It is one of the most debated topics of the moment as well as being a very important component, we are talking about tires. While Specialized has retired tubulars and pushes for the tires and Pirelli focuses mainly on tubeless tyres, without leaving out the other coverages, let's see in which direction Vittoria is moving. We talked about it with Tommaso Cappella, Cycling Technical Service of the Italian brand: basically the one who follows the professional teams.
Less friction
Vittoria It is an Italian giant among the leaders in the cycling tire sector, so much so that it supplies numerous professional teams such as: Lotto Soudal, Jumbo Visma, UAE Team Emirates, EF Education Nippo, Astana Premier Tech, DSM Team, Alpecin Fenix and many others.
"We have so many teams to follow and we need to give everyone maximum support," Tommaso Cappella begins, "and in this time of Covid-19, that's not easy."
Having so many teams is a big commitment but it is also an advantage to understand what the current trends are: «We can say that tubeless is the fastest tyre under the same conditions. – Cappella continues – we must consider that professionals use the best materials. Up to now, tubular It was the most used cover, as it has a lower rolling resistance than a clincher tireThis is due to the type of materials used and to the absence of the inner tube, which in the clincher generates friction with the tire itself. Tubeless has half the friction of clinchers since in this case too there is no inner tube".
Deformation capacity
At this point one wonders, but what is the difference between tubular and tubeless? Since both don't have tubes? Why is tubeless faster?
«Vittoria was not the first to introduce tubeless technology – Tommaso Cappella tells us – however we were the first to be the fastest».
But how did they do it? «Smoothness is given by the rubber's ability to deform: the more it deforms, the faster you go.This is why wider tires are faster, because increasing the cross-section increases the air volume and this leads to greater suspension linearity. The result is that Lower inflation pressures allow the tire to deform more easily and therefore to be faster". This is the strong point of tubeless compared to tubulars, in fact the latter require higher pressures with a lower capacity to deform.
Cotton, the extra weapon
But it wasn't easy to get tubeless tires that fast.
«For tubeless to be competitive it must be watertight, it must not leak air – he explains to us – and to achieve this result you need to add an extra layer of rubber. Only this layer made the tire harder to deform and therefore slower. With the Corsa Speed and then with the Corsa, Vittoria found the solution by introducing the first tubeless with a cotton casing, which is by definition the fastest material»
At this point we asked Tommaso Cappella why cotton is the fastest material.
«Cotton is faster than nylon because at the same wire thickness it is easier to deform – and then he reveals – this is precisely why the Corsa Speed was created tubeless. In truth, it was a series of coincidences that made us notice these qualities. Since then, some riders have started racing time trials with tubeless., to the point of using it regularly even in road races."
Weight and safety
But it's still there a couple of points on which tubeless remains disadvantaged compared to tubular and I'm the weight of the entire wheel system and the safety factor.
«As for the weight, wheels are starting to appear with the same weight as tubular models and I think it will continue to improve. As far as the safety factor is concerned, it is obvious that At the moment we rely on the tolerance between the tire and the rimWe are also working on this aspect, tubeless is still a young technology and has room for improvement. We are at the service of the riders but it is clear that tubeless is the new frontier».
