The tube acts as a rim strip and forces a tighter seal between tyre bead and rim. When the tyre is inflated, trim the fringes. Skip to main content. What are the pros and cons of tubeless tyres? Video of Tubeless tyres made easy ish. Tuesday, 28 January The knowhow section of Cycle magazine makes sense of commonly misunderstood cycling subjects.
In this issue the magazine editor Dan Joyce explains Tubeless tyres. Tubeless pros The tyres can be ridden at lower pressures, improving traction off-road, without the risk of pinch-punctures.
Lower pressures mean improved comfort and rolling performance on rough surfaces see cyclinguk. Rolling resistance should be lower even on smooth surfaces. Many punctures will self seal. Tubeless cons More expensive. Tubeless tyres cost more, you may need new rims, and you will need more paraphernalia.
Fitting is messier and more time consuming. To create an airtight seal when the tires are pressurized, tubeless rim and tire beads have a slightly different shape than tubed tires and rims. They interlock with bead-locks or small ridges that prevent the tire from separating fro the rim. The rim bed, where the spokes and valve stem sit, is also sealed airtight.
Usually with a special type of rim tape that forms around the spoke and valve holes. Some tubeless rims have a solid rim bed. These do not require tape. A special liquid sealant is poured into the tire during installation. Some tubeless tires also use a casing to help keep the air in. This means that the rim has a bead lock. The rim bed may or may not be sealed.
Tubeless tires have slightly thicker sidewalls to make them more airtight. The valve, which is usually a Presta valve, has a removable core which allows you to add more sealant when needed.
In most cases, it is also possible to convert your existing wheels and tires to tubeless with a tubeless conversion kit. There is also a DIY option. T here are 2 ways to go about converting to tubeless:. This is the more expensive option because it requires that you buy tubeless rims and tires. The main benefit of tubeless-ready tires and rims is that they are much easier to mount and set up.
Tubeless tire beads are specially designed to lock onto tubeless rims to create an airtight seal. The rims usually come with airtight rim tape installed on the rim bed. For this reason, you can typically use less sealant. Tubeless-ready tires and wheels just work because they are designed for the purpose. The system is reliable, simple, and easier to set up. There are three different tubeless systems available:. In addition to tubeless tires and rims, you may also need tubeless sealant, valve stems, and rim tape depending on the type of tubeless components that you get.
Before going out and buying new wheels and tires, check to see if your current gear is tubeless-ready. Some modern mid-range and high-end bikes come from the manufacturer tubeless-ready but are shipped with tubes installed. This is done to make the bike easier to ship or set up for the showroom. Pretty much tires and wheels can be converted to tubeless. Even vintage wheels from the 70s and 80s work. The condition also plays a role.
The reason is that air is more likely to leak from non-tubeless-ready components. The main benefit of converting your existing wheels and tires to tubeless is the cost. The drawback is that the job is time-consuming. It can take a couple of days to get everything sealed up tight. The job can get frustrating pretty quickly as well if your tires and rims turn out to be leaky.
You can buy a kit with everything you need including tape, sealant, and valve stems. You can even use the valves from your old tubes to save more money.
This gives you a chance to get familiar with the tubeless setup without spending a bunch of money on new gear. Once you get it set up right, converted tires and wheels perform about the same as dedicated tubeless gear. A test that can be done at home looks at the security of the tyre on the rim.
While a loose-fitting setup may work for a lighter rider with a smooth style, it could prove a disaster for another rider. The reverse of this test is being able to get the tyre on in the first place. Again, the current transition to a widely adopted industry standard and the availability of pre-standard legacy parts is a problem.
There are no issues with using inner tubes within a tubeless tyre system. This also means that if you were to cut a tubeless tyre while riding, you can get going again by removing the tubeless valve and installing an inner tube. If your rim is hooked crochet then you can also use a regular tube-type clincher tyre with an inner tube.
However, if your rim is of the newer hookless TSS style, then you must use a compatible tubeless tyre, regardless of whether you want to use it tubeless or with a tube inside. Tyre sealant is a liquid added into the tyre. Usually latex-based, most tyre sealants also feature solid additives to help physically plug holes.
Better tyre sealants will typically fill holes and small cuts up to 3 mm in diameter. Those with an allergy to latex will also need to take care to avoid the popular options.
This answer will vary based on the sealant you use, the climate you live in, and your tyre construction. Hotter and drier climates will require sealant to be replenished more often — about every three months for popular products — while those in cooler and wetter climates may extend that timeframe to around six months. Likewise, a weeping tyre see below will need fresh sealant more often. There are some sealants that claim to last forever which, in our experience, is not the case.
Some sealant manufacturers go as far to say that there could be an adverse chemical reaction by mixing products. This is up to you. The only negative is additional rotating weight. A thicker sealant such as Orange Seal tends to form a sealing layer around the tyre and so more sealant is typically needed versus those with a thinner viscosity. The more sealant you run, the wider and deeper that strip of sealant becomes.
