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Tubeless tires ( also spelled as tubeless tyres in
Commonwealth English The use of the English language in current and former Member states of the Commonwealth of Nations, member countries of the Commonwealth of Nations was largely inherited from British Empire, British colonisation, with some exceptions. English s ...
) are
pneumatic Pneumatics (from Greek ‘wind, breath’) is a branch of engineering that makes use of gas or pressurized air. Pneumatic systems used in Industrial sector, industry are commonly powered by compressed air or compressed inert gases. A central ...
tire A tire (American English) or tyre (British English) is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a Rim (wheel), wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide Traction (engineering), t ...
s that do not require a separate
inner tube An inner tube is an inflatable ring that forms the interior of some pneumatic tires. The tube is inflated with a valve stem, and fits inside of the casing of the tire. The inflated inner tube provides structural support and suspension, while the ...
. Unlike pneumatic tires which use a separate inner tube, tubeless tires have continuous ribs molded integrally into the
bead A bead is a small, decorative object that is formed in a variety of shapes and sizes of a material such as stone, bone, shell, glass, plastic, wood, or pearl and with a small hole for threading or stringing. Beads range in size from under ...
of the tire so that they are forced by the pressure of the air inside the tire to seal with the flanges of the metal rim of the wheel.


History

Many patents had been filed covering tubeless tires. ''Killen Tire'' applied for a patent in 1928 and was granted in the UK in 1930. The Wingfoot Corporation, a subsidiary of
Goodyear Tire The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company is an American multinational tire manufacturing company founded in 1898 by Frank Seiberling and based in Akron, Ohio. Goodyear manufactures tires for automobiles, commercial trucks, light trucks, motorcycles, S ...
were granted a patent in
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
in 1944. Due to technical problems, most of these designs saw only limited production or were abandoned. Frank Herzegh working for
BF Goodrich BFGoodrich is an American tire company. Originally part of the industrial conglomerate Goodrich Corporation, it was acquired in 1990 (along with Uniroyal, then The Uniroyal Goodrich Tire Company) by the French tire maker Michelin. BFGoodrich w ...
applied for a patent in 1946 and eventually received in 1952 in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. By 1955 tubeless tires became standard equipment on new cars. BF Goodrich had to defend their patent in court several times, due to the similarities of previous designs. The primary difference between the BF Goodrich design and their predecessors was the usage of
butyl rubber Butyl rubber, sometimes just called "butyl", is a synthetic rubber, a copolymer of isobutylene with isoprene. The abbreviation IIR stands for isobutylene isoprene rubber. Polyisobutylene, also known as "PIB" or polyisobutene, (C4H8)n, is the ho ...
, which was more resistant to air leakage than the natural
rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, and ...
used in the other designs.


Safety

Traditional designs of pneumatic tyres required a separate inner tube which could fail for a number of reasons, such as incorrect tyre fit, friction between the tyre wall and inner tube generating excess heat, or a puncture. Tubeless tyre technology does away with the need for an inner tube thereby increasing safety. In a tubeless tyre, the tyre and the rim of the wheel form an airtight seal, with the valve being directly mounted on the rim. If a tubeless tyre gets a small puncture, air escapes only through the hole, leading to a gentle deflation. Conversely, a tubed tire, with an inner tube, could burst like a balloon, leading to deflation of the tire which could result in sudden loss of control of the vehicle. However, the "bursting like a balloon" scenario is highly unlikely due to fact that the inner tube is inside of the tire and will deflate at a rate proportional to the puncture hole size. In antique automobiles, made before the mid 1950s, the rims are not designed for tubeless tyres, and an inner tube is required to prevent slow leaks at the bead.


Tire sealants

Liquid tire sealant can be injected into tubeless tires to prevent deflation in case of small punctures, although there is controversy regarding its compatibility with direct
tire pressure monitoring system A tire-pressure monitoring system (TPMS) monitors the air pressure inside the pneumatic tires on vehicles. A TPMS reports real-time tire-pressure information to the driver, using either a gauge, a pictogram display, or a simple low-pressure wa ...
s (TPMS) that employ sensors mounted inside the tire. Some manufacturers of sealants assert that their products are indeed compatible, but others warned that, e.g., the "sealant may come in contact with the sensor in a way that renders the sensor TEMPORARILY inoperable until it is properly cleaned, inspected and re-installed by a tire care professional". Such doubts are also reported by others. Use of such sealants may void the TPMS sensor warranty.


