For years, road cyclists had a simple choice when it came to tyres – clincher with an inner tube or tubular. The clincher was the most popular, and it’s the set up most are familiar with – a traditional tyre encasing an inner tube that when inflated, seats the tyre on the rim. Simple, and much easier to change a flat or switch tyres completely within 5-10 minutes – depending on your bike mechanic skills.
Tubulars were viewed as the pro’s choice (or wannabe pros!). A tubular tyre, sometimes known as a ‘tub’, is a one-piece tyre and tube combination sewn together and is glued directly onto the tubular specific rim. Although there are benefits to fitting tubular, such as lighter weight, more supple and better rolling resistance, they also throw up plenty of downsides.
Glueing a tubular tyre to the rim is a painstaking process, with experienced mechanics often taking hours, if not days, to complete what should be a simple task. Replacing a tyre is an even bigger job – the glue needs to be removed completely and requires plenty of elbow grease and solvent use, before starting the process over again.
In fact, the reason why some pro riders still favour them is that they are always followed by team cars and mechanics, with endless supplies of wheels ready to swap, so a puncture isn’t a problem like it would be for an average cyclist.
The drive for tubeless in road cycling was simple – roadies wanted a solution that brought together the weight and rolling resistance benefits of tubular, with the simplicity and flexibility of the clincher set up.
