Tubeless road tyres
Tubeless tyres have been pretty well accepted over the last few years by mountainbike riders. I have been riding without inner-tubes for the last six years on all my mountainbikes, but until now not on my road bikes.
Tubeless tyres offer a few benefits over using a conventional inner-tube setup. Most of these are shared between MTB and road bikes. But first consider the conventional tyre set ups available and their reletive pros and cons.
Clincher
This is a ‘normal’ inner tube equipped tyre setup. These are simple, every cyclist knows how to change a tyre and there is a massive array of tyres avauilable. If you suffer a puncture on the road/trail it is easy to sort out and you can carry all that you need with you.
But clincher tyre setups can be heavy, prone to pinch punctures, and harsh feeling (compared to other setups) due to friction between tyre and tube. If you suffer a puncture the tyre can come off the rim (only really a ‘problem’ on road bikes due to the increased speeds involved)
Tubular
Not to be confused with tubeless. A tubular tyre is a tyre carcass sewn up around an innertube. The tub is then glued or taped to the proprietry rim. This is a setup that is confined to road or cyclocross use (with a couple of exceptions). It gives a smoother ride, allows use of a really light rim, and gives more grip. This is mainly due to the ability of the tub to conform to the road surface better than a clincher even when run at high pressures. Pinch puncturing is more difficult due to the rim shape. If you do puncture the tub, the tub is very unlikely to come off the rim, and can even be ridden flat (just)
But, you have to glue your tubs on, this takes time, and is not really possible by the side of the road. So this setup is only really for race use.
Tubeless
On an MTB or road bike tubeless tyres share the following atributes; a smoother roll as there is no friction between tyre and tube, and you can run the tyre softer than a similar tube setup without risking a puncture, this also gives more grip. You can do this because of a slightly stiffer tyre carcas construction. My recommendation is to run a sealant in the tyre, this seals any small punctures that happen due to thorns, sharps, or small cuts. Pinch punctures are almost impossible to get. If you do get a puncture the tyre won’t come off the rim as it is ‘locked’ into place.
The only downsides as far as i see it are that there is less availability/choice of tyres and rims.
I have been using tubeless mountain bike tyres for six years so, to me this is proven technology. I have only suffered seven or eight punctures in all this time. Most of these I sealed with a tubeless repair kit, but a few I had to put a tube in until I got home and patched the inside of the tyre.
In the last year I tried racing on the road on tubs for the first time. Two punctures. and two ruined £65 tubs later………
I decided to try Tubeless.
The setup I decided to try was Fulcrum Racing One wheels, light fast, stiff and ‘two-way-fit’.
Hutchinson Fusion 2 tyres. Hutchinson currently are the only tyre manufacturer making tubeless road tyres.
Eight months on, they are running perfectly. I have suffered one puncture, the sealant sealed it in ten seconds, and I only lost 20psi.
The best thing is the ride. SOOOOOOOO smooth, and fast, and grippy. It really livened up the bike, and made it more comfortable. So I would definately recommend it to racers, and people riding sportives, alike.
I got so used to it that I didn’t want to ride my training wheels, even though I need my Powertap hub for training data. So I decided to convert the rim to tubeless.
I used the same tyre. Hutchinson now make three tyres, but I wanted to keep the same set on both wheels.
I used no-tubes spoke tape to seal the rim bed, and their tubeless road valves to seal and add air.
They blew up easily with a trackpump, and have stayed that way for the last 400 miles.
The ride is sublime, so smooth again, and i was using a high quality race tyre before (continental GP4000s, or Vredestein Quatro something or other), not an armoured winter training tyre.
I am now running no inner tubes on any of my six bikes, and very very happy about it.
Pop in the shop and ask any questions of me about tubeless. I have tried many combinations and have got a good feel for what works and what doesn’t.
Dave
