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review
Schwalbe Pro One tubeless tyre£56.99
VERDICT:
Superb road feel, ultra-grippy (after bedding in) and super-fast. Going tubeless? Buy these
Weight:
291g
Contact:
At road.cc every product is thoroughly tested for as long as it takes to get a proper insight into how well it works. Our reviewers are experienced cyclists that we trust to be objective. While we strive to ensure that opinions expressed are backed up by facts, reviews are by their nature an informed opinion, not a definitive verdict. We don't intentionally try to break anything (except locks) but we do try to look for weak points in any design. The overall score is not just an average of the other scores: it reflects both a product's function and value – with value determined by how a product compares with items of similar spec, quality, and price.
What the road.cc scores meanGood scores are more common than bad, because fortunately good products are more common than bad.
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The Pro One is Schwalbe's latest tubeless racing tyre, the improved version of the Schwalbe One our Dave reviewed last May. He liked it a lot. This one is even better – weighing less and rolling better, and I like it. A lot.
As you'll all have read Dave's excellent feature on road tubeless (if not, read it here), you already know that it's all about fewer punctures, better rolling, and lower tyre pressure (should you want it). One of the main disadvantages, he wrote, is that it can be tricky to get said tubeless tyre installed.
> Find your nearest dealer here
But Schwalbe bills this Pro One as 'tubeless easy' – and some people even claim they have managed to get these to go up with a track pump. While I have no doubt this is possible with certain wheels, I couldn't quite get this to work with the tubeless-ready wheels I had to hand: the Hunt 4Season Dura Road wheelset that Big Dave tested recently, and the Reynolds Stratus Pro Disc wheelset I had on test. As far as tubeless tyres go, though, these were very easy to fit – as long as you've got some compressed air to hand, in the form of some magic pump, a CO2 inflator or a compressor.
Then: tubeless rim tape (or a few wraps of electric tape if you want to go ghetto), tubeless valve on the rim, one bead on the rim, stick some sealant in, stick other bead on, soapy water all the way around, some compressed air, and they go up with a reassuring bang as the beads seat where they should. No need to shake the sealant around to get a seal – once up they hold pressure no bother.
Ride feel
I've been testing the biggest version at a nominal 28mm – though more like 31mm on the Reynolds wheels with an internal rim width of 17mm – and 23 and 25mm widths are also available, as well as 28-406 for 20in wheels. (There's also a wider 30mm dimpled tread version, the S-One, which Mike Stead tested in November and raved about.)
I normally run my 'go-to' Continental GP 4 Seasons tyres around the 90psi mark, but it's immediately obvious that's too much for the Pro Ones. At this pressure they feel really hard, skittery and uncomfortable. After a bit of experimenting, the sweet spot for me (at 80kg) is around the 60psi mark, where the tyres seem to roll effortlessly and very comfortably, without losing any road feel.
According to Schwalbe's 'rolling friction measurements', the Pro Ones "show almost 25 per cent less than a comparable folding tyre and over 40 per cent less than tyres which are similarly resistant to puncturing, such as the Durano". I haven't got any equipment to hand to check the figures, but I can say that these tyres feel very fast – faster than any other racing tyre I've tried. And this is a 28. Impressive stuff.
Grip
In terms of grip, initially they are actually really disappointing. I don't need to tell you it's been a bit wet out recently, and so most of the testing has been on damp, slippery roads.
For the first few rides grip was on par with my old Schwalbe Marathons, which demand careful cornering in the wet. I was out riding with Dave at the time and he was right when he said to give it a few rides.
After about 60 miles, whatever it was that needed wearing in had, and the grip increased to very reassuring levels indeed. Blatting around Bath's Odd Down Circuit – where the local crit races take place – these tyres go around the very tight corners confidently at any speed I can manage, again scoring better than any other tyre I've tried.
Weight
As for weight, Schwalbe claims they are 25 per cent lighter than the previous tubeless tyre. At 291g each (claimed weight 275g each), and making allowances for a bit of sealant, the Pro One takes tubeless tyres a step closer to rivalling the weight of the lighter clincher and inner tube setups. They certainly feel light and accelerate well, though that obviously depends on the wheelset to a large extent too.
> Thinking of ditching your inner tube? Check out our guide to the best tubeless tyres here
So far they are wearing well. By which I mean that no undue signs of wear have appeared, after a mixture of roads, lanes and some byways just for fun. Schwalbe's claims of "superior levels of cut resistance" may appear to be bold, but all I can say is there's hardly a mark and I haven't had to rely on sealant yet.
At £56.99 each, they are expensive, but for that money you get so much in return that I reckon it represents good value.
