of removing the tyre from the vehicle and removing tube from the tyre while the puncture repairing process of a tubeless tyre can be done without removing the tyre and is very simple compared to a tubed tyre.

Why tubed tyres lose pressure When your tube tyre gets a puncture, both the inner tube, which is usually soft by nature, and the outer tyre part that houses tyre treads, get punctured. This means that the inner tube, which keeps the pressure, will emit it through the outer tyre layer.

Understanding a valve stem

The valve stem is an extension of the airtight chamber with a tiny valve inside for changing the pressure inside the tyre. In a traditional inner tube setup, the valve stem is part of the tube itself. Poking through a hole in the rim, you will spot the stem and its lock nut holding it in place. When you replace your tube, the valve stem goes with it, and the new one replaces it.
Tubeless tyres are the opposite. The valve stem is separate and mounts to the rim. (If you have got a pair of big disc brakes up front, consider adding a right-angle valve stem so you can more easily inflate your tyres with the air hose at the gas station.) Tubes and valve stems should both be changed with every tyre change.

Can you put a tube in a tubeless tyre or a tubeless tyre on a tubed wheel?
These are both things you can do, but that does not mean it will be easy, advisable or the best solution. If you want to run a particular type of tire on your motorcycle, the easiest way to do that is to pick a motorcycle that designed to do that in the first place. You may also be able to swap wheels, but that can be an expensive and complicated proposition.
If you insist on running a tube in a tubeless tyre, the general rule of thumb is to treat the setup as one load rating and one speed rating less than the tubeless tyre says it can handle. That is mainly because your tube and tyre combination will be creating extra heat, especially the harder you ride.

(Source: www.revzilla.com)