Myths Debunked: Tubeless Tires DON’T Roll Faster
When tubeless tires first became available, they were designed for mountain bikes, and it was their resistance to pinch flats (above) that made them popular. Off-road, there are few nails or broken bottles that can cause punctures (and even those usually will be pushed into the soft ground rather than puncture the tire), but rims can bottom out on sharp rocks and other obstacles. So much so, in fact, that top mountain bike racers used to race on tubular tires – because tubular rims make pinch flats less likely. Eliminating tubes did the same. You still could ‘burp’ the tire, but generally tubeless allowed running lower pressures with fewer problems.
Many also believed that tubeless tires were faster. It made sense: an inner tube, even a thin one, added a membrane that flexed and absorbed energy. A tire without a tube had to be faster, even if only by a small amount! One big manufacturer advertised their tubeless tires with the slogan “Nothing is always faster than something.”
This turned out to be another myth. Tubeless tires have real advantages, but speed isn’t one of them. To seal the tire, you have to add sealant. Pouring liquid into your tires inevitably slows them down. Old-timers tell stories of how they put water in the inner tubes of their friends’ bikes as a practical joke. The inertia of the water made the bikes impossibly hard to pedal.
Our own testing confirms this. We tested the very same tires mounted tubeless with as little sealant as possible – a best-case scenario for tubeless. Then we removed the sealant and installed tubes. The tires rolled at the same speed.
How about making the tires themselves airtight? There are tubeless tires that you can run without sealant, but to make these tires airtight, they need thick rubber coatings on their casings. And this makes them less supple, so they are in effect slower than a more supple tire with a lightweight inner tube.
For comfort and performance, it’s better to run a supple tire with sealant than an air-tight, but stiff, tire that can be run tubeless without sealant.
Tubeless tires may not be faster, but they have their place: They are great for preventing pinch flats, and most of Rene Herse’s wider models, which are intended to be ridden off-pavement, are tubeless-compatible. And yet for most of us, pinch flats aren’t really an issue any longer, even on gravel roads, because we now run wide tires – mostly because they roll faster on rough surfaces, but also because they are less likely to bottom out and pinch-flat.
What about puncture resistance? The sealant inside the tires can seal small punctures. However, in my experience, the hassle of dealing with the setup and maintenance of tubeless tires outweighs the hassle of fixing the occasional flat tire. If you want the simplicity of tubes with the puncture resistance of sealant, simply pour some sealant into your inner tubes – many riders report that this self-seals punctures, too.
I run my tires tubeless when I ride across really rough terrain – like our recent passhunting adventure in Japan (above) – but not for my normal riding on paved and gravel roads.
If you’ve been curious about running your tires tubeless, check out our illustrated how-to guide on setting up tires tubeless. With the right technique, it’s possible to seat the tire even without an air compressor. This makes it easy to set up tubeless tires at home or when traveling.
Also read the other posts in this series.
Update 11/17/2020: We’ve just published our new book ‘The All-Road Bike Revolution’ with all the research that has changed cycling in recent years. Find out why wide tires can be fast, how to find a frame that optimizes your power output, and how to get a bike that handles like an extension of your body. More information is here.
Photo credits: Ryan Hamilton (Photo 1), Westside Bicycle (Photo 2), Natsuko Hirose (Photos 4 and 5).