In summary, I like these Pro Ones a lot. And so does everyone else I've spoken to who's tried them. They are so good that, if you're going tubeless, you should buy some.
Verdict
Superb road feel, ultra-grippy (after bedding in) and super-fast. Going tubeless? Buy these
road.cc test report
Make and model: Schwalbe Pro One tubeless tyre
Size tested: 28mm
Tell us what the product is for, and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?
Schwalbe says: "A truly thrilling ride. It's fast. It's reliable. It's light. The patented MicroSkin construction makes this all possible. - 70 g less weight, 15% less rolling resistance and improved cut resistance all around. This is the absolute top model from Schwalbe!
"You can also use the Schwalbe Pro One with a normal tube, but its true strengths are experienced only in tubeless form."
Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?
From Schwalbe:
THE FUTURE WILL BE TUBELESS.
Tubeless Easy is the special Schwalbe technology for the next evolutionary level of the tubeless tyre. In practical terms, this means: A little liquid sealant is necessary, yet extensive conversion processes involving a lot of shaking and frequent re-pumping are not required. Compared to classic tubeless tyres, it is far easier to assemble.
MicroSkin: New key technology for Tubeless Easy
MicroSkin is the development which makes the difference compared to previous Tubeless tyres. The patented construction consists of a high-tensile micro fabric which is vulcanized together with the rubber compound and the carcass. MicroSkin envelops the entire carcass and facilitates a fault-free Tubeless Easy operation for high pressure tyres, not unlike SnakeSkin on an MTB tyre.
The new TUBELESS tyre is a new experience
With the new PRO ONE, the tubeless tyre provides ambitious sportsmen with significant benefits: It is faster, safer and lighter. All of those who have been able to ride with the PRO ONE have been impressed and immediately convinced. This is because the TUBELESS tyre with the PRO ONE does not only promise an advantage, the TUBELESS tyre with the PRO ONE is also a cycling experience.
In simple figures: The new Schwalbe PRO ONE is 25 percent lighter than the previous tubeless tyre. The new PRO ONE is faster. The rolling friction measurements show almost 25 percent less than a comparable folding tyre and over 40 percent less than tyres which are similarly resistant to puncturing, such as the DURANO. This is joined by an all-round superior level of cut resistance.
Rate the product for quality of construction:
9/10
Rate the product for performance:
9/10
These are very fast tyres, as proven by the pros in the Tour Down Under.
Rate the product for durability:
8/10
Rate the product for weight (if applicable)
9/10
Rate the product for comfort (if applicable)
10/10
Once you've got the tyre pressure right, these feel amazing.
Rate the product for value:
9/10
They may not be cheap, but they are so amazingly good.
Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose
Once they are bedded in, the grip and comfort is unbelievable. They are the best tyres I've had the pleasure of riding.
Tell us what you particularly liked about the product
The comfort, speed and grip.
Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product
The bedding-in period. For the first 65 miles or so, which for me happened to be all on wet autumnal surfaces, the lack of grip can be a bit disconcerting. When it kicks in though, it is amazing.
Did you enjoy using the product? Yes
Would you consider buying the product? Definitely
Would you recommend the product to a friend? Indubitably
Use this box to explain your score
These are by far the best tyres I've had the pleasure of riding. While there is a niggle with grip for the first few rides, the comfort, grip and sheer speed more than make up for it. Thoroughly recommended.
About the tester
Age: 38
I usually ride: All of them! My best bike is: Cannondale CAAD10
I've been riding for: Over 20 years I ride: Most days I would class myself as: Expert
I regularly do the following types of riding: cyclo-cross, commuting, touring, mountain biking
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29 comments
Agree with many of the other comments, on my fourth tyre now, haven't got more than 30% of the life out of the others due to small punctures that just wont seal. Current tyre been on for 50 miles before a 1mm puncture which after over a week still refuses to seal
Durability issues aplenty here.
had them on since december and they are shot now despite much of my mileage being Zwift-based (not on these tyres).
Every time i pump them up over 80psi a new hole is discovered! had about 8 punctures now.
Just ordered some Hutchinsons...not getting these again.
I'm another one who's not happy about the durability. Way too many punctures for my taste. Junked one altogether because of an unfixable cut. The remaining one has sealed each time it has punctured, but it still leads to a drop in pressure and fountains of sealant spraying all over the bike and my legs.
Probably nice tyres, but they're just too fragile for me. It's not like I'm expecting Gatorskin protection but like another couple of people on the thread, before I went tubeless I was riding Continental GP4000s, and never had any complaints.
