GRIPPING STUFF

Tyres may be among the most simple components on a bike, but they can have the most significant effect on performance

Gripping Stuff Continental GP4000S II, £59.95 conti-tyres.co.uk Vittoria Corsa Control G+, £54.99 zyrofisher.co.uk Schwalbe Pro One, £66.99 isondistribution.co.uk Specialized Roubaix Pro, £29 specialized.com Vredestein Fortezza TR, £tbc maxbikespr.co.uk Panaracer Race A Evo3, £79.99 zyrofisher.co.uk Michelin Power Endurance, £33.99 chickencyclekit.co.uk Maxxis Padrone TR, £49.99 madison.co.uk Pirelli P Zero Velo 4S, £43.89 extrauk.co.uk Challenge Strada, £58 upgradebikes.co.uk

There is debate over who actually came up with the pneumatic bicycle tyre. Scottish inventor Robert William Thompson was first to patent his idea for a multi-tubed design in 1845, but it was his countryman John Boyd Dunlop who commercialised the concept 40 years later.

Regardless, both had American Charles Goodyear to thank, for it was he who in 1844 worked out how to vulcanise rubber, taking a tacky and fragile substance and making it durable enough to be used as tyres.

Since then, tyres haven’t really changed much. Most of us still prise a rubber inner tube inside a cloth carcass, encased by vulcanised rubber, and inflate it with air. Many pros don’t even go that far, preferring to use glued-on tubular tyres, which are in essence what Dunlop proposed 130 years ago. But cycling has started to throw out conventional wisdom.

Traditionally, cyclists used skinny tyres pumped up to eye-wateringly high pressures in the belief that they would roll faster and be more aerodynamic. As it turns out, research now suggests that wider tyres run at lower pressures can be faster, as well as offering more grip and comfort.

It’s taken a while for traditionalists to be persuaded, but the message is finally getting through, with 25mm replacing 23mm as the standard. The industry’s next trick, it seems, is to convince us to throw away our inner tubes altogether.

Tube be or not tube be?

‘Finally I think consumers are aware of the big difference tyres can make, especially wider tyres, so we don’t have to tell this story so much now,’ says Axel Bult, product manager at Vredestein Tyres. ‘More and more the discussion is about tubeless. Comparing a 25mm clincher with a butyl tube to a 25mm tubeless tyre with sealant, we can see a reduction of 20% in rolling resistance with a 13% improvement in grip. Those benefits are huge, not just to performance

but to handling. With wider rims, a wider tyre can be accommodated without compromising the tyre shape, which hugely influences a tyre’s performance and makes steering feel more responsive, too.

‘And then there’s comfort,’ he adds. ‘Our data shows that our tubeless tyre, ridden at 6 bar [88psi], has less rolling resistance than our Fortezza clincher with an inner tube at 9 bar [132psi]. Imagine how much more comfort that provides.’

Stephen Robinson, brand manager at Maxxis, agrees. ‘It’s about educating riders. Pressures can come right down with tubeless to as low as 60-65psi. It will eventually be the norm. Two years ago we were still debating whether 25mm tyres were faster than 23mm, because people weren’t ready to believe it. Now look in the pro peloton and you probably won’t see a single 23mm tyre. Perceptions are changing and tubeless is the next step.’

Not everyone is convinced the inner tube is about to go the way of the dinosaurs, though. ‘We still have a lot to do to improve the clincher tyre,’ says Paolo Brivio, product development manager for Pirelli. ‘We can still improve the clincher

‘An inner tube is still easy to change at the side of the road’

again, in terms of compound and profile. For that we don’t need a breakthrough with another new technology. We are of course looking at new projects for the future, and we don’t dismiss tubeless, but today most riding is still done on clinchers so we make our choices based on the market right now. An inner tube is still very easy to change at the side of the road.’

Continental’s head of R&D, Edwin Goudswaard, agrees there is still much to be gained from modern materials in a tubed clincher: ‘In the past we would make big jumps. Now the jumps will be smaller, but there are still some directions we can go in. We’re constantly working on new polymers and new compounds.

Tubeless has a lot of potential as long as a safe and consistent standard can be reached, but there are still too many compromises, and we don’t want to join the tubeless market while such compromises exist.’

You can’t stop progress

‘Let me tell you why I believe tubeless to be the optimal solution,’ says Specialized’s product manager for tyres and tubes, Oliver Kiesel. ‘Tyres used to be about managing conflicting targets: performance is about rolling resistance and weight but you can’t ignore puncture resistance and durability. These two sides are completely against each other in a normal clincher, but with tubeless the big difference is being able to add sealant. You can still build a light high-performance tyre – our system weight [including rim and sealant] can now be below that of a standard clincher and tube – with much lower rolling resistance. Puncture resistance is taken care of by the sealant. It brings the conflicting targets of weight, speed and protection closer together.’

It’s a compelling case, but Kiesel is also aware of the obstacles. ‘The primary goal is to achieve consumer acceptance by achieving a standard that everyone can reach themselves at home or at the roadside. Safety must remain at the core, so tolerances must be carefully managed, while maintaining easy fitting, inflation and sealing. But thanks to new materials we can meet all these criteria now.

‘The tricky part is not so much in the hands of the tyre manufacturers, though, as it is the rim designers,’ he adds. ‘At Specialized we have our own Roval wheel brand, so we can check and maintain the tolerances and test both products together. Tyre tolerances are an issue, of course, but more vital is the stiffness of the rim. It’s fairly simple to make sure the tyre doesn’t stretch under high pressures,

‘It’s worrying how many rims claim to be tubelesscompatible’

but it’s the rim changing shape that is more of a safety concern. It worries me how many rims are out there claiming to be tubeless-compatible when I do not believe they have all been thoroughly tested.’

As well as safety, usability has been a concern for many riders when it comes to switching to tubeless, but John Heasman, product manager at Vittoria, believes that technology has overcome those concerns. ‘You don’t have to search hard to find mechanics who will show you their scars from trying to fit road tubeless tyres, but we’ve moved on from that now. Our goal was to make tubeless as easy to fit as a clincher, and we’re there now.’

Tubeless in the peloton

The pros influence the kit choices that many everyday riders make, but this is one area where the trend towards tubeless hasn’t found much traction.

‘Maybe in five to 10 years we’ll see tubeless tyres in the Tour de

‘Our goal was to make tubeless as easy to fit as a clincher’

France,’ says Bult. ‘Tony Martin has run tubeless tyres on his time-trial bike, as he’s aware of the benefits of reduced rolling resistance. Pros are quite conventional but gradually it’s changing. Everyone is working on finding gains, and you can lose a race by not having sufficient grip on a downhill and crashing out. There are big advantages to be gained in tyres.’

It’s clear where the future of road tyres lies. It’s taken more than a decade to get this far – it was 2006 when Shimano and Hutchinson collaborated on the first road tubeless system – but the benefits are clear: grippier, more comfortable, faster rolling, fewer punctures. How long will it be before we look back with nostalgia at the days when we used to stand by the roadside, struggling to fit a rubber inner tube into our tyres? Stu Bowers is deputy editor of Cyclist and a fully paid-up member of the tubeless army