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review
Schwalbe Ultremo ZX tubeless kit - 1£129.90
VERDICT:
Impressive ride quality, speed and puncture resistance, and they're a doddle to fit.
Weight:
295g
Contact:
www.schwalbe.co.uk
At road.cc every product is thoroughly tested for as long as it takes to get a proper insight into how well it works. Our reviewers are experienced cyclists that we trust to be objective. While we strive to ensure that opinions expressed are backed up by facts, reviews are by their nature an informed opinion, not a definitive verdict. We don't intentionally try to break anything (except locks) but we do try to look for weak points in any design. The overall score is not just an average of the other scores: it reflects both a product's function and value – with value determined by how a product compares with items of similar spec, quality, and price.
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Tubeless tyres are coming of age. The latest entrant to the market is from German company Schwalbe, with their new Ultremo ZX Tubeless, which they claim is fastest tyre they've ever made.
Tubeless tyre technology currently divides opinion, but that's the kind of talk that gets us raising eyebrows here at road.cc, so we were keen to test them.
Undoubtedly the most important invention in cycling history has been the pneumatic tyre. Without John Boyd Dunlop's contribution to the world in 1887, cycling just wouldn't be the same. The clincher tyre as we know it was invented by Michelin in 1891, and 122 years later the clincher tyre is still in use.
Today, clincher tyres are still the preferred choice (tubular tyres confined to the pro peloton and weight weenies), but road tubeless, first pioneered by Hutchinson a handful of years ago, is the promising future of tyre technology.
Fed up of getting punctures? Tubeless tyres, with a little liquid sealant in the space vacated by the inner tube, promise to eliminate 99% of punctures. It's been far from a smooth road for tubeless technology, though. There's been too little choice of tyres or suitable rims, delaying uptake. That is quickly starting to change though.
Schwalbe's new tubeless tyre
Based on their top-end race Ultremo ZX competition tyre, the road tubeless version is claimed by the company to be the fastest tyre they've ever made. They've been three years in development as 'it was technically quite challenging to produce a high-pressure tubeless racing bike tyre,' Christian Lademann, Schwalbe's Product Manager tells us.
The tyre looks the same as the regular Ultremo ZX, and is available in 23mm and 25mm widths. Key to the new tyre is a new carbon bead, which Schwalbe reckons makes the tyre easy to install, yet provides the required snug fit with the rim to ensure an airtight seal. Schwalbe make the tyre with a butyl liner and vulcanise it to make a single layer.
This means the tyre is heavier, at 290g, than the regular tyre at 190g. Remember, there's no inner tube, which can typically weigh between 70 and 100g. You do have to add in about 20g for the sealant though, so the weight averages out at about the same as a regular setup. Schwalbe claim the tyre offers lower rolling resistance than their 170g Ultremo ZLX, so weight is not the pivotal performance benefit of the new tyre.
Fitting: A doddle, easy and quick
The key to increasing road tubeless adoption is making the tyres easy to fit. A little time on Google will find you cycling forums filled with horror stories, it's all enough to put you off the idea completely.
These Schwalbe tyres are really easy to fit. In fact, they're just as easy to fit as a regular clincher tyre. It took me all of 10 minutes to have both tyres fitted on the wheels and inflated. I used nothing more than two strong thumbs and a track pump to fit and inflate the tyres.
I fitted the tyres to a pair of Stan's No Tubes Alpha 340 Team 3.30R wheels. No Tubes have garnered a great reputation in the mountain bike world, and they've applied their own bead hook rim profile to these road rims, so they seemed the natural choice for testing road tubeless. They come with a ready-fitted rim tape to make them airtight and 44 mm valves.
First a dry run, with no sealant. The tyres eased onto the rims with only the pressure of my thumbs needed. They recommend fitting the tyres without tyre levers, to avoid potentially damaging the tyre bead. Track pump in place and threaded onto the valve, the tyre pumped up first time. Impressed with the effortless installation, I simply deflated the tyre, unhooked a section of bead, poured in the recommended dose of sealant, fitted the bead and pumped the tyre back up.
I inflated both tyres to the maximum recommended pressure, rotated the wheels in my arms several times to ensure the sealant had worked around the tyre and rim fully. I then left both wheels overnight. The next morning, both tyres were still holding pressure, my pressure gauge revealing no loss of air. Time to ride.
