My local bike shop owner said to me "I would never use tubeless tires for a Gravel Bike" My local bike shop owner said to me &quot;I would never use tubeless tires for a Gravel Bike&quot;.
Where I ride in central Iowa, we only seem to have the large clunky gravel with fairly sharp edges. I have been getting the pinch type flats, like a snake bite. So I started reading and have viewed a number of &quot;experts&quot; who swear by tubeless, especially GCN presenters I follow. I am a fit Superclydesdale rider, so not a featherweight person, and all my bikes must be very sturdy.
Who to believe?
Who to believe?

You can believe that the shop owner believes that tubeless is not for him/her.
But that does not mean that you are in exactly the same situation or have the same needs.
Here are some high level steps for arriving at a solution that works for you.

Read and listen to what others say
Look for information that matches what you intend to do and what you value / care about.
Make your best guess at what will work best for you and try it out
Evaluate your experience and make changes based on what did / didn't work

The answer to almost any &quot;What's better?&quot; question is &quot;It depends&quot;
It depends because what works best depends on your situation and what is important to you.
The shop owner who won't ride tubeless has made a decision based on his/her preferences. Is he/she wrong? No, it's not wrong if it works for him.
Google &quot;tubeless bicycle tires pros and cons&quot; and you will get a variety of results with a variety of lists for and against.
Just two examples:
TUBE VS TUBELESS BIKE TIRES: PROS AND CONS
Pros and Cons of Tubeless Mountain Bike Tires
At the end of the day you can believe your own experience.