Actually, the matter is clear. Historically speaking, tubeless tyres for bicycles are long overdue. After all, cars have been using this type of tyre since the 1950s, and tubeless tyres began their triumphant advance on motorbikes at the end of the 1970s.
What are the advantages of this tyre technology, which is now slowly being used for trekking and touring tyres? Firstly, the absence of a tube means that there is no more friction between the tube and the tyre - the so-called rolling properties are improved and rolling resistance is reduced.
Secondly, depending on the design, weight can be saved without an inner tube. Although the first tubeless tyres with their thick sidewalls had no weight advantage, modern tubeless-ready tyres are now lighter than conventional tyres with inner tubes. It is worth taking a look at the weight of tyres and rims: they are constantly accelerated and braked and are unsprung mass.
The first tubeless tyres were designed for mountain bikes in 1999. Tube-less tyres can, and tubeless-ready tyres must, be used with a tyre sealant, the sealing milk. As a result, small holes are automatically sealed after a few rotations while riding - a great puncture protection. It is no coincidence that tubeless tyres have caught on most quickly in countries and areas where there are lots of thorns and/or cacti: France, Italy, Spain, the Midwest and the West Coast of the USA.
Thirdly, in the event of a puncture, the inner tube can no longer be squeezed between the ground and the rim - the infamous "snake bites" or pinch flats no longer exist. This means that tubeless tyres can be ridden off-road with less air pressure. With correctly adjusted pressure, this leads to more comfort and traction. These advantages are winning over more and more mountain bikers in the D-A-CH region.
Tubeless and tubeless-ready tyres have been on the market for racing bikes since 2006, but have only been established for a few years. Tubeless-ready tyres are still quite new for trekking bikes and are being promoted by the market leader Schwalbe in particular. However, tubeless tyres still have specific disadvantages in terms of handling. All the details on tubeless, tubeless ready, sealant, patching and inflation in our overview of tyre systems.
Conclusion:
Are tubeless tyres the better solution? They are unrivalled in terms of puncture protection, they tend to have less rolling resistance and they can be ridden off-road with better traction. So is it all plain sailing for the future of tubeless tyres? Not quite.
Even 17 years after their introduction, tubeless and tubeless-ready tyres remain complicated to handle. Some combinations of rims and tyres are extremely difficult to fit, often only with a compressor or a special floor pump. The sealant cannot seal larger holes, sometimes it clogs the valves and has to be replaced every few months. Those who are not afraid of this effort can be happy with tubeless tyres. But cyclists who don't want to worry about it all the time are probably better off riding with an inner tube.
The complete article was published in Trekkingbike issue 3/2016.
You can download the individual articles as PDF files here.