Bicycle tires

A tubeless
bicycle tire A bicycle tire is a tire that fits on the wheel of a bicycle or similar vehicle. These tires may also be used on tricycles, wheelchairs, and handcycles, frequently for racing. Bicycle tires provide an important source of suspension, generate ...
system requires a compatible tire, an airtight rim—capable of being sealed at the
valve stem A valve stem is a self-contained valve which opens to admit gas to a chamber (such as air to inflate a tire), and is then automatically closed and kept sealed by the pressure in the chamber, or a spring, or both, to prevent the gas from escaping ...
, spoke holes (if they go all the way through the rim) and the tire bead seat. Liquid sealant is added inside the tire to prevent leaking around the bead and to seal holes from small punctures. The main benefit of tubeless tires is the ability to use low air pressure for better traction without getting pinch flats because there is no tube to pinch between the rim and an obstacle. Lower pressures mean improved comfort and rolling performance on rough surfaces. Since there’s no inner tube, there’s no friction between tyre and tube. Many punctures will self seal. Most punctures that don’t seal are easy to fix with a tyre plug.


Mountain and Gravel

''UST'' or ''Universal System Tubeless'' is a rim designed by Mavic with hooked edges designed to seal with specially designed tires. Several companies such as
Michelin Michelin (; ; full name: ) is a French multinational tyre manufacturing company based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes ''région'' of France. It is the second largest tyre manufacturer in the world behind Bridgestone and la ...
and Hutchinson make tires compatible with UST rims. UST was the first tubeless system for bicycles. Other companies such as Stan’s NoTubes,
Bontrager Keith Bontrager (; born December 18, 1954) is a motorcycle racer who became a pioneer in the development of the modern mountain bike. Between 1980 and 1995, he was president of his own Bontrager Company, which continues to develop components for ...
, DT Swiss, and WTB have their own similar system called ''Tubeless Ready''.


Road

In 2006,
Shimano , originally and later , is a Japanese multinational manufacturing company for cycling components, fishing tackles and rowing equipment, who also produced golf supplies until 2005 and snowboarding gear until 2008. Named after founder Shozaburo ...
and Hutchinson introduced a tubeless system for road bicycles. Tubeless tires have not yet gained popular acceptance in road racing due to lack of sponsorship, the tradition of using
tubular tires A tubular tyre, referred to as a tub in Britain, a sew-up in the US, a single in Australia, or just a tubular is a bicycle tyre that is stitched closed around the inner tube to form a torus. The combination is then glued (sometimes with two-side ...
and the fact that, even without the innertube, the combined weight of tubeless rims and tires is more than top-of-the-line tubular tire wheelsets. Road tubeless is gaining popularity among riders for whom the benefits are worth the costs.


See also

*
Dunlop valve The Dunlop valve, (also called a Woods valve or an English valve) is a type of pneumatic valve stem in use—mostly on inner tubes of bicycles—in many countries, including Japan, Korea, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, most European countries, and ...
* Inflation pressure **
Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...
**
kPa KPA may refer to: * Keele Postgraduate Association, Keele University, UK, formerly Keele Research Association (KRA) * Kensington (Olympia) station, London, England, National Rail station code * Kenya Ports Authority * ''Kiln phosphoric acid'', a ...
** PSI or psi *
Outline of tires The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to tires: Tire (North American) or tyre (British) – ring-shaped covering that fits around a wheel rim to protect it and enable better vehicle performance by ...
*
Presta valve The Presta valve (also French valve (FV) or Sclaverand valve) is a tire valve commonly found in high pressure road style and some mountain bicycle inner tubes. It comprises an outer valve stem and an inner valve body. A lock nut to secure the ...
*
Rolling resistance Rolling resistance, sometimes called rolling friction or rolling drag, is the force resisting the motion when a body (such as a ball, tire, or wheel) rolls on a surface. It is mainly caused by non-elastic effects; that is, not all the energy nee ...
*
Schrader valve The Schrader valve (also called American valve) is a type of pneumatic tire valve used on virtually every motor vehicle in the world today. The Schrader company, for which it was named, was founded in 1844 by August Schrader. The original Schra ...


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tubeless Tires Tires