Ride: Fast, supple and grippy, and no punctures
One of the trump cards offered by road tubeless is the ability to run lower pressures without any extra risk of punctures, providing greater traction and grip. I regularly run my clincher tyres at 90/95 psi front/rear regardless of the time of year - the extra cushioning noticeably improves ride quality and is faster as the tyre can absorb bumps and ridges on the road surface. So I naturally inflated the Ultremo ZX Tubeless tyres to the same pressure for the start of my test. After a couple of hundred miles, this turned out to be a good setting, with reasonable compliance and rolling resistance.
Against a regular clincher Ultremo ZX, the ride quality is so nearly identical as to be difficult to tell the difference. The tyres feature the same RaceStar Triple Compound as the regular tyres, providing the same rapid turn of speed, momentum and pace. Grip is fantastic through the corners, especially in the dry, and equally confident in the wet.
There's a good level of suppleness in the tyre, despite the changes to make it tubeless. Ride feel over a variety of road surfaces is akin to the regular tyre, but able to run them at lower pressures proved to boost the level of suppleness. A 23mm tyre is still narrow though and it's on the wider 25mm version that this will likely be a trait more easily exploited.
The regular Ultremo was pretty vulnerable with thin sidewalls. The tubeless version is a lot more durable and easily withstands sudden impacts with potholes, something I verified in a recent chaingang when I and the rider I was following both hit the same pothole: he punctured, I didn't. That's not a conclusive test at all, but does indicate their ability to withstand such impacts.
Schwalbe also claim these tyres offer a lower rolling resistance than their 160g Ultremo ZLX. The regular Ultremo was a fast tyre, as our review attests. That's certainly been the case with the tubeless variant, rolling speed is best described as nippy, with a good turn of speed from walking pace to flat out sprinting. They hold onto the Tarmac through the bends and corners with the same tenacity as dried out Weetabix.
What about punctures?
Since I installed the tyres I've not had a single flat. I've been testing them on long training rides, short and hard chain gangs and rides in all weathers, including most recently a two-hour commute in torrential rain. It's rides like that you least want a puncture, not that you ever wish for one, but despite the increased potential for flats in roads rapidly turning into rivers, the tyres proved their worth.
So far then I'm impressed with their performance and resistance to flats. I intend to keep riding them into the winter, and will switch the wheels and tyres over to my winter training bike to build up the total mileage. I'll report back.
Should you go tubeless then?
That's an interesting question, and one only you can answer. I've been impressed with the ease of installation, zero maintenance (so far), lack of punctures and speed and grip of these tyres, as well as the comfort. Tubeless will clearly divide opinion for many years to come, and you probably know already which camp you're in. If you're interesting in going tubeless, these Schwalbe are a great investment, and a good advocate for the technology that some see as having the potential to replace clincher tyres.
On paper, tubeless could easily supplant the traditional tyre and inner tube combination that has existed in cycling for over a hundred years. The key advantage of road tubeless is improved protection against flat tyres. With the sealant you're going to experience fewer flats, making it the ideal choice for year-round cycling in the UK where our roads are generally in a poor state of repair. Most of my punctures seem to come from tiny, extremely sharp flint or glass, they cut straight through an inner tube, but tubeless takes care of them. So for commuting, training, touring and racing, they're an ideal choice.
Despite tubeless technology being commonplace on cars and motorbikes, it isn't being readily adopted on bicycles. There are many reasons for this: the maintenance of road tubeless; setting them up; rim and tyre compatibility (which is getting markedly better every year); and the mess involved if you do have to install a tube mid-ride, are potential pitfalls that a lot of cyclists just don't want to fall into. Clincher tyres and inner tubes are easier to work with, you're never going to have problems inflating a tyre or any issues with compatibility. Spares are easier to come by too. But to many, the inner tube is the weak link in the modern bicycle, and it's a weak link that tubeless eliminates.
Verdict
Impressive ride quality, speed and puncture resistance, and they're a doddle to fit.
road.cc test report
Make and model: Schwalbe Ultremo ZX tubeless kit
Tell us what the product is for, and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?
Tubeless for road racers. All you need to get you started conveniently boxed as a Tubeless-Set.
Contents:
2 Ultremo ZX TL tires, 700 x 23c
1 Easy Fit tire lubricant
1 Doc Blue tire sealant 60ml
Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?
Tubeless for road racers. We have worked a long time on this. Now we are really
excited about the benefits.
Extremely fast. No component friction between tire and tube. Radically minimized rolling resistance! (As low as in the super lightweight Ultremo ZLX)
Extremely safe. Virtually excludes sudden air loss. Almost twice as resistant to snakebite.
Optimal puncture protection when combined with sealant fluid: Immediately seals punctures.
