The ultimate guide to tubeless tyres

How do tubeless tyres work?

A tubeless tyre looks like a standard tube-type clincher tyre, but requires no inner tube and, once ‘seated’ (the process of snapping the beads into position), it forms an airtight seal with the rim. A valve, just like the one you’d find on an inner tube, is fitted directly to the rim. Sealant is poured into the tyre to create a seal and to help plug any tiny leaks or cuts, often before you even know you’ve got a puncture.

Advantages of tubeless tyres

Beat the flats

For both road and off-road riders, the main advantage of tubeless is fewer flats. If the tyre is cut by glass, thorns or stones, the sealant in the tyre instantly dries around the hole, preventing air from leaking out. This makes them perfect in poor weather conditions and winter where debris is frequently washed onto the road. The beauty of tubeless is that you won’t even know your tyre has been compromised during the ride on the majority of occasions. You're not left freezing at the side of the road, fixing punctures and getting your hands dirty.

Perfect for gravel and cyclo-cross riders

Off-road tubeless tyres can run at lower pressures (as low as 20–25 psi), providing better grip on loose surfaces without the risk of pinch or snakebite punctures. If you are planning on tackling rough cobbles or icy roads, road tyres can be run as low as 70 psi for extra grip and comfort without fear of the tyre detaching from the rim.

Better roll, better ride feel

A tubeless tyre rolls up to 12% faster than a clincher tyre. The lower rolling resistance and shape helps the tyre to sit better on the ground. This creates added compliance, ensuring you get a great quality ride from the tyre.

Wider Tyres

Tubeless provides a lower rolling resistance and therefore moving up to a wider tyre for better grip, comfort and control doesn’t come as a compromise compared to a traditional inner tube and clincher set up, which is why performance-focused cyclists have traditionally preferred 23mm or 25mm tyres as it requires less energy to maintain speed over a wider clincher tyre.

Disadvantages of tubeless tyres

Tubeless isn’t just a matter of removing the tube and riding blissfully into the sunset. Unfortunately, they do carry some compromises, including new knowledge and more maintenance than trusty tubes.

Firstly, sealant will dry out over time so you need to top up the sealant in your tyre every 3–6 months with a few millilitres of liquid. Tubeless tyres also need to be pumped up more frequently than tubed tyres.

It’s advisable to check your pressures before every ride. The initial set up of tubeless tyres can be more expensive than purchasing the equivalent clincher tube tyre, as you’ll need to buy valves, sealant, a floor pump and — depending on the wheel — tubeless ready rim tape.

There are a mixture of terms used by different manufacturers relating to tubeless tyres and the technology and that can be confusing when purchasing tyres for your wheels. We’ll explain the different tubeless options.

UST

In the late nineties, Mavic created the UST standard (Universal System Tubeless), and this is only designed to work with UST-conforming tyres and rims. These tyres are made to an exacting specification and are more airtight than many ‘tubeless-ready’-designated tyres.

Tubeless-ready

For some brands, a tubeless-ready rim is exactly that, and all you need to do is insert a valve (which may or may not be included with the wheels), fit an appropriate tyre, and add the required amount of sealant.

Tubeless-compatible

If a wheel is described as tubeless-compatible, it’s likely you’ll also need to fit tubeless tape to seal the rim. It is not uncommon for ‘off-the-peg’ bikes from brands to be supplied with tubeless-compatible wheels, but non-tubeless tyres.
That means you’ll need to purchase a set of new tyres, sealant and valves if you want to utilise the technology.

Hookless

Hookless rims are a newer technology. A hookless rim is simply one with a profile that lacks bead hooks with protruding edges that help retain conventional clincher tyres under pressure. A hookless rim has straight, vertical sides, and in wheel maker circles the technology is often referred to as “tubeless straight side” or TSS. Hookless rims are designed to be used with tubeless tyres only.

It is possible to fit a tube (e.g. in the event of a puncture that sealant won’t fix) but only in that same tyre. It’s not usually considered safe to swap to a standard clincher tyre. Continental stands out among tyre manufacturers by explicitly forbidding the use of hookless rims with its flagship road tyre, Grand Prix 5000 and created the Continental Grand Prix 5000 S TR for use with hookless.

Should I go tubeless?

For off-road riders, gravel and cyclocross bikes, switching to tubeless is a great idea. Trails and gravel surfaces have lots of material that is likely to slash your tyre. Tyres are run at lower pressures, especially on wetter or muddy rides and tubeless tyres will avoid pinch punctures as you hop or smash over roots, rocks and curbs.
For road riders who use their bikes in poor conditions and commuting, tubeless also makes good sense as there is often debris around. You may find yourself bumping up and down curbs as you move between the cycle path and the road, and pinch punctures can often occur.
For road bikes that are used almost exclusively in the spring and summer, tubeless tyres don’t hold as many advantages, though there are still the performance benefits of lower rolling resistance to consider.