The Best Tubeless Road Bike Tires in 2021
In the past 2 years, we’ve seen a proliferation of tubeless tires in the market. What appeared to be a niche market previously is almost mainstream now. More and more cyclists are jumping on the tubeless bandwagon; either by choice or by the industry since the majority of new road bikes are specced with disc brakes and tubeless-ready wheelsets.
So if you’re looking for a pair of tubeless tires, you’re on the right page.
A Quick Glance : Our Favorite Tubeless Tires
Best For Competition : Vittoria Corsa G+ 2.0 TLR
“The tire that won the most professional bike races in recent years, including 1st and 2nd in the 2021 Tour de France.”
Best for Everyday Riding : Schwalbe Pro One TLE
“A good balance between speed, durability, and puncture resistance.”
Lightweight : Schwalbe Pro One TT TLE
“Lightest 28c tubeless tire available in the market today and comes in tan wall color.”
How We Choose Tubeless Road Bike Tires
As a road cyclist myself, I fully understand that every cyclist has different needs and requirements when it comes to the best tubeless tires for them. As such, I’ve put together my picks into three categories.
- Competition tires. If you’re a serious racer or just want the best, then these picks are for you.
- Everyday tires. These are tubeless tires that represent the best value for money for everyday use. They have a good balance between low rolling resistance, durability, and puncture resistance.
- Lightweight tires. These are for the weight weenies. To keep the tires as light as possible, the tire manufacturers usually compromise on either puncture protection or durability, or in some models, both.
The picks below are widely available in most of the major online stores such as Competitive Cyclist, Wiggle, Amazon, and also your local bike stores.
Tubeless Tires for Competition
Vittoria Corsa G+ 2.0 TLR
- Sizes : 25c (290g), 28c (310g)
- Color : Black
The Vittoria Corsa is a tire that has won the most professional bike races in recent years. In the 2021 Tour de France, the overall winner Tadej Pogacar and second place, Jonas Vingegaard were riding on them.
The first generation is well-known among road cyclists for its suppleness thanks to its cotton casing. This version retains the same 320 TPI cotton casing but uses an improved Graphene 2.0 compound for better rolling resistance.
- Pros : Supple, feels like riding a tubular tire.
- Cons : Wears out fast.
Pirelli P Zero Race TLR SL
- Sizes : 24c (230g), 26c (245g), 28c (275g)
- Color : Black
The Pirelli P Zero Race is a top-of-the-road racing tire from Pirelli. In 2017, Pirelli made its come back into cycling with the P Zero Velo and in just a few years, they have one of the best tubeless tires in the market today with the P Zero Race TLR SL.
The SL indicates SuperLight version, which is 15 to 25g lighter than the standard non-SL versions, depending on the tire size. The weight saving is gained from the usage of a thinner puncture resistant belt.
For those who are running hookless rims such as the latest Zipp 303 or 404 Firecrests, only the 28c and 30c tires are compatible, according to Pirelli.
- Pros : Lightweight.
- Cons : Below average puncture protection.
Continental Grand Prix 5000 TL
- Sizes : 25c (300g), 28c (340g), 32c (380g)
- Color : Black
The Continental Grand Prix 5000 TL is without a doubt the favorite among most cyclists. This dates back almost a decade ago with the GP4000 S2. The GP5000 TL was the first high-performance tubeless tires to hit the market a few years ago before its competitors caught up.
Many cyclists would agree that the GP5000 is known for its speed and grip and this tubeless road bike tire is a common sight in the local bunch today.
- Pros : Fast and grippy.
- Cons : Hard to install.
Goodyear Eagle F1 Supersport TLR
- Sizes : 25c (275g), 28c (295g)
- Color : Black, Tan
The Goodyear Eagle F1 Supersport TLR t is Goodyear’s top-of-the-line race tire to date. Making its comeback into cycling in 2018 after almost 40 years away, Goodyear is now back in the highest echelons of professional cycling after inking a contract to supply Team Qhubeka NextHash from 2021 onwards.
