How Much Faster Will This Bike Upgrade Make You?

Have you upgraded your tyres and inner tubes? Will you now after watching this video?

Upgraded from standard tyres and tubes my bike came with to vittoria latex tubes and vittoria corsas. It changed my life. 😂

I went from the stock specialized tires (I forget which ones they were.) To continental untra sport. Then I went from ultra sport to Conti GP5000 with latex tubes. The difference between each upgrade was definitely noticeable. Tires and tubes are absolutely the first thing to change out when you buy a bike.

Adding a tubeless comparison would have been good?

Great information! My method wasn't especially scientific, but I did a rolling test on a worn pair of Gatorskins and a new pair of GP5000 tires. I rolled down a hill (coasting) onto a flat length of trail, and coasted until the bike stopped. I did three runs on each set of tires. The differences: 20.47 mph vs 22.2 mph max speed and an average speed of 10.2 vs 12.03 mph. As much as practical, I kept everything the same. I started from the same spot, stayed in the hoods, ran the tires at the same pressure, both sets of tires were 25s, and performed all six runs on the same day, over the course of maybe 1.5 hours. It looks like the GP5000's are a little faster than the Gatorskins, confirming what I've seen online that the GP5000 tires have less rolling resistance in the lab.

Incredible results. You’d never expect to see those differences. Though, having said that…I still think investing in proper, tight fitting Lycra is the biggest on bike performance boost I’ve ever experienced.

Great video. Very interesting it would be to test now a tubless setup and see if it is even better than the latex innertube setup 🤔

Wow! So, 54 watt savings with latex tubes and tyres?! I’m hitting up Amazon now for a faster ride. Definitely trying and thanks!

This was an excellent test. Thanks so much for doing all of the comparisons!

Despite the lower weight and moment of inertia of TPU inner tubes, the superior rolling resistance of latex inner tubes makes them look like the best bet. And they are cheaper then TPU inner tubes. The downside of latex tubes are they lose air pressure faster than butyl and TPU tubes. A nice advantage of TPU inner tubes is they take up much less space than butyl and latex inner tubes, which makes them ideal as an spare inner tube for those who have small saddle bags to hold emergency gear.

Thank you so much! This was exactly the video i searched a few days agi but couldnt find a really good one!

I just went from regular tubes and gatorskin tires to tubolito TPU tubes and GP5000 tires and my bike felt like a brand new machine.

I typically ride Vittoria or Continental. I am currently still using standard inner tubes. Not too bothered about going slightly faster, but saving energy is definitely of interest. The Orbea is a very very nice looking bike. My bike is a Giant aluminium from 2006, I am still happy enough with this bike for now.

Great info and amazing difference in watts expended - thanks.

Wow!!! My budget road bike, a Jamis Ventura, will certainly benefit from this. Can’t wait to try this

Upgraded from the stock 25mm Vittoria Rubino with butyl innertubes to 30mm Conti 5000 S TL tubeless. It was noticeable whenI first upgraded but I really noticed it on the Global Bike Festival on slight downhill sections. Side by side, I could just roll away from most people.

Would love to see this done with tubeless and with different tyre widths. Like 25, 28, 32 or something.

I switched from WTB Riddler (tubeless) to Tufo Thundero (tubeless) on my gravel bike based on rolling resistance data. Didnt do an exact measurement but I noticed I was able to ride a few kilometers per hour faster than before on my favourite road segment.

Awesome results 😮

Vredestein latex with Specialized s works turbo cotton 24mm on 19-20mm internal width carbon wheels is killer combo , I haven’t found a better combo yet and I’ve tested a few.