I replaced the knackered Pro One with one of these: http://road.cc/content/review/219459-irc-formula-pro-tubeless-x-guard-tyres. That seems a lot tougher so far.
6000kms on them now - the rear is just beginning to square off. Easiest tyre ever to install on Shimano Ultegra tubeless rims (no need for levers). Not a single puncture yet. Surrey roads... before you ask. Grip well in dry, not so good in wet, running at 70psi for my 75kg weight very comfortable ride indeed.
Also not a great experience for me.
3 punctures in the last two rides. Sealed ok but definitely a loss of confidence in them.
If they puncture again today they're going in the skip.
Just had to junk one of these after sub 1000km. Sidewall has been cut or split, and is bulging.
They were very grippy and rode quite well but not that much better than regular Ones with tubes.
As posted on another thread one was easy to fit, the other an absolute shit.
The moulding or finishing on one was different to the other, bead slightly different tightness and amount of material around edge different.
Initially got these on easy with just a track pump. Swapped to different wheels a few weeks later and they proved a lot more difficult to get on.
Good tyres though and can be had for less than £35
http://cheapestbikeparts.co.uk/?terms=schwalbe+pro+one
I've been running these for a few weeks. Were easy to put on with a track pump, but did do one ride with them beforehand with a tube in. Took the tube out, went up without a problem, though as before, not easy to get them onto the rims. I have a tyre tool to help out, thankfully.
But: 2 punctures. One in the sidewall, god knows how, but it didn't seal at all until I took the tyre off and held it horizontal so the sealant could get to the hole. Second puncture just riding across some rough ground (redoing the road surface), small stone or something went right through. Sealant everywhere, all over me and the frame, but eventually sealed enough to get me home. However, 2 punctures in under 400 km, when I've run GP4000s for a whole year without a puncture. Early days for me, but not sure in the long term. Love the ride quality, everything (positive) you've heard is true (!). But they'd need to be a bit more puncture-proof for me to be using them permanently.
To unlucky people who suffered punctures with these and other racing tubeless tyres, the type of sealant you use makes all the difference.
Get either Stans or Orange Seal (possibly the best sealant available...) and nothing else.
I've had more than 800 miles out of mine, and they barely look any different to the day I fitted them. Comparable to the wear rate on my conti gp4000.
Don't use S-Works turbo tyres....now there is a fast wearing tyre!!! Excellent for racing tho!
I have the 28mm version, I use them for TT and club runs. I have run them up to 120psi and as low a 80 psi. The comfort level at 80psi is like marshmallow, super smooth. Also it didn’t really make much difference in my TT times at lower psi. No punctures yet but have only several hundred miles on them. ed
Fitting- I would recommend using Stans rim tape, it is by far the best tape I have used. Put in a little extra sealant and spend 10 mins rocking and spinning inflated tyre to allow sealant to coat all the internal surfaces, to get best seal.
Avoid these unless you like replacing your tyres every few months!
I installed my 25’s around Christmas time with a spray of soapy water and a quick blast of the track pump, easy. They were grippy, fast, held pressure pretty well and looked good, I was happy.
After about 200 miles, I heard the rear tyre puncture and then watched fascinated as the little hole sealed itself, quick top up with my pocket pump and off I went.
Now, with only about 800 miles of normal road riding on them, the tyres are covered in cuts and have punctured around 7 times. I resorted to running tubes inside them as I don't trust them to hold out with all the self sealed repairs and now the rear has shed the rubber in a split about 3 inches long to expose the thread, they are coming off and destined for the bin.
It seems schwalbe sacrificed all the puncture protection and durability for weight to produce a lightish tyre.
I initially loved them and will look for another tubeless tyre to replace them, but will never waste £100 again on these flimsy, thin tyres.
It's clearly stated as a racing tyre, not a everyday tyre that's designed to be durable or have as much puncture protection as an everyday/training tyre.
Nevertheless, less than 800 miles is very poor. I have had GP4000s's, which Continental rate for "Sportive, Race & Triathlon" use (not training or commuting), last for around 10,000 miles over years of use without a single puncture or any real damage.
Anybody tried some variation on the lighter fluid trick to seat tubeless? It works for car tyres but I'm not sure you could get the fluid in round a road bike tyre without the rim-well that you have on non-tubless rims...
I've done about 60miles on mine and as I'd expect, there is no sign of wear whatsoever - and no indication they won't last similar to other tyres. (Now, Specialized S-Works Turbo tyres do wear visibly fast!) It's too early to tell.
To the touch the rubber has a different texture to say Conti GP4000s / GP4S, but out on damp roads they seemed fine.
They needed a decent set of tyre levers to get on the rims, but not overly tight, and then inflated first time with a track pump and some sealant.
