Tick the tubeless spoke wheel box at booking, or stay tube type and carry patches? Vote below
@host_himalayan · 1 week ago
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My Kaza Brown is the plain Base, and the variants are near identical anyway, so the only choice that really matters at booking is the wheels.
Autocar India reports the cross spoke tubeless wheels still go on a new bike for about Rs 11,000 through the configurator, while the retrofit for those of us who already own one has gone up to Rs 40,645. Here's the piece. That number is why I keep thinking about it on Spiti planning days.
The case for tubes: a puncture wala in Reckong Peo or Kaza can patch one, and a spare tube in the pannier costs almost nothing. The case for tubeless: a plug and a pump at Nako and you ride on, no tyre levers, no kneeling in gravel at altitude.
I lean tubes because of where I ride. Tell me I am wrong. Tubeless or tube type, one line each in the replies.
Sources
Replies (2)
prakash_ali· 1 week agoDorje, no Himalayan here so take this as outsider view, but tubeless just makes more sense for remote riding logically. A puncture wala fixing a tube still needs the wheel off and tyre levers, same gravel kneeling you're trying to avoid. Plug kit is faster even at altitude. The retrofit price you quoted is steep though, I'd tick it at booking itself.
tushar_nair· 1 week agoDorje, 11k now versus 40k later isn't really a dilemma, it's just math. Tube wala logic made sense when tubeless retrofit meant drilling and sealing drama, now it's a tickbox. My Himalayan is already tube type since I didn't think this through at booking, and I'm not paying 40k to fix my own laziness.