Installation:A tubeless compatible wheel and a suitable valve are required. Tire levers should
only be used with care. Before inflating lubricate the tire bead with fitting fluid. The valve must
be located between the tire beads. To inflate a sudden blast of air is required (track pump).
There should be an audible snap when the tire locates on the rim. Deflate and fill with puncture
protection sealant through the valve. 30 ml of Doc Blue per tire is sufficient.
In case of a puncture on the road: Remove valve and install a tube.
Rate the product for quality of construction:
8/10
Rate the product for performance:
9/10
Fast, durable and resistant to punctures.
Rate the product for durability:
9/10
Very durable for a racing and training tyre.
Rate the product for weight, if applicable:
7/10
No particular weight saving over regular tyre and tube combination, but offers better rolling resistance and puncture resistance.
Rate the product for comfort, if applicable:
8/10
Impressive comfort for a 23mm tyre.
Rate the product for value:
7/10
The kit is expensive, and you need tubeless-ready wheels in the first place, though a lot more bikes come with tubeless compatible wheels these days.
Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose
Impressively fast tyre with all the benefits of tubeless and, so far, non of the frequently advertised downsides.
Tell us what you particularly liked about the product
Speed and durabililty.
Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product
A little more patience is required to correctly install them.
Did you enjoy using the product? Yes.
Would you consider buying the product? Yes.
Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes.
About the tester
Age: 31 Height: 180 Weight: 67
I usually ride: My best bike is:
I've been riding for: 10-20 years I ride: Every day I would class myself as: Expert
I regularly do the following types of riding: road racing, time trialling, cyclo cross, commuting, touring, mtb,
David worked on the road.cc tech team from 2012-2020. Previously he was editor of Bikemagic.com and before that staff writer at RCUK. He's a seasoned cyclist of all disciplines, from road to mountain biking, touring to cyclo-cross, he only wishes he had time to ride them all. He's mildly competitive, though he'll never admit it, and is a frequent road racer but is too lazy to do really well. He currently resides in the Cotswolds, and you can now find him over on his own YouTube channel David Arthur - Just Ride Bikes.
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24 comments
I just got the ZX Tubeless on my Ksyrium Elite S wheelset.
It's very tight fitting. I couldn't install it without using lever. Luckily the installation was flawless.
Riding F85/R95psi, feel noticeably more compliant than traditional tyre/tube setup (granted, it was 100/110psi).
Not sure if it really rolls faster...
i run tufo extreme sealant in lightweight inner tubes with removable cores. works a treat
Any idea what kind of mileage could be expected from these? I'm thinking of going tubeless on the bestest bike but can't be doing with tyres that'll only do a couple of thousand miles before needing replacing.
I have been running tubeless on Mountain bikes for years, and am totally sold on the benefits, mainly hardly any punctures. I had the opportunity to get some tubeless compatible wheels for my road bike and subsequently fitted these tyres. About 1000 miles in and I am totally happy !
Only on one occasion have I found a bit of sealant sprayed up the frame, so I had 'punctured' and didn't even know it.
Also as others have mentioned, a bit of searching and you can find these tyres for virtually half the stated price. Mine came from mainland Europe within 48hrs.
With regard to price, as usual I doubt anyone will end up actually paying £ 130 for a set (with or without extras) - e.g. xxcycle will do a pair for about half that including shipping to the UK
http://www.xxcycle.com/tyre-schwalbe-ultremo-zx-tubeless-hs-380-700-x23-...
Brilliant!
http://www.xxcycle.com/tyre-schwalbe-one-tubeless-700-x-23,,en.php
Got a pair for ~£32 each.
Thanks
Running road tubeless since this spring and recently cycled across the Pyrenees with some pretty severe weather on a couple of days. Inspecting the tyres each morning I guess I had sealed 4 or 5 punctures that would otherwise have required a stop for change of inner tube. Best example of their utility though was when I heard that characteristic noise of a puncture when riding in a pace line. Quickly realised it was the back wheel of the rider in front. Couple of spots of latex on my face and jersey, and I could see drops of latex down his seat post. Realised he was on road tubeless too. We rode on as if nothing had happened. Checking the pressure later in the day it had dropped no more than 5psi.
I have just taken my tyres off to put Conti 4 seasons on for the winter (with tubes and slime in the rear tube as well). The latex along the bead is difficult to peel off ready to re-fit the tyres in the spring. That is the only disadvantage I have found so far.
