Veloflex enters the tubeless market

[Alexandrumarian]

Also, the Veloflex Record clinchers I have do not appear to use their latest compound as introduced last year on the 350tpi tubs. I wonder if the new edition of this tyre will be able to challenge Corsa Speeds for the overall crown?

Would love to know if the tested tire is the old or the new type...

[xav]

Thank you for your hard work and for making the data available. I'm sure making tyres is a trade-off and we have to be aware of what we are losing when we optimise for CRR but in general publically available data has probably resulted in much faster products over the past couple of years.

Historically I think manufacturers of non-vulcanised tyres have used one or a few tread strips glued on to a range of casings and so I will be very interested in any comments you can make regarding the construction of these two products. If they are otherwise identical will this give us an idea of the value of having a lighter weight casing i.e. a direct experiment 320tpi vs 350tpi?

Also, the Veloflex Record clinchers I have do not appear to use their latest compound as introduced last year on the 350tpi tubs. I wonder if the new edition of this tyre will be able to challenge Corsa Speeds for the overall crown?

Thanks for the kind words!

From the data we've collected there isn't really a hard and fast rule as to whether a full casing is faster than a glued on casing - eg Corsa Speeds are made with a separate tread with Michelin's being an all in one casing, but both are basically the same speed. It'll be the compounds used, type of bead, thickness and things instead.

Looks like the new tubeless clinchers are similar in construction to the new tubulars? I can post up some photos when they arrive. Be really cool if they're super fast, it does seem like everyone has stepped it up a bit. We've had a tubeless tyre from a pro team which is really fast which we can't publish data on yet, and a few manufacturers are converging around those low Crr values. I suppose there has to be an end point to low Crr, at which point you'll get manufacturers focusing on puncture resistance to making super low Crr tyres more ubiquitous and user friendly, but for the time being there is a discrepancy between the mega fast fragile tyres and the more robust ever so slightly slower ones.

I fully recognise that AeroCoach is coming at it from a pure performance point of view, as we're currently spending our time/effort on just the fastest TT/triathlon specific tyres but over time we'll expand to more stuff. Some of the guys want to do gravel Crr/tyre pressure which I'm keen on doing too.

[ichobi]

Hey Xav thanks for always engaging with the community. Another tyre i think a lot of people might be interested is the Specialized RapidAir in terms of crr standpoint. It looks to have good balance between durability and speed, at least according to specialized pr material.

[tonytourist]

Likely, they have gone through vigorous testing, like Campagnolo, who released disc 3 years after Shimano and SRAM. Italians take their time for a reason

They subbed their R&D out to Magura. Maybe Veloflex had Conti or Schwalbe help them out

[xav]

Hey Xav thanks for always engaging with the community. Another tyre i think a lot of people might be interested is the Specialized RapidAir in terms of crr standpoint. It looks to have good balance between durability and speed, at least according to specialized pr material.

No problem at all - we have tested the S Works Turbo RapidAir, it's on our list as "2Bliss" and didn't do as well as the Turbo Cotton. Might have made it confusing with the naming of the tyre in the graph so apologies for that.

[ichobi]

I never picked that up but thanks for the explanation!

[aeroisnteverything]

Hi Xav - when you get them, aside from performance characteristics, would be also very interested in the observations on mounting experience relative to other tubeless. Are they tight/loose (e.g., compared to Vittoria or GP5000 TL)? Easy to inflate or need a shove with the compressor? How is pressure retention over the course of the test. This is all easy stuff - ie does not require you to come up with a whole new setup for, e.g., testing puncture resistance. Just things you inevitably observe when dealing with the tyres, but which is also incredibly useful to everyone.

[xav]

For sure, happy to share general experiences as well as the hard data! With roller testing they go on an aluminium rim but I'll check them on our carbon rims for fitment too

[xav]

Okay so the tyres we ordered just arrived. First impressions are that they're not like any other tubeless tyre we've had in, in terms of construction which is interesting.

The Corsa Race TLR has a specced weight of 220g ±5% (11g) and this one came in at 221g.

There's a bit of a lip to side of the tread which is something that we've previously found isn't great for aerodynamics, but isn't as bad as the clincher VF Record for example where there was a big lip (or a Corsa Speed). Centre tread thickness is roughly 2.2mm.

Interesting little shapes at the edge of the tread which you can see here:

[xav]

The EVO TLR is very very similar, same tread pattern but 0.3mm thicker in the centre of the tread.

Weight was 239g for 25mm, claimed 230g ±5% (11.5g)

The reason why I say their construction is nothing like a tubeless tyre we've had before is most apparent when you look at the underside:

Almost looks like an old school tubular tread pattern but that's the inside of the tyre. Doesn't reach all the way to the edge of the casing and has a bit of a sheen to it.

I'll mount these and test them this week with any luck. I'm not going to guess on how they'll do just from feel because you can really never tell!

[Maddie]

Are they suitable for rim brake carbon rims?

Gesendet von meinem MAR-LX1A mit Tapatalk

[petromyzon]

@Maddie - the Veloflex website says yes (they all now have the SPS sidewall protection system)

@xav - so probably with just a fraction of a mm difference this is just the same tread strip glued to two different casings? Let's hope the "airlock membrane" is not too slow. In the Turbo Cotton ballpark for weight and thickness despite a tubeless bead.

[aeroisnteverything]

They look quite well put together, I gotta say. That shiny membrane on the inside might be less porous than casing on other tyres and therefore preseve sealant a bit better - just hope it's not so thin that it will fray after a few 100 kms. 2.1-2.4mm is pretty thin, but I belive thin thread is not a new thing with Veloflex.

[bespoke]

The EVO TLR is very very similar, same tread pattern but 0.3mm thicker in the centre of the tread.

IMG_5419.jpg

Weight was 239g for 25mm, claimed 230g ±5% (11.5g)

IMG_5420.jpg

The reason why I say their construction is nothing like a tubeless tyre we've had before is most apparent when you look at the underside:

IMG_5418.jpg

Almost looks like an old school tubular tread pattern but that's the inside of the tyre. Doesn't reach all the way to the edge of the casing and has a bit of a sheen to it.

I'll mount these and test them this week with any luck. I'm not going to guess on how they'll do just from feel because you can really never tell!

Less posting and more testing !!
Great work

[ms6073]

Always liked Veloflex tires and used to use them with latex tubes on Zipp 303 Firecrest wheels until a series of side-wall blowouts pushed me to Vittoria Corsas and now a set of 2020 Schwalbe Pro One tubeless. Just ordered a pair of the Corsa EVO TLR Black Sidewall 28-622 (700x28C) direct from Veloflex - wonder how long it will take DHL to get them to the US?