[shang]

I recently went to Tubliss as well and I love it. I was running a soft terrain tire in the back for about a month and it was way to soft for the Tubliss. I carry a plug kit with me but the cool thing is you can just run them flat. Several times I got back to the trail head and found the rear was flat and I didn't even know. I'm sure partly because the tire was so soft it felt flat to me all the time anyway.

As far as bending or flat spotting a rim, I think the rim is safer with the Tubliss running flat than with a tube. This is because the high pressure tube keeps the bead firmly seated with 100+ psi on it keeping it strengthened from the inside, just as it does the rest of the wheel.

I used to ride BMX bikes and it was the same idea with air pressure. The more air, the stronger the wheel.

I think the tires feel much better without the tube against them too. Anyone who has converted from tube to tubeless on their mountain bike can tell you that. At the same exact air pressures the tires are way more compliant.