It’s about time ‘cross and gravel bikes enjoyed the benefits of tubeless tyres. After debuting tubeless road tyres last year using the company’s MicroSkin technology, Schwalbe has put it to good use in a pair of new models for ‘cross and gravel riders (plus others for city and touring use as well).
Why did it take so long? Tubeless for mountain bikes has been around for over 10 years. Jeff Clarkson of Schwalbe explained that tubeless mountain tyres typically use a layer of vulcanized butyl rubber for air retention, but this is too heavy and stiff for smaller tyres.
Schwalbe started tinkering with the SnakeSkin casing layer used in its mountain bike tyres to protect against sidewall cuts, and came up with the next generation, MicroSkin: a layer of monofilament fabric stretching from bead to bead across the tyre that, besides toughening up the casing, holds in air.
The S-One is a rough-road version of the original One road tyre, meant for cobbled ways such as the Paris-Roubaix route. The surface of the tread is finished with the sticky One Star triple compound. Available in 30mm width.
The G-One has a bit more tread to it, also in One Star compound for traction. This one comes in 35 and 40mm widths.
The X-One is a dedicated CX tyre in 33mm. The tread is a new one, a blend of Schwalbe’s CX Pro and mountain bike favorites Racing Ralph and Rocket Ron.
