Road Bike Tire Test: Schwalbe One Tubeless 25

NOTE: We have a test available of a newer version of this tire: Schwalbe Pro One Tubeless 2016

The Schwalbe One Tubeless is the most requested tire to be reviewed by readers of Bicycle Rolling Resistance. A lot of people are wondering if the differences in rolling resistance of tubeless road bike tires are as big as with mountain bike tires. Schwalbe claims the tubeless One has a rolling resistance of 18.5 watts vs 22 watts for the clincher version. In our review of the clincher One, it came in at 12.3 watts. If we trust Schwalbe, the Tubeless One should come in at 10.3 watts in our test.

Lower rolling resistance isn't the only benefit tubeless road bike tires provide. You can run lower air pressure because of the inability to get pinch flats. When adding sealant to the tire, overall puncture resistance will increase greatly as well. Chances of getting a blow out because of heating up the rim when braking a lot going downhill also decreases with tubeless tires.

Unlike tubeless tires for mountain bikes, road bike tubeless tires do not require tubeless sealant to hold air. If you want to convert to tubeless, you should invest in tubeless ready wheels for safety, you don't want a front tire blowout at high speeds. For this test, I've used the standard wheel I use for all tests. To seal the rim, I used a tubeless rim strip with a weight of 65 grams. This should not influence the test results because the test is performed at a static speed. As recommended by Schwalbe, I used lubricant to lubricate the bead for easy mounting and to make sure the bead ends up in the right place. I did not use sealant for this test.

Claimed weight of the 25 mm One Tubeless is 340 grams, my sample came in at 344 grams. The One clincher came in at 243 grams, adding up the 100 grams butyl inner tube makes the total wheel weight equal for both tires. The One Tubeless is a little bit smaller with a width of 26 mm and a height of 24 mm on a 17C rim.

Maximum air pressure, as indicated on the sidewall is 110 psi. I overinflated the tire to 120 psi / 8.3 bar to be able to test the tire at standard test pressures.

At an air pressure of 120 psi, rolling resistance came in at 11.8 watts, which is the best result yet when excluding the tires tested with a latex tube. At an air pressure of 100psi, performance is still very strong with a rolling resistance of 12.5 watts. Strange enough, when lowering air pressure even more, it can't keep up this strong performance. It ends up losing to the Continental Grand Prix 4000S II at 80 and 60 psi by 0.1 and 0.8 watts respectively.

Puncture resistance is 12, which is the same as the Schwalbe One V-Guard (normal clincher). This seems to indicate that tread thickness and puncture resistance materials in both the Tubeless and V-Guard versions of the One are exactly the same.

Rolling resistance is good but not as good as claimed by Schwalbe. I sort of expected this because of the weight of 344 grams. What essentially happened is that they moved the butyl layer onto the tire itself instead of using the old style inner tube. Still, results are good especially at higher pressures. While rolling resistance isn't really lower with the tubeless tire, you do get all of the other advantages: like better puncture protection (with sealant), better pinch flat protection and less chance of a blow out when heating up the rim.

I'm sure a revolution is coming in road bike tire tech. At this point in time, rolling resistance isn't really lower but in a couple of years, I'm sure the manufacturers will be able to make improvements. Also don't forget all the other important benefits of tubeless tires. If you're investing in new wheels today, definitely check if they are tubeless ready.