Tubeless Cyclosross Tyres?? Do they work? Are they worth the effort??

 Cyclocross is hard enough as it is without having to worry about tyre issues. I want to get rid of  (or get to the bottom off ) any of those worrying thoughts and perceptions of tubeless in cyclocross. Are there tyres that can perform like a tubular tyre and at a fraction of the cost??

      So a few weeks ago, i emailed Schwalbe UK asking if their cyclocross tyre, the racing ralph would work well with stans ZTR alpha 340 rims as tubeless tyres. I only asked as their mtb tubeless 'UST" compatible tyres all have writing on the tyre saying the are and on the packaging. But not on the CX stuff.

Early last week Tim Ward - (Schwalbe UK) Got back to me and gave me some great information that thoroughly answered my question. I thought that this would be very useful to share with everyone, so here is the main part of it:

       
         'Running cross tyres as tubeless is an interesting question and one that several people are looking at currently including myself. I was running Rocket Ron 700 x 35C on the standard Easton wheels that are on my CUBE cross bike. It took a while to get them up and sealed (you’ll definitely need a compressor) but I could really feel the difference in the way they rode; much like a tub. The main problem with them is because of the smaller air volume compared to and MTB tyre there’s a much higher risk of burping the air out (which I did twice) and I found there was a very critical minimum pressure of about 1.8 to 2.0 bar below which it was easy to burp them. You can only really find this out with trial and error as it will depend on rider weight and rim set-up etc. Be careful if you’re using the Stans rubber rim strips as these can push the bead up a bit too high on the crook lip and cause the tyre to blow off better to use the yellow adhesive tape; but again the rubber strips might be OK with your rims – it’s all trial and error I’m afraid.

You’ll find it a lot easier to get an initial seal if you use our Easy Fit solution on the bead of the tyre first as this will help create and air seal and help the bead seat evenly around the rim. Kevin at BETD Gold Tech in Newcastle under Lyme is also experimenting at the moment and another good person to talk to. The next step that we’re looking at is to glue the beads onto the rim with tub cement (something some downhill riders are trying) to stop burping at lower pressures.

Generally speaking the sidewalls should be up to the job but you may find that the tyres don’t last as long as they might running them with tubes in. As long as the pressure is OK it shouldn't be too much of a problem and I found that without the tube in you can run them at a higher pressure for a given amount of compliance compared to running with a tube.

In summary and conclusion I’d say it was worth experimenting with if you’re so inclined. But the emphasis is on ‘experimenting’; if you’re worried about losing race position because you lose air out the tyre then maybe think again about it – I didn’t start one race last year as I lost the air out of both tyres on the warm up lap! So it’s important to state that Schwalbe cross tyres are not as yet recommended for use in a tubeless set-up and at present this is not seen as a proprietary method of use and there are no guarantees from Schwalbe in this regard; just so there’s no misunderstanding if you lose a race!'

Just got another email from Tim Ward- (Schwalbe UK)

Racing Ralph (allround fast rolling tyre)

  



 ' As for the difference between Ron and Ralph it's very much down to the course and the conditions. I think for most of the season in typical UK conditions the Ron, which is more suited to muddier conditions, will be the better choice. However, if we have a dry autumn some of the early season races could be on very dry hard courses in which case the Ralph will definitely roll quicker. In mixed conditions where it's not too muddy there's some merit in running a Ron on the front and Ralph on the back as is very typical with cross country mountain bikers.

 

Rocket Ron (wetter weather tyre with tread desiged to shed mud)
This is the current 2012 Model. 2013 model to be released later this year!

The new 2013 Rocket Ron will be even more effective in the mud as it will be a bit narrower at 700 x 33C to meet the new UCI regs and have a slightly revised tread pattern. It will be available in an EVO spec folding clincher with PaceStar triple compound and also now finally in a tub version with the same 700 x 33C size.'







I am looking forward to experimenting with different tyres and
pressure. Im currently waiting for my stans rims to be built up onto

Vredestein Premiato

hope pro3s. I want to put most of my testing on these wheels with the
Racing ralphs and Rocket Rons as this is what i will currently want to be racing.
in the mean time, i would really like to try out some other tyres and run them at silly pressures on
my training wheels that i don't care for so i can really give them a good hammering. Then i can see what each tyres positives and negatives are. i have some 30c vredestrien tyres that i will give it a go with for now.




I was testing the Vredstrain tyres at 2.0 ,  2.5 and 3 bar last night on my practice course running them tubed. (i weigh 66kg if that helps give a better idea. I imagine much heavier people will have very different results) I have a section on the course which is really tough on wheels, strength wise, but
they might not be enough of a challenge for pinch flats. including quick transitions from a mud bank across paths and jumping down the other side, tight off camber turns, and 1-2 foot drops onto a lose open turn into a double jump that just so happend to be there!

I was hoping to pinch flat or something so i know the limit but
nothing and this was all mainly done on 2.0 bar, i knew any higher
pressure would cope. i did notice that it wasn't very stable on hard
cornering at this pressure and i felt the tyre rolling over. This Might be when
i would expect to lose air running tubeless.  I would like to try tubeless setups
to see if i do lose air and how much. But if i cant turn hard and feel stableish at these
pressures then i probably wouldn't run them that low, unless its not a very
fast course. but i do like the idea of the tub cement locking/sealing the tyre bead onto the rim.
But surely this is now getting into tub territory as this would need multiple wheelsets.
Still cheaper i guess.


I have the Racing ralphs already sat on my desk but not going to use them until they are
on my new wheelset. But i do look forward to try some other tyres and find out which tyre runs best with tubeless setup.

Over time i will try my very best to test every CX tyre out there for tubeless and was hoping that if my
blog starts to do well, suppliers will give me tyres to test and review.  

Untill then i will need to get some training in and make do with what i already have.