This tubeless tire is part of their Ultra High Performance (UHP) range which also includes the Eagle F1, which is more of an all-rounder tire. The major difference is the thinner tread cap and smooth center tread to lower the overall weight and rolling resistance.
- Pros : Available in black and tan.
- Cons : Hard to install.
Veloflex Corsa Race TLR
- Sizes : 25c (225g)
- Color : Gum, Black
Veloflex is a small tire company based out of Bergamo in Italy. They’re well-known for their handmade, cotton-casing clincher tires in the past.
The Veloflex Corsa Race TLR is continuity from that success, being their first-ever tubeless-ready tires. Keeping up with the tradition, these tires are available in gum wall color in addition to the standard black color.
With a 350 TPI cotton casing (even higher than the 320 TPI found on the Vittoria Corsa), you can be sure that it’s very supple. To improve puncture protection, Veloflex even recommends a specific tubeless sealant model; the Joe’s No Flats Super Sealant.
- Pros : Available in the gum wall color and super lightweight.
- Cons : Only available in 25c.
Tubeless Tires for Everyday Use
Schwalbe Pro One TLE
- Sizes : 25c (225g), 28g (280g), 30c (305g), 32c (325g)
- Color : Tan, Black
The Schwalbe Pro One TLE (TubeLess Easy) is my go-to tire for every riding. Using the new Addix race compound and Souplesse carcass, Schwalbe has significantly improved the tire’s overall performance over its predecessors (the ones without the orange sticker on the sidewalls).
While it might not be the fastest tire for everyday use, it has a good balance between speed, durability, and puncture resistance. For the everyday cyclist, we think that while speed is important, durability and puncture resistance will trump over speed.
For those after a tan wall color, you’d be glad to know they do come in those colors.
- Pros : Available in sizes from 25c to 32c to suit a wide range of cyclists.
- Cons : Tan colors can be hard to come by.
Pirelli Cinturato Velo TLR
- Sizes : 24c (280g) , 26c (300g), 28c (340g), 32c (360g), 35c (410g)
- Color : Black
The Pirelli Cinturato Velo TLR is mid-range tubeless road bike tire from Pirelli. Unlike the P Zero Race, the Cinturato is designed for high mileage and excellent puncture protection. It’s also available in the tube type version.
With this in mind, expect them to be heavier and not as fast as its race tire siblings. There are two layers of puncture protection belts with the first being placed from bead to bead. The second layer is placed just underneath the tread to protect against sharp objects.
- Pros : Excellent puncture protection properties.
- Cons : Heavy.
Goodyear Eagle F1 TLR
- Sizes : 25c (290g) , 28c (315g), 30c (340g), 32c (350g)
- Color : Black, Tan
The Goodyear Eagle F1 is another option to consider for everyday riding. Touted by Goodyear as an all-rounder tire, the Eagle F1 has a good balance between grip, speed, and more importantly durability for everyday riding. Goodyear calls this the Magic-Triangle.
Goodyear uses a multi-compound approach, with a proprietary blend of synthetic and natural rubber compound, and enhanced with Graphene to achieve this ideal balance.
The dual-angle bead design allows for easy tubeless setup on most wheelsets with a tubeless floor pump at home.
- Pros : Easy to install
- Cons : Heavy
Lightweight Tubeless Tires
Schwalbe Pro One TT TLE
- Sizes : 25c (220g) , 28c (240g)
- Color : Tan
The Schwalbe Pro One TT TLE is the lightest 28c tubeless tire available in the market today. Not only it’s super lightweight, but it also ticks two other boxes most road cyclists will appreciate; very fast and available in the classic tan wall colors.
This tire is designed for the lowest rolling resistance and speed, hence the name TT (time trial). To save weight, there’s no puncture belt beneath the treads which makes it vulnerable especially over rough and wet roads. With a tubeless setup, the sealants do provide some protection, but we don’t hold high expectations for that.
- Pros : Lightweight.
