The truth behind tubeless
Don’t let common misconceptions prevent you from reaping the rewards to be had by switching to tubeless tyres
MYTH #1 There’s no point in tubeless
Yes, say the sceptics, tubeless tyres help you avoid punctures, but how often do you really puncture on clinchers anyway? OK, they add, pinch flats are an issue that tubeless solves for gravel bikes, but who’s pinch-flatting on a road bike unless they live in the Arenberg Trench?
All this is to miss the point. You need to think like-for-like performance: a 25mm tubeless Schwalbe Pro One TLE, for example, weighs 245g to a Pro One clincher’s 235g. Or Vittoria Corsa 2.0: tubeless 290g; clincher 255g.
So clinchers are lighter? Ah, but you’re forgetting the tubes. The average inner tube weighs around 70g, versus around 30g for the sealant in a tubeless tyre. The latest hookless tubeless wheels are also often lighter than their clincher counterparts.
However the real kicker is speed. According to independent lab tests, the fastest-rolling tyre in the world is the tubeless Vittoria Corsa Speed 2.0 TLR, followed by three more tubeless tyres. Doing away with tubes means energy is no longer lost to heat from clincher tyre and tube rubbing together as the tyre rolls and flexes.
MYTH #2 Tubeless is a faff
Once upon a time this may have been true. When tubeless tech first came along, in order to achieve the tightest – and so presumed the safest – fit, wheel manufacturers went as large in diameter as possible while tyre manufacturers went as small in diameter. The results were unnecessarily tight, customers swore and tyre levers snapped.
Today the dialogue between wheel and tyre manufacturers has vastly improved this situation, and most tubeless wheel-tyre combos are as easy to mount – and to inflate – as clincher tyres. Gone are the days of compressors or special pumps – a track pump is all you’ll need to seat a modern tubeless tyre.
Yes, there’s still sealant to get into a tyre, but thanks to valves with removable cores such as those pictured here from Muc-off (£24,99 pair), along with the clever bottle top designs of the Muc-off Tubeless Sealant range (from £8.99), sealant can be squirted into a tyre without a single drop spilt. Then for clean-up operations, Muc-off’s Glue and Sealant Remover (£7.99) easily disperses dried-on sealant.
MYTH #3 Tubeless tyres puncture anyway
It’s true, tubeless tyres aren’t entirely puncture-proof. But the majority of punctures – those up to around 2mm wide – will ‘heal’ themselves almost instantaneously thanks to the sealant. For anything larger, a tubeless plug (see box below) will fix the hole.
Sadly there is a point where not even a plug will work, but in such cases – hey presto – your tubeless tyre becomes a clincher as you insert a tube, and perhaps even a makeshift tyre boot – that gel wrapper or fiver should do. OK, at this stage things are a tad messy, but the trade-off is all the other times your tubeless punctured, self-sealed and you didn’t have to stop.
Plus at any rate, if a new tube and boot won’t fix your tubeless tyre, neither would it have fixed your clincher tyre, so you’re no worse off.
But your tubeless tyre is then either just a clincher or fit for the bin, right? Not so fast. Perhaps sealant or a plug couldn’t fix that hole roadside, but remove the tyre when you get home and it can often be repaired using a tubeless patch or even, for smaller holes, classic vulcanising rubber patches. It’s win, win, win.