Buyer's guide to tubeless tyres — all your options in new technology rubber

Want to go tubeless? Here are all your options in tyres.

Tubeless tyres are gradually gaining popularity as more riders become convinced that their improved ride and increased resistance to punctures are worth the cost of new wheels and tyres and the sometimes problematic fitting process. If you’re about to make the switch, here’s a look at your tyre options.

When tubeless tyres for road wheels first appeared you had very few choices. Hutchinson made tyres, Shimano and Stan’s NoTubes made wheels and conversion kits and, er, that was it. Now many tyre makers offer tubeless options, though Michelin and Continental are notable hold-outs.

Read more: How to fit a tubeless tyre
Read more: Road tubeless: everything you need to know — including how to convert

Bontrager

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Bontrager R3

Bontrager offers a range of three tyres badged Tubeless Ready, which means what you need to get them working is sealant and either Bontrager’s special rim strips if you have Bontrager wheels, or other tubeless compatible wheels and valves. In ascending order of raciness, they’re the AW2, R2 and R3. We’ve tested and liked the latter as part of the Bontrager Road TLR Upgrade Kit.

Read our review of the Bontrager Road TLR Upgrade Kit
Read our review of the Bontrager CX3 Team Issue TLR Cyclocross Tyres

Find a Bontrager dealer

Hutchinson

Hutchinson Sector 28 tubeless tyre

Hutchinson Sector 28

Hutchinson launched tubeless tyres for road bikes back in 2006, so it’s no surprise the French tyre maker has a fairly big range. While most tyre makers have gone down the Tubeless Ready route with lightweight tyres that need sealant to keep the air in, Hutchinson also makes tyres to the original Road Tubeless spec, sealed with a coating of rubber inside the tyre.

Read our review of the Hutchinson Intensive Road Tubeless tyres
Read our review of the Hutchinson Fusion 2 tubeless tyres
Read our review of the Hutchinson Sector 28 tubeless tyres

IRC

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IRC Formula Pro Tubeless

IRC makes several tubeless or tubeless ready tyres, but they’re very rare in the UK; we’ve only been able to find one source. That’s a pity as IRC has been pushing road tubeless technology to make tyres lighter and faster. The Pro Tubeless tyres have internal coating based on latex rubber rather than synthetic butyl. That makes for lower rolling resistance, just as a regular clincher tyre is faster with a latex inner tube than a butyl one.

Read our review of the Formula Pro Tubeless RBCC

Mavic

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Mavic Yksion Elite Allroad

Mavic has just one tubeless tyre at the moment, and has gone for the all-purpose/gravel sector to dip its toe in the water with the 30mm Yksion Elite Allroad.

Find a Mavic dealer

Panaracer

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Panaracer Race A Evo 3 tubeless tyre

Panaracer has joined the tubeless fray with the Race A Evo 3 Tubeless. The Japanese tyre maker has developed a brand new bead which it claims allows the tyre to be inflated using just a hand pump and claims this tyre increases puncture resistance by 24% compared to the previous Evo 2 tyre, thanks to a new Protite puncture proof material. The tread compound is also claimed to improve cornering performance.

Importer Zyro tells us the Race A Evo 3 will hit the shops in Spring 2016, though at the time of writing (April 4) there don't seem to be any UK stockists listing it.

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Schwalbe

ProOne_Close_up

Schwalbe ProOne

Schwalbe says “The future will be tubeless” in its latest blurb for the Schwalbe Pro One tyre, which it claims is its best tubeless tyre ever. We tested the slightly less advanced One Tubeless recently and found it rode brilliantly and, unlike many tubeless tyres, it was easy to get on the rim and to then pop into place on the bead seat.

Schwalbe offers a total of five ‘Tubeless Easy’ tyres, from the Pro One, which is being reliably reported as having a super-low rolling resistance, to the aptly named Big One, a 60mm tyre intended for mountain bike beach racing but which we’ve included in case anyone’s thinking of building up a ‘monster-cross’ bike.

Read our review of the Schwalbe One Tubeless tyres

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Specialized

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Specialized Roubaix Road Tubeless

Until recently, Specialized has focused on endurance and cyclo-cross riding with its Tubeless Ready tyres, which it spells 2Bliss because — well, who knows. Californians, eh?

They’re not yet listed on the UK website, but Specialized also makes a Road Tubeless version of its S-Works Turbo tyre. The 26mm version of this tyre recently won a rolling resistance test against a range of standard and tubeless tyres, and looks promising as a fast tyre for UK riding.

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Vittoria

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​Vittoria makes the big claim that this graphene technology tyre is the fastest ever independently measured, and the lightest tubeless-ready tyre too.

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