Specialized Cotton TLR

The Specialized Cotton TLR is raced in the UCI WorldTour by the likes of Demi Vollering and Remco Evenepoel, and it lived up to that pedigree in my testing. The new tubeless version of the popular Cotton clincher pairs wonderful ride quality with low weight, excellent grip and the perception of low rolling resistance.

Despite Specialized billing this as suitable for racing, its durability impressed me to the extent I wasn’t worried about long training rides on poorly surfaced roads. Another bonus is that the very supple Cotton TLR is a breeze to install with a latex inner tube, or to set up tubeless – mine went on without levers.

Specialized sells the hookless-compatible Cotton TLR in 28, 30 and 32mm widths, all with tan walls. While the 30mm variant I tested may well blow up true to size on the 21m-wide internal rims of the Roval wheels Specialized recommends, it was undersized (28mm) on my 19mm-wide Hunt Aerodynamicist rims, and oversized (32mm) on 25mm-wide Enve AR40s.

Specialized attributes the Cotton TLR’s performance to the 320TPI (threads per inch) polycotton casing. All things being equal, a higher threadcount makes a tyre more flexible and therefore more comfortable and faster rolling. The cotton fibres wrap around the polyester core of the casing, providing reinforcement and smoothing out the road, according to Specialized.

On top, Specialized adds its Gription T2 and T5 compounds. Faster-rolling T2 runs down the smooth centre of the tyre, and T5 forms the low-profile tread on the shoulders. It’s debatable whether tread works on tarmac, but I never struggled for grip on the Cotton TLR, even when racing technical descents on a wet and wild day in the Peak District.

At time of writing there was no independent rolling resistance testing of the Cotton TLR. Specialized claims it’s two Watts faster than its predecessor, but gives no data to support that. Having been struck by how brisk this tyre felt as I accelerated and pushed along, though, I’d expect the Cotton TLR to fare well in objective testing.

Although rolling resistance is more important than weight everywhere except on the steepest climbs, it’s nice to have light tyres. My sample of the Cotton TLR actually undershot its claimed weight of 290g by six grams, making it nearly identical to the Corsa Pro TLR and lighter than the Continental GP 5000S TR.

The Cotton TLR is also a very enjoyable tyre to ride. Probably due to its flexibility, when inflated with a latex inner (or tubelessly) its ride was very engaging – I could sense the changes of the road surface, but felt very little harshness.

Value

Costing £85, the Specialized Cotton TLR is competing with the best road bike tyres out there, which I think is reflected in its performance. It’s comparable to other race tyres, such as the Grand Prix 5000S TR at £84.95, the Challenge Criterium RS TLR at £85, and the Vittoria Corsa Pro TLR at £89.99. However, the Hutchinson Blackbird Race, which scored 9/10, is £15 cheaper at £69.99.

Overall

A high performance tubeless tyre from Specialized was long overdue. Thankfully it was worth the wait – the light, fast and supple-feeling Cotton TLR is a pleasure to ride. When independent rolling resistance test results come in, it’s unlikely to be crowned the outright quickest road tyre, but it won’t be far off, and nor is it excessively fragile. That extends its use beyond just racing to something far more versatile.