Want to find out what the fastest tubeless road tyres are?

[Cycleops]

This might interest you from Bike Radar:

https://www.bikeradar.com/features/tech/fast-road-tyre-group-test/

 

[cyclintom]

This is a hell of a lot more rolling resistance than the tests from https://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/the-test But I must say that after all of my riding I really do take this to be more accurate. I never took Vittoria Corsa's to have that super low rolling resistance to be accurate from my own riding. In fact if you count tube tires my favorites are the Michelin Pro4's.

 

[Cycleops]

The https://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/the-test
Is a few years old now and may feature models that are no longer available, plus all tubed I think.

 

[IanSmithCSE]

Good morning,

All that I would expect from BikeRadar; While all of the tyres we tested were tubeless-ready, we used a Michelin latex inner tube for the lab test.

Silverstone and BicylceRollingResistance use a quite different test so it wouldn't be surprising if they got different results.

Silverstone appear to test the tyre on a flat rolling surface and BRR use a relatively small diameter drum. I have wondered if the drum is too small a diameter meaning that the tyre deforms differently on the drum than it would on a flat surface?

Secondly both measure the amount of power used by the motor powering the rotating surface and assign the difference between unloaded and loaded to rolling resistance. When you are talking about an extra watt or two it takes a very deep understanding of the test equipment to ensure that this is actually rolling resistance. Some of it could very easily be an increase in the friction in bearings in the test rig, different power consumption characteristics of the motor as the load increase etc.

With a set of tyres on test and up to a point the absolute values may not matter only the differences taking the above caveats into account. But comparing values between the two test systems seems much more likely to be misleading.

Bye

Ian

 

[Ajax Bay]

I never took Vittoria Corsa's to have that super low rolling resistance to be accurate from my own riding.

Well I assure you my daughter has found the Vittoria Corsa Speed G+ 2.0 (TLR) to do the best business, most recently last Saturday (25 front 28 rear):

View: https://youtu.be/Dh4eYwAQxhc?list=PLxTcXRgYJnfSpd382HauDeqKpfAcoRpc3

Previously (not this year) have needed to anonymise these for races, after doing the media stuff (photographing bikes with correct tyres pre-race)

The https://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/the-test
Is a few years old now and may feature models that are no longer available, plus all tubed I think.

Do you ever look at that site @Cycleops ?
https://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/road-bike-reviews/vittoria-corsa-speed-g2

comparing values between the two test systems seems much more likely to be misleading.

Agree; bit like the amount of climb on a route using various RwGPS, Openrunner etc etc
And as you say "While all of the tyres we tested were tubeless-ready, we used a Michelin latex inner tube for the lab test." Lazy barstewards and wasted their time and that of their readers. They had the cheek to quote bicyclerollingresistance.com to equate tube watts lost to 20ml of sealant and no tube (I think). Btw, 20ml is 1/3 the volume of sealant Stan's recommends for 28-622s.
Also the test spec was 28mm tyres, with 40kg load (implies a female rider or 'boy') and 80psi. 80psi for 40kg!!
"we judged their subjective ride quality, looking for how efficient, grippy and comfortable each tyre felt on the road." "How efficient they felt"!
And chose to test the Pro as opposed to the G+2.0: why? Maybe 'cos it's the latest Vittoria. Pro

https://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/road-bike-reviews/vittoria-corsa-pro-tlr

 

[Jameshow]

40kg per wheel sounds about right? 70kg rider and 10kg bike.

Why test tubeless with latex I don't know!!

 

[IanSmithCSE]

Good morning,

40kg per wheel sounds about right? 70kg rider and 10kg bike.

Why test tubeless with latex I don't know!!

The stated reason for a tube was the time taken for tubless sealent to seal and my guess is that a latex tube may be closer to tubless than butyl one.

At first glance adding a tube might be seen as having no relative effect, but if you are looking for tiny differences who knows as it may be "the straw" that changes tyre performance on the test right.

40kg does sound reasonable but one very big difference between the test rig and the road is that the load is constant on rig and highly variable on the road. If you let enough air out of your tyres you can really feel them bounce as you pedal, so clearly the load is varying significantly.

Neither this test or BBR change the "road surface" which could reasonably be exected to give different results.

These tests remind me a bit of HiFi tests in the 1970s, when a perfect sine wave was fed in an amplifier and the amp's performance was measured on how much it distorted it. By this time nobody could hear the tiny levels of distortion.

In other words these tests boil to numbers of limited real world significance beyond, yes you can buy tyres that have different rolling resistance. Something anyone who has riden Schwalbe Marathon or Vittoria Randonneur already knows.

Bye

Ian

 

[mjr]

In other words these tests boil to numbers of limited real world significance beyond, yes you can buy tyres that have different rolling resistance. Something anyone who has riden Schwalbe Marathon or Vittoria Randonneur already knows.

And the worst is that even different types of Schwalbe Marathon have very different rolling resistances. As do Vittoria Rubinos and probably Corsas, but I suspect Marathons have the widest variation between subtypes of the same production year.

 

[Jameshow]

Good morning,

The stated reason for a tube was the time taken for tubless sealent to seal and my guess is that a latex tube may be closer to tubless than butyl one.

At first glance adding a tube might be seen as having no relative effect, but if you are looking for tiny differences who knows as it may be "the straw" that changes tyre performance on the test right.

40kg does sound reasonable but one very big difference between the test rig and the road is that the load is constant on rig and highly variable on the road. If you let enough air out of your tyres you can really feel them bounce as you pedal, so clearly the load is varying significantly.

Neither this test or BBR change the "road surface" which could reasonably be exected to give different results.

These tests remind me a bit of HiFi tests in the 1970s, when a perfect sine wave was fed in an amplifier and the amp's performance was measured on how much it distorted it. By this time nobody could hear the tiny levels of distortion.

In other words these tests boil to numbers of limited real world significance beyond, yes you can buy tyres that have different rolling resistance. Something anyone who has riden Schwalbe Marathon or Vittoria Randonneur already knows.

Bye

Ian

Agreed try riding on course chip and seal and resistance figures are meaningless!!

 

[Jameshow]

And the worst is that even different types of Schwalbe Marathon have very different rolling resistances. As do Vittoria Rubinos and probably Corsas, but I suspect Marathons have the widest variation between subtypes of the same production year.

Why Rubinos I've found them very good as a budget mid level tyre.

 

[mjr]

Why Rubinos I've found them very good as a budget mid level tyre.

Which Rubinos? There seem to be at least three subtypes on sale most of the time. Once it was 3, pro g+ and pro folding. Probably different today. All with different rolling resistance.

Saying you found Rubinos good is almost as little info as saying you think tyres are good. It's probably excellent marketing for the poorer tyres in the range but it's really unhelpful to buyers.

 

[Dec66]

To be honest, the resistance generated by the tyre on your rims is generally less important than that generated by the tyre around your middle.

 

[DogmaStu]

To be honest, the resistance generated by the tyre on your rims is generally less important than that generated by the tyre around your middle.

True but not everyone is carrying that particular spare tyre...

 

[Jameshow]

Which Rubinos? There seem to be at least three subtypes on sale most of the time. Once it was 3, pro g+ and pro folding. Probably different today. All with different rolling resistance.

Saying you found Rubinos good is almost as little info as saying you think tyres are good. It's probably excellent marketing for the poorer tyres in the range but it's really unhelpful to buyers.

I didn't know there were different ones?! Like marathons!

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Also the test spec was 28mm tyres, with 40kg load (implies a female rider or 'boy')

A 100kg combined rider and bike weight with 40/60 weight distribution would deliver a load of 40kg to the front tyre.