Rolling Resistance – the crucial factor!

People who ride bicycles a lot are certainly familiar with the phenomenon that different tires, surfaces, air pressure, etc. also require different amounts of power to be able to ride at a certain speed. The crucial factor here is the so-called rolling resistance, i.e., how much energy is lost when the tire rolls.

This rolling resistance is influenced by various parameters. In general, the following statements can be made:

• The higher the air pressure, the lower the rolling resistance.
• Thin tires with less profile (e.g., for road bikes) roll more easily than thicker ones with a strong profile (e.g., for MTB).

However, the inner tubes used and their interaction with tires are also factors that have to be considered and not to be underestimated when it comes to rolling resistance.

The following applies to tubes: “Thin” tubes, i.e., products with a low wall thickness, have a lower rolling resistance than thicker products made of the same material. Not only the thickness of the wall, but also the flexibility of the material have an impact on rolling resistance.

S-Tubo products, for example, have a wall thickness of 150 µ. This is roughly equivalent to the thickness of a sheet of paper. Plus, the material is very flexible.

These two properties mean that, for example, S-Tubo-Road helps to reduce rolling resistance by 2.5 watts compared to a classic butyl tube with otherwise the same set-up (tire: Continental GP 5000; air pressure: 6.9 bar). See the tests conducted by bicyclerollingresistance.com:Tubolito Inner Tube Tests | Bicycle Rolling Resistance

Saving 2.5 watts is equivalent to a time saving of almost 6 minutes on a 180 km long, flat bike course.

Or in other words: The crucial factor for the qualification for the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii can easily be your inner tubes.