Running a 235g "11600808" pair on a 42 x 13t single speed Carve SL 29'er with Stans Alpha 340 Disc wheels.
My favourite tyres on my favourite city ride.
Punctures are for luddites (naysayers are clueless).
I have pair 28mm to fit for for spring. I have the old 'ones' in 25mm fitted, but after a few weeks they let pressure go, I think it was poor fitting by the shop.
I have just fitted Schwalbe Rock Razor to my new MTB build in tubeless. You definitely need a compressor or burst of air from c02 canister to get them to seat. I spent 20 minutes rotating the wheels so the sealant covered all the surfaces evenly. They are still upto pressure after several days of no use. Spend a little time with installation and they will work fine.
Interesting experiences in the comments. Here's my own which seems to differ...
I have the new pro one tubeless 28mm tires and pacenty SL23 rims. I rode them for 2 weeks now.
Installation:
- I mesured 27.5mm with my caliper at 50PSI (I'm 72kg), nothing close to the 31mm for me
- They were very hard to install (the rim was bending to get them on, even with the tire-boot tool which made all my "hard" tubeless tires a breeze). Hardest tire ever, felt really narrow.
- Could not inflate with a track pump since they were so tight the bead was stuck in the middle of the rim no matter what efforts I put in. with co2 or compressor no problem thought. They did seat *without* any sealant though (I did nevertheless add sealant afterwards of course)
Usage:
- I noticed zero pressure drop after a few days, which means it's extremely well seated and sealed. Usually I need to pump tubeless back the first week of use while sealant fully seals the slight porrous rubbers and imperfections in the seal.
- Grip is very good in dry weather, no doubt - grip wasn't as great as I expected in rainy weather though.
- Tires feel good/roll well. Not as good as my 33mm michelin jets (40PSI), but close, while rolling and accelerating noticeably faster. I suspect that if my tires were 31mm like the author it'd be perfect? Hard to say without measuring the air volume though.
- Durability seems questionable but so far no problem. The tire sort of look like its going to get used faster than some other rubbers, but only time will tell for sure. So far I have about 100-200 miles on them.
Now I'm wondering if I got a batch that's specially tight... it did seem weird how tight these are. Other than that they're currently the only good road tubeless tires with a proper slick surface i've used (I have not tried the specialized turbo s thought, i bet they rock but they're really expensive)
Oh also, my main issue with the pro ones is that they're 60USD a piece here which is still pretty high. michelins I use to use are 32USD a piece...
Hi TypeVertigo, the Pro Ones on test are still going strong, no signs of undue wear. You can't believe everything you read
Yeah, as with most consumables, tire wear is a "your mileage may vary" sort of thing
I'm just trying to spot trends from different sources. Cheers and thanks for the reply!
I ran 28mm versions of these on my new Hunt Wheels. Cut up very easily indeed. Two punctures at less than 250km.
They did feel great, very smooth, but not worth it for me in terms of how easily they punctured. Have switched to Hutchinson Sector 28 now.
Installed mine (the 28c version, as above) about a month ago on a set of DT Swiss R23 rims. Perfect - comfort and grip out of this world. And there is certainly a different feel about them compared to tubed clinchers.
Interesting that Schwalbe's One tubeless tire series gives good grip, but requires quite the bit of initial breaking-in. I wonder what that's due to - mold release agent on the tire tread/carcass?
Is this also present in the normal One clinchers?
Lastly - I've read that the Pro Ones don't seem to last very long. How's the test pair holding up?
(pardon the spelling, I'm not exactly a Brit)
Yes I'd say that is the case. At the start of last summer I fitted some regular One's (non-tubeless) and felt the same thing. Initially quite dissapointed with the grip levels but they improved significantly after a few rides. Now trying to find some S-Ones in stock somewhere so that I can fit them to my tubeless ready Hunt 4-Season disc wheels for the rest of the winter. Hopefully the Pro One Tubeless (28mm) will then be in stock somewhere in time for the summer. They appear to be like rocking horse sh*t at the momemt!
Just fitted a set to my Pacenti SL23 rims with Notubes tape and valves, didn't bother with soapy water, inflated and sealed straight away using track pump... Just waiting for the temperature outside to be more than that of Neptune to try them out.
Noting if you do have 'issues', you can do yourself a huge favour by:
I just put s-ones on my grade. It was so easy as to be laughable, soapy water and a trackpump and bang - done. I would imagine therefore the pro ones would go on easier (narrower chamber so a bigger initial expansion).
I installed the old version with just a track pump on some Hunt wheels. Some soapy water sprayed on the bead helps.