Maxxis Ikon Folding Tyre 27.5x2.20" 3C Maxxspeed TR EXO

Tubeless Tyres to Improve Your Ride

Tubeless-ready wheels and tyres have grown dramatically in popularity in recent years. That’s because tubeless mountain bike and road bike setups have several important advantages over tradition inner tube systems. If you’re looking to make the switch to tubeless, bikester.co.uk has a huge selection of tubeless tyres to getyou started.

How Do Tubeless Tyres Work?

Tubeless tyres work by forming an airtight seal against the rim of your wheel. The bead hook on your rim, which holds the bead of your tyre in place, is much morepronounced on tubeless-ready wheels than on standard bike wheels. That, plus some sealant and a suitable valve, ensures that air can’t escape your tyre once it’sinflated. Keep in mind that for a tubeless setup to work properly, the rim bed needs to be sealed. Some rims come ready to accept a tubeless tyre, while on others you’ll need to put down rim tape and sealant to close off spoke holes.

Should You Go Tubeless?

When tubeless tyres first came out nearly two decades ago, they had somedrawbacks. But today, there’s almost no reason not to switch to a tubeless systemon your road or mountain bike.The number one reason to use tubeless wheels and tyres is that you can almost entirely eliminate ‘pinch flats’. This common type of flat is due entirely to the inner tube pinching against your tyre – something that simply can’t happen with a tubeless setup because there’s no inner tube.Better yet, since you don’t have to worry about pinch flats, you can run your tyres at a lower pressure than with a traditional inner tube setup. That’s huge for mountain bikers, since every bit of air pressure removed from your tyres means better traction on the trails. For road bikers, reducing tyre pressure can cut down on rolling resistance and offer a more comfortable ride.The other big advantage to tubeless tyres, especially if you race your bike, is that you save some weight. Inner tubes are heavy – even after accounting for theweight of sealant in a tubeless system, you can still save around 150 grams or more on a 29er by switching to tubeless tyres.Best of all, when a flat does happen in a tubeless tyre, it’s easy to fix. If the problem is just a temporarily broken seal that let air out of your tyre, pumping upyour tyre will instantly get you back on the road or trail. If it’s something more complex, you can throw in an inner tube or plug the hole and get back to riding.

Choosing a Tubeless Tyre

When it comes to choosing a tubeless tyre, the factors you need to consider are much the same as for a traditional bike tyre. You’ll want to look closely at features like:

• Diameter
• Width
• Weight
• Traction pattern
• Puncture resistance

Tubeless Tyres at bikester.co.uk

Most bike shops are still coming around to the popularity of tubeless wheels and tyres, so your selection is likely to be limited. But at bikester.co.uk, we carry hundreds of tubeless tyres for road and mountain bike wheels. You’ll find tubeless tyres for every style of riding so you can enjoy the road or trail without worryingabout flats.