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FEATURES: ASK RC: THE BENEFITS OF TUBELESS TIRES
Richard Cunningham
December 7, 2009
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I read the answers in your Twenty Tech Questions story and was curious about one of them. You said that tubeless wheel technology is the most important innovation in the last 40 years for tire technology. This is an opinion I have seen elsewhere as well. I must be missing something, I don't see a great value in road tubeless (I don't ride off road and don't know a thing about it). Can you tell me what the great value of road tubeless and why if it is so great the pro racers and triathletes don't use it.
– Bryin Sills
Professional triathletes and road racers ride tubular tires — not the lightweight clinchers that are sold to almost every cycling enthusiast. Tubular tires roll faster (in real life-not on polished steel test drums in clincherville laboratories), are smoother and more comfortable on any type of road surface. They are also safer when they flat at speed, because the tubular tire is glued onto a rim without protruding flanges. The advantage of tubeless is lower rolling resistance due to the elimination of the friction between the tube and tire. Tubeless tires roll faster than tires with tubes and the use of lightweight liquid sealants in tubeless tires makes them more reliable. I wouldn’t expect road tubeless to catch on quickly, as road riders are slow to respond to changes, but the tubeless tire is the one advancement that could bring cycling tires out of the 1930s and back on track with the rest of the world’s pneumatic rolling stock. Even wheelbarrows use tubeless tires these days.
Contact Richard Cunningham for questions or comments, or just to talk bikes at: askRC@roadbikeaction.com
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