the latest, greatest road tubeless?

[Kirk007]

Sounds almost too good to be true but hey I hope it is.

https://www.velonews.com/2019/10/bikes-and-tech/specializeds-s-works-turbo-rapidair-tires-make-road-tubeless-viable-on-the-racecourse_501198

[Mark McM]

I saw that, but this article read to me like a regurgitation of a press release, so for the moment I'm taking it with a grain of salt.

But this part of the article jumped out at me:

Indeed, Specialized are claiming the RapidAir to boast 6% better grip than their S-Works Turbo Clincher, and 18% more than a Turbo Tubular.

This statement seems to be implying that of the two models of their Turbo tire (one clincher and one tubular), the clincher version has better grip. But hasn't everyone always claimed that tubulars, by their very nature, have better grip than clinchers? Or has the Emperor been revealed to have no clothes?

Personally, I've never bought the argument that tubulars inherently handle better than clinchers (despite all the attempts to justify why they should). The only evidence of it I've seen offered has been merely anecdote, with no hard data of any kind. To be clear, I'm not saying the clinchers are inherently better handling than tubulars - I just think that there are far more variables to good grip and handling than whether the tire is tubular or clincher. I believe it is just as possible to make clinchers with good grip and handling as it is to make tubulars with good grip and handling.

[rnhood]

Props to Specialized for continuing to drive innovation and improvement. I haven't signed on to the tubeless bandwagon yet, but might starting thinking about it. Of course with regards to this RapidAir tire and sealant, we need to see comments after it has more road time.

The original tubeless was advertised as the greatest thing since sliced bread, but the drawbacks of the sealant, and difficulty in mounting the tire on road rims ended up painting a different picture of desirability...at least for me. At a cross event here recently (Raleigh), the top riders were running 20-21 lbs in their tubeless tires. This definitely makes sense for this type racing, as traction is so important. But seeing people run 80# in a road tire?? Heck I run 80# in a standard clincher, and have plenty of grip. And with the possible exception of riding in Florida, I rarely have a flat. And when I do, its easy peasy to put a new tube in.

[fogrider]

One of the main reasons why tubulars handled better was because the cross section of a tubie is round and clinchers were more u shaped. With tubeless being lower pressures and improved tire shapes, their handling have improved. And with wider tires and more contact area, handling is better...both for clinchers and tubulars. The others issues for road tubeless are still there...easy or hard to mount and will the sealant stop the leak? Will the tire blow off on a fast turn when I lean hard? Or will it fold over under pressure?

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

[Mark McM]

One of the main reasons why tubulars handled better was because the cross section of a tubie is round and clinchers were more u shaped.

I've heard this argument, but it makes no sense to me. Tubulars and clinchers are attached to the rim differently, but outside of the rim both tires have the same round shape. If anything, for the same outer width of the tire and rim, clincher tires may be more round, because they actually attach to the rim at the rim's inner width.

https://canaldebike.com.br/img/uploaded/main_gSgxS1529458762.jpg

[pobrien]

Building on the post by Mark, I expect that most riders could not tell the difference in tires in a double blind test if using equally high quality tubular and clincher tires.

Though I am just a regular rider, I have tubulars on one bike and Vittoria on the rest and cannot sense any significant difference.

This is certainly a first world problem in any case!