None of these are perfect, however, and the easiest and cheapest! If the sealant inside looks murky or is no longer liquid, then add more sealant and re-inflate the tyre. An even easier method is to simply remove the wheel from the bike and give it a shake.
These are basically sealant snowballs. Pull a bead off and see what marvellous creature your sealant has conjured. Alternatively, you can often inject sealant through the valve stem. To do this, you will need a tool to remove the valve core, a small squeeze bottle of sealant or a syringe, and a piece of tubing a drinking straw can work. Unscrew the valve core and inject the sealant through the stem with your chosen tool. Whatever method you choose, be sure to shake the bottle of sealant first.
This will ensure the sealing particles are not left out. You want that pulp! Raoul Luescher of Luescher Teknik Pty Ltd has specifically tested for this and found no evidence that tubeless sealant leads to corrosion in wheels.
While the ammonia in some popular sealants is known to corrode aluminium, the use of this chemical is very minimal.
Aluminium rims are almost always anodized, too, and should already be protected. One theory for the correlation between wheel corrosion and tubeless sealant comes from Adrian Emilsen of Melody Wheels , who believes that some leaky tubeless tapes allow sealant to seep into the nipple bed and retain water and salt. The answer to this will vary based on the brand of sealant, but typically tyre sealant has an incredibility long shelf life if unopened. Tyre sealant that has been opened should also last for years, but pay attention to bundled bits of sealing latex and signs of water ingress.
Always shake tyre sealant vigorously before use. Adding glitter or similar fine particulates is an old trick to help with clogging larger punctures. In our experience, the newer tyre sealants do a fine job already without having to resort to such tricks.
This is unfortunately pretty normal. You can start by pulling out the valve core and cleaning it with a rag. A thin framing nail or similar object can then be inserted through the open valve stem to clear it out. Some tyre brands and sealant types do this more than others. A weeping tyre will require you to replenish the sealant more regularly. Use a rag and water to wipe up spilt sealant before it dries.
If left to dry on clothes, the sealant will likely stain. If the sealant has dried onto a painted surface then wipe clean with a light solvent — brake cleaner, citrus-based household goo removers and similar work well, just avoid products that can damage the paint. It depends. However, many combinations lack a perfect fit and so a part of the tyre bead will sometimes pop off when the tyre is deflated, which then allows space for sealant to leak out.
Always place the valve at the top or side when inflating, and never at the bottom where the sealant will be resting. Most tubeless sealants will work well within butyl and latex inner tubes. While those with latex tubes need to take special care to not let the tube deflate and stick to itself.
Currently, almost every major tyre manufacturer offers tubeless tyres, so there are plenty of options, depending on your priorities. On the road, our team has had good success with the Schwalbe Pro One TLE, a performance tyre that offers great grip, rolling speed and easy compatibility with most wheels including hookless. Like mountain bike or cyclocross tyres, gravel tyres need to offer the right tread design and compound for your terrain.
Most importantly you need to match the width of the tubeless tape to the internal width of your rims. A number of these tapes sold by bicycle brands are often products from the other industries that have been cut to rim-specific widths, and as such, you can sometimes buy bulk lengths of these tapes with fewer width choices — such examples include Tesa and 3M tapes.
Whatever you do, avoid carbon fibre tubeless valves! Tyre inserts are effectively segments of foam that are run within the tyre to aid in rim sidewall protection, tyre sidewall stability, and in some cases such as with CushCore , help to dampen the air for a more controlled ride. Tyre inserts come with a weight penalty and can make installing and setting up tyres greatly more difficult.
On the positive side, inserts likely allow for lower tyre pressures to be used with even less risk of flat tyres or wheel damage. The tighter the tyre fit, the easier the system will be to inflate with a basic floor pump. One thing that is definitely not recommended is a CO2 canister. The easiest way is to check with your wheel builder or wheel manufacturer and ask the question.
Failing that, look for any marking on the tape that suggests it is for tubeless use; both Roval and DT Swiss tapes are clearly marked, for example. Alternatively, assess whether the tape looks air and watertight. If the tape is cloth, is made of porous plastic, is not adhesive, or has a loose fit on the rim, then it is not suitable for tubeless use.
Start with a bare rim that has been thoroughly cleaned with rubbing alcohol, acetone, or a similar solvent that leaves no residue. Find a tubeless tape that matches or is a couple of millimetres wider than the internal width of your rims. Starting one spoke hole before the valve hole, wrap the tape tightly around the circumference of the rim. For some road setups, it is advised to use two layers of tape to better handle the higher running pressures, but this also depends on the tape used.
Assuming your rim has been freshly wrapped in tape, then you want to pierce a hole in the tape without tearing it. There are two common methods here used by professional mechanics.
The first is to heat up a sharpened spoke, center punch or similar round pointy metal tool.
0コメント