Motorcycle Tube type tire Vs Tubeless tire

Tyres were invented in 1888 by John Boyd Dunlop, and they were in common use on Bicycles and some early motorcycle prototype in 1895. Since then usage of tyre began to amplify and now one of the most important thing for riding bicycles, motorbike or any other vehicles is to ensure the best condition of the tyre. Tyres plays very important role for riding properly at different road conditions and it also provides safety. At past when bicycles were used to run over the wheel, it was tougher for the rider to ride at rush roads. But after the availability of tyres it becomes easier. Nowadays we have more than one option to choose which tyre is better for our vehicles. When it comes to choose motorcycle tyres, it is always a huge deal for the user. Because cars and other four wheeler tyres which need only good road grip and must be able to carry the weight, but on the other side bike tyres need a lot more factors to be taken into consideration like road surfaces, cornering, better grip, etc.

There are two kinds of tyres which are used for motorcycles and those two are Tube type tyres and tubeless tyre. Tube tyres were used from many years passed and nowadays tubeless tyres are using at almost every bike. Almost every bike manufacturers are choosing to go for tubeless tyres instead of tube tyres. One thing to be understood here is both kind of tyre has advantages and disadvantages, so user has to make a sensible choice depending on his situations, and knowing the all pros and cons of that tyre which will be chosen. So let’s see the advantages and disadvantages of both kind of tyres and also their manufacturing components, it can help us to make the right choice.





Tube Type Tyres
When it is about tube tyres, the tyre generally contains a soft mix structure which means when it comes to gripping the road surface, these tyres give the best performance as they can. Inside the tyre, a tube is placed and the air pressure of the tyre is taken care of by the tube. The tube is made with rubber and it is very thin but elastic material which holds the air is well made-up and for this reason gives the tyre its hardness. Due to this the soft mixture tyres get the extra material holding the weight. Tube tyres don’t have any direct contact with the air inside; therefore the connection between the tyre and the wheel of the bike is not exactly airtight. That's why those bikes which contain spoke wheels along with tubes tyres instant air leakage after getting punctured can create problems. The air which is under pressure at the tube, finds a way between the tube, tyre and through the rim hole for getting away and the tyre becomes useless suddenly.





Tubeless tires
At the Tubeless tyres, there is no worrying about the tubes or its leakage because a tire without an ‘inner tube’ is tubeless tires. Though the primary cost is little bit higher at tubeless tyres, but overall durability of these tyres is lot more than tube tyres. The reason being tubeless tyres are made is to improve the tyre quality, usage requirements and their lifetime. Tube tyres were soft at their manufacturing but harder mix tyres last longer. At the tubeless tyres, the air is directly filled in the tyres, so there is a need for the tyres to form an airtight seal with the wheel so as to not let the air escape. Therefore tubeless tyres are always used at the alloy wheels as they do not have the stretching tendency. If the tyre gets punctured the air will only get away from the puncture whole which is not a big issue like tube tyres.







Tubeless tyres are two in kind. Both are made with their own specialty.

Bias tubeless Tyres
Bias ply tires more old-school design of tire that's been around for nearly a century. The body of bias-ply tyre is made of layers of fabric such as nylon or polyester, and covered over each other in a criss-cross pattern. The multiple layers bend and create a cushion effect, which makes bias-ply tires comfortable to ride on and good at handling with heavy loads. On the down side, they have more rolling resistance, less control at high speeds, and keep hold of more heat.

Radial tubeless Tyres
This type of tyre is more modern variety of tyres, made with a hard cords shell that go straight across the tread, running up and down from one side to the other, with strap of steel, polyester, or fibers (like Kevlar). Radials pretend to be harder, allowing better high speed performance, longer tread life, and more precise handling, but the down side is usually inflexible ride. More or less radials are superior tires, and they are found as standard equipment on most bikes especially at the sports bikes.

Both tube tyres and tubeless tyres contain several advantages and disadvantages. And those make the differences between tube and tubeless tyres. Let us see the advantages and disadvantages of both kinds of tyres we are discussing about.

Advantages of Tube type tyres
- Low purchase cost
- Better grip and can carry pressure
- No issues of air pressure loss
- Do not get over heat easily
- Punctures can be repaired almost everywhere within low cost


Disadvantages of Tube tyres
- Always at risk to be punctured easily
- Get flat after puncture quickly
- If run on a flat, the tube valve gets damaged and requires a replacement
- It can’t be run on higher speeds at every roads

Advantages of Tubeless tyres
- Easy maintenance and light weighted.
- Does not get punctured easily
- In case of puncture it loses air slowly allowing to keep riding.
- Great longevity.
- Can be combined with a tube temporarily in case of a huge puncture
- Capable to be driven on higher speeds at every kind of roads.
- It is fuel efficient and offers good safety than the tube tyres.

Disadvantages of Tubeless tyres
- High purchasing cost than tube tyres.
- For Puncture removal needs a set of specified tools and kit
- Not all mechanics are trained to fix tubeless tyre punctures
- Maintenance is low, but the cost is high.

Verdict
We have checked out all the advantages and disadvantages of both tube and tubeless tyres, we can easily make out that tubeless tyres are definitely better, it has bunch of advantages over tube tyres and this can easily be seen in the ongoing trend with all the manufacturers now providing their bikes with tubeless tyres, at least premium bikes of their productions are holding tubeless tyres. Though the advantages of tubeless tyres are many but we cannot overlook the disadvantages also, especially in our country basis. If a bad incident happens fixing tubeless tyres are still very complicated in our country along with other developing countries like us. It can be said with the increasing usage of tubeless tyres the disadvantages will also decrease. So after over all view it can be said that tubeless tyres are better than tube tyres at these days.