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Every month, you ask our resident tyre expert, Rhodz, sales manager at Cambrian Tyres (the UK’s largest motorcycle tyre distributor) and dedicated PX rider, for his recommendations. This month we talk about tubeless rims pros and cons.
Q: Hi Rhodz,
I have a 1979 Vespa PX with split rims. Is it worth converting to tubeless rims for safety and puncture resistance, or should I stick with tubes on an original scooter?
Kind regards,
Mark, Leeds
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A: Hi Mark,
I still use inner tubes, but this is due to keeping my PX relatively original to that period, despite being matt black.
In the modern world, going tubeless is the better option due to safety if this is the primary concern. If you are riding with spirit with an inner tube fitted and you are unfortunate enough to get a nail in your tyre (I have personally seen a tyre arrive here with a puncture caused by a house key being ridden over!), the tyre goes flat pretty much immediately, as there is nowhere to hold that air at all.
On tubeless rims, a puncture will still occur in the same scenario, but on a tubeless rim with tubeless tyres, the rubber will pinch a bit on impact and close up enough of a degree that it will still go flat, but at a slightly slower pace, usually enough to coast to a careful stop.
Remember, tubeless tyres have the tubeless membrane in the physical makeup of the tyre; without that, any tyre is porous.
By using TT rims, you can carry a few spares in case of emergencies, such as inner tubes, which are small enough to stow away. With a TL rim, you’d need to carry a puncture repair kit and then think about – will you need a pull-through mushroom plug and what size, 3mm or 6mm, in which case you’ll need a golf ball (the grinding rasp to buff the inner area where the patch will adhere to), a reaming tool to make the hole perfect for the plug to pull through, the tyre cement that comes in a neat gluepot, and also your drill/air-gun power source for all these extras, or in the very slightest carry a new tyre around.
Article originally appeared in Scootering Magazine September 2025 issue. To subscribe and grab some Meguiars cleaning freebies visit https://classicmagazines.co.uk/scootering?offer=SCOME2026
