Originally Posted by
chas58
Conti was doing some testing with one of the pro (road) teams this year. In blind testing, the pro riders were going for the heavier tubeless clinchers over Conti's tubulars, because they were just faster (less resistance).
With today's technology and information, I would expectt that a tubeless tires is faster. Eliminating the tube removes a big source of friction within the tire. That friction loss would surely translate to Crr efficiency.
Originally Posted by
chas58
I don't see going tubeless on the track. I don't trust those tires to hold the pressure we need.
The rims would have to be too beefy to gain back the pressures required to go hard and narrow for wooden tracks. Although that may change as disc brakes become more common on the Road scene. Mountain bike Rim designs for disc brakes changed a bit when a sidewall was no longer needed, mostly allowing them to be lighter, as the pressures that the hook portion of the rim saw were still relatively low. Brakeless AND tubeless might allow for material placement/optimization which could allow higher pressures back into the hook bead side.
Once disc brakes really hit the pro road scene, I would bet that there are going to be even newer rim tire equations popping up.