There's nothing to stop you putting sealant in a clincher or a tubular tyre,.if punctures are a big deal. So this isn't really a selling point
Plus with tubs no pinch flats at low pressure,.so no advantage there, also i disagree with the assertion that tubular weight savings are 'marginal' since the weight, which could be several 000g, is right where it matters most -at the rim -otherwise we'd all be on cheap, heavy rims, wouldn't we?
I've never paid £130 for two tubs either - more like 75 for two and that's for high quality vittoria..but then, tubeless is a young market so perhaps an unfair comparison..
What it will come down to for many is ride quality - and i can well imagine they will compare favourably, especially once more manufacturers get involved..
so i watch with interest,.though currently a little sceptical!
'I get the benefits on mtb and cross bikes, but on road bikes what am I missing? '
This. Can't remember the last time I punctured, let alone had a pinch flat.
You're lucky then - I can remember, and the guy across the desk from me is on his fifth in the last few weeks. I'm trying tubeless now, they'll either work for me or they won't - but i'm going to reserve judgement until after i've tried them for a while, rather than guessing.
How long can you realistically expect these to last? I'm sure Schwalbe have said the normal Ultremos are only good for a thousand or two km.
I've been running tubeless now for almost 2 years and love them!
It is impossible to say how many punctures I've had with them as any small puncture will seal itself before you even notice, especially if it is on the rear tyre.
I've only had one that I've know about on my front tyre after going over a pothole, 80 miles into an 85 mile ride. White sealant sprayed out of the tyre for about 5 revolutions before it stopped. I didn't have to! I only lost 5psi and couldn't even find the puncture point afterwards. That was using Hutchinson Fusion 3 tubeless tyres on Stans Alpha 340 rims. I also pulled a long stone chip out of the tyre at one point... sealed immediately. I took the tyre off to see if it needed a patch inside but couldn't find the hole, put it back on and ran it till worn, no problems.
I'm now using the Schwalbe Ultremo ZX and have been for a couple of months... again, no noticed punctures and I pretty much agree with the above review.
I run at about 85-90psi for a comfortable ride, good grip and control.
For me it's worth it just for that one time when I was knackered and I didn't have to stop!
I haven't suffered a pinch flat in years despite my considerable weight and an abundance of ninja potholes on the roads round here, so I don't get them either.
They are no lighter than a quality clincher, more expensive, more difficult to repair roadside, you still need to carry a tube and if you want ultimate performance, tubs are still superior.
I get the benefits on mtb and cross bikes, but on road bikes what am I missing?
The benefits are exactly the same as in MTB/XC tyres, just on a smaller scale.
As the sealant takes care of punctures, tyres don't require robust (if any) puncture protection belts that would compromise their suppleness and flexibility (increased rolling resistance). What it means is that it's possible to design a very fast rolling tyre with ultimate puncture resistance.
Elimination of a tube further reduces rolling resistance by reducing amount/thickness of rubber that deforms.
The most important advantage though is being able to run lower pressure without a risk of pinch flats.
People proudly claiming that they don't experience pinch flats therefore they don't need tubeless are missing the point. You don't get pinch flats only because your tyre pressure is high enough to prevent it. The problem with that is that it may not be (and usually isn't) the pressure resulting in the lowest rolling resistance.
E.g. Someone running 23mm tyres at 120PSI in order to prevent pinch flats, could be faster (and more comfortable) at e.g. 80-100 PSI on many (if not most) road surfaces.
Tubeless setup simply offers more freedom to tune tyre pressure to particular riding conditions. While many still believe that harder equals faster, pneumatic tyres are like suspension system on a mountain bike. If you don't use full travel, you're running too much pressure.
As for tubs, there nothing that would make them superior to a tubeless system, perhaps except of some marginal weight savings.
Tubs have higher rolling resistance than clinchers (FACT), are expensive and you still have to carry a much heavier (than tubes) spare.
When a tubeless tyre doesn't seal (unlikely) you just put an inner tube in. Nothing to sew and glue...
Interesting points and I have no experience of tubeless, but the contention that rolling resistance is reduced due to the elimination of the inner tube doesn't add up when the above review mentions that the 'normal' tyre carcass effectively has an inner tube bonded to it, therefore increasing it's thickness and weight by 100g, so I don't see any reduction in material there.
I run tubs on my race bike (I'm with the pros on that, so I'm guessing I'm running the premium system), so would be genuinely interested to see a link to the fact that tubs have higher RR than clinchers. I thought tubs, due to their completely circular cross section, were the most supple; this cross section also allows the carcass to be manufactured from higher TPI material, again adding to suppleness. Finally, without exception, tubular rims are lighter than the clincher equivalent, thus saving weight exactly where it is most effective.