- Cons : Minimal puncture protection.
Vittoria Corsa Speed G+ 2.0 TLR
- Sizes : 25c (240g)
- Color : Tan
For many years, the Vittoria Corsa Speed is well-known for being the fastest road bike tire. In fact, it’s been topping the test results at Bicycle Rolling Resistance since 2016 for its 23c clincher version and more recently the 25c tubeless version which was introduced in 2017.
Now in its second generation with the Graphene 2.0 compound, this tire is designed with a single road, speed. The treads are paper-thin and offer almost zero puncture protection.
According to Bicycle Rolling Resistance, this current version has a 10% lower rolling resistance than its predecessor. Talk about going even faster on what used to be the fastest tire.
- Pros : Super low rolling resistance.
- Cons : Minimal puncture protection, wears out fast.
S-Works Turbo Rapid Air 2Bliss Ready
- Sizes : 26c (240g), 28c (270g), 30c (305g)
- Color : Tan
The S-Works Turbo Rapid Air 2Bliss Ready is Specialized’s first tubeless road bike tires. Well-known for their S-Works Turbo Cotton, this tire is a continuity of their work into the tubeless craze that is taking over road cycling.
Developed in conjunction with Deceuninck-Quick Step riders, you can be sure that a lot of thought has been put into making this tire as fast as possible. For a tire to be fast, tire manufacturers usually compromise on durability and/or puncture protection. With this tire, Specialized put more emphasis on puncture protection while compromising on the durability aspects. So, don’t expect to have anything more than 2,000km on these tires.
- Pros : Fast with very low rolling resistance.
- Cons : Wears out fast.
Things to Know Before Buying Tubeless Tires
Wheelset Compatibility
Tubeless tires are meant to be used with tubeless wheelsets. Although some tubeless tires can be mounted safely on clincher wheelsets, there is usually a clincher model of the same tire model. You’ll be better off buying the clincher version as they will be lighter and cheaper.
For newer wheelsets such as the current Zipp 303 and 404’s which have a hookless rim, keep in mind that not all tubeless tires are compatible. Zipp has published a list of compatible tires on their website. Alternatively, some manufacturers such as Pirelli explicitly states that only their 28c and 30c tires are compatible with hookless rims.
Tire Size
The majority of tubeless tires start from 28c and upwards. This is because the tubeless wheelsets have wider internal rim widths, generally from 19mm to 25mm for newer wheelsets like the Zipp 303 Firecrest. So a narrower tire such as 23c would not be ideal and safety reasons.
Some manufacturers such as Goodyear do provide a compatibility chart indicating the minimum and maximum tire size for a particular rim width. It’s strongly recommended to check the compatibility charts before deciding on the ideal tire size.
Tire Sealant
Tubeless tires require sealants to work as intended. The tire sealant helps to seal the porous sidewalls found on many tubeless tires, seal small punctures while on the road, and also aid in setting the tires up the first time. From my experience, more sealant is needed during the initial setup.
For most tires, you’ll need anywhere between 40 to 60mL of sealant present in the tire. A general rule of thumb is the wider the tire, the more sealant is needed. Keep in mind that the sealant will eventually dry up, so it’s a good habit to top them up on a monthly basis.
Read More : A Comprehensive Guide to Road Bike Tires
Tire Pressure
With tubeless tires, gone are the days of 120psi. One of the advantages of running a tubeless setup is the ability to run much lower tire pressures and excellent ride quality. Depending on the tire and rim width, it’s not uncommon to see cyclists running at 45 to 50psi air pressure on their road bikes.
Always remember to check and adhere to the maximum air pressure for both the wheelset and tires. Generally, tubeless tires and wheelsets follow the ETRTO 5bar/73psi max pressure limitations.
There are many tire pressure calculators on the internet today, but my favorite one is from SRAM. In my opinion, it has the most comprehensive calculations taking into account all the factors involves from type of riding, internal/external rim widths, tire widths, rider and bike weight, and riding conditions.
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