I get that. I ride in Vegas, and when I visit family back in Florida, I ride there as well. I can count on one hand, with fingers left over, the times I've had punctures on those rides. But where I live right now, I can't count the number of punctures I've had this year alone. It's been horrible.

i also have to admit that i'm just really lazy.

the idea of re-learning how to change an 'effin tyre in my 40s is positively exhausting to me, so . . . clinchers it is!

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https://lshtm.academia.edu/MikeCallaghan

http://howtobeswiss.blogspot.ch/

I totally get that. I certainly didn't want to learn this but the shear number of punctures I was getting was exhausting. Not just the expense of replacing or patching tubes (which I have become quite adept in repairing) but the frustration of spending 10 or 15 minutes sitting on the side of a busy road replacing a tube every time I went out. I was at the point of finding a solution or giving up cycling. It was that bad.

It shouldn't take 10 minutes to replace a tube.

Good for you.

I came here to say I think 10 minutes is a pretty good estimate to change a tube if you're saying from puncture to rolling again (which I think by the context that's what you're saying). By the time you stop, get your tools/tube/inflator out, remove the wheel, change, then do everything in reverse, 7-10 minutes seems like a good estimate.

You're leaving out the 2-3 minutes I spend cursing and kicking rocks that I'm doing this shit again.

for me it's +30 seconds of exhaling deeply and questioning my life choices. "why am i doing this again? why is the universe so indifferent?"

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https://lshtm.academia.edu/MikeCallaghan

http://howtobeswiss.blogspot.ch/

I don't care what anyone else says or does... I put tubs to all my wheels. Although, flats are rare, in no rush, under 70.3 race conditions, I can replace a tub in well under 5min with high degree of certainty and go on my marry way ;-)

Replying to no one specific....

If you happen to be one of those riders that ride mostly indoors, and only outdoor rides are 3-4 races over a 4-5 month period....

Is it still better to use tubeless from a flat prevention POV? The last 3 WTC races I've been at, I flatted on tubes. Several friends with tubeless never seem to have flats. Am I stupid for making the switch, and either add a little sealant before each next race, or remove the tires after each race and clean them out (is it really that hard??) and add new sealant??

My very limited experience so far, and I'm planning on refreshing sealant about 2 weeks prior to IMAZ. I figure this will give me plenty of time to make sure the tires are properly sealed and the sealant is fresh.

But I'm still a tubeless n00b. Others might have more experienced opinions with better recommendations.

So going back to my favorite bitch about cycling. Today I went on a 68 mile ride. I only have one bike set up for tubeless, and it wasn't the bike I was riding today. Anybody wanna guess what happened?
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I managed to get TWO flats within a mile of each other. YGTBFSM.

First one was the back tire. I felt it getting low so I stopped. Found a staple in the tire. Not like a paper staple but one of those big staples, like a carpentry staple. Kicked rocks and cursed, then popped in one of my spare tubes and hit it with my CO2 inflator and back on my way.

Then, about a mile down the road, I notice the front feels sloppy. Stop and give it a pinch test. Sure enough, I'm way low. I found a mesquite thorn in that tire. Fortunately, I had a second spare tube this time and my inflator actually still had some CO2 left in it. Not enough for a full charge, but maybe 40psi. I was only about four miles from the house so I just rode the front tire soft the rest of the way home.

Now, I'm only posting this because if it had been my tubeless tires, I wouldn't have found either of these punctures until I got home. I probably would have noticed the staple when I put the bike on the work stand. But the mesquite thorn, I probably wouldn't have found that until I pulled the tire off for routine maintenance.