Actually, one other thing, I don't sew and glue tubs either. I just make sure I buy models with removeable valve cores and if I get a flat, I use Tufo extreme sealant to fix them (obviously suffering a slight weight penalty).
Rolling resistance isn't just a function of the amount of material, although for a given specific material blend less may often be better. Typically, tubeless tyres for bikes means either 'tubeless' - where the tyre is effectively non-porous and seals against a rim on it's own - or 'tubeless ready' which are generally not air-tight but become so when run with sealant. Schwalbe describe their tubeless tyres (Ultremo ZX and One) describe their tyres as 'tubeless' with a liner bonded to the tyre - hence no tube deformation or tube/tyre rub - and with it lower rolling resistance - but with a higher weight than 'tubeless ready'. Even so, they reckon they run better than their clinchers or tubs, e.g. from their page about the One
..they also reckon the Ultremo ZX has lower rolling resistance, in-line with their ZLX tyre (they reckon). Tubeless ready (TLR) tyres may be slightly better off than the tubeless tyres when both running sealant, as the TLR tyres don't have the extra weight from the butyl (or whatever) liner - that'll depend a lot on the construction details obviously.
Perhaps - depends what pressures you're running, what surfaces you're on, the exact construction of the tubs and so on and so on. Pros have also run tubeless when it suits them, e.g. FDJ were running some as an alternative to tubs on some of the cobbled classics, tyres which have now been released as the Hutchinson Secteur (Sector in US) 28 - one presumes there was some merit to them. Thinking as one tyre/wheel system as 'premier' might be a bit simplistic.
Clinchers can be manufactured in the same way - just without the sew in tube, e.g. Vittoria Open Corsas (I happen to have some, very nice they are too). The TPI and material choice is not solely dependent on whether they are tubs, clinchers or tubeless. For a discussion on rolling resistance of clinchers vs tubs, this page may be interesting (especially the links to engineering reports, one by and ex-Vittoria guy).
http://velonews.competitor.com/2007/06/bikes-and-tech/technical-faq/tech...
To short-cut some of the looking up, here is a copy of the rolling resistance coefficient (Crr) figures for some top tubs and clinchers based on results found linked from that page.
Of particular interest is the paragraph immediately after that table..
There is obviously more to the suitability of a tyre and wheelset than rolling resistance however, something dealt with further in that article - but the bottom line for me is that it looks like clinchers and, in particular, tubeless tyres have a place in the real-world cycling order - and it's not always below tubs.
Hope some of that is of use to you.
Cheers
I run MTB tubeless on several bikes, not had a flat since fitting them and getting pressures right, just occasional top up.
Have removed a nail from a tyre, night ride, back wheel went soft, not flat. Pulled over, found the nail had gone in through the tread and out the sidewall causing a loss in pressure which was understandable. Pulled it out and topped it up, rode home, not touched since. That was 9 months and several hundred miles ago.
But £130? Really? Even for a pair and sealant that's steep.
Until that gets reasonable I'm out.
Good to hear they are coming out with tubeless tyres that are more reasonable to mount. Just dipped my toe in the water with a Hutchinson Intensive and it was a bit of a bugger to get onto the Stan's rim. I resorted to a plastic lever to do the final persuading. Not recommended I know.
Is it just me that doesn't "get" tubeless? What's the advantage over simply putting sealant inside your inner-tubes?
that's an easy one. no pinch flats.
Plus less rolling resistance.
Personally, I'm totally in for road tubeless. I don't actually expect tubeless tyres to be more resistant to regular cuts and punctures (as rubber and casing are essentially the same), but the lower rolling resistance, suppleness and extra grip that tubeless tyres generally provide is impressive.
I haven't tried tubeless tyres yet on the road, but I will surely give them a try!
Is that £129.90 per tyre? Without the sealant? I can get 2 car tyres (fitted) for that! Whilst I agree they sound great, your review doesn't mention the cost. How much would it cost for a Mavic neutral service man to follow me around with a few spare hoops?
The sooner others come to the market place (Continental) the sooner the price will come down I suppose.
That's the kit price, including two pairs of tyres and a bottle of sealant
I guess you're not fitting £400 Pirelli P Zero tyres to your car are you?
That makes a bit more sense.
I certainly don't object to spending more on bikes than cars by the way. Maybe I'll start buying re-moulds from the dodgy backstreet garage and save up for these for my bike.