Eurobike: Schwalbe dispenses with black rubber

Lightweight, puncture-proof and able to hold air for a long time: Up to now, only two of these three properties could be achieved with a bicycle inner tube. Schwalbe now wants to take the inner tube to a new evolutionary stage with a new material.

Schwalbe has teamed up with chemical specialist BASF to develop a new thermoplastic material. The material is called Aerothan and Schwalbe uses it for the brand new Evo tube. This comes in blue, offers an impressive weight saving and is initially only available for mountain bike use.

A Twentyniner tube in the Evo version weighs 76 grams, a conventional, black butyl tube from the same company weighs 220 grams, the extralight version made of butyl weighs 140 grams. Schwalbe emphasizes that the Aerothan tube is on a par with the conventional butyl tube in terms of air retention and puncture resistance.

Heat-sensitive: Only for disc wheels
But the new miracle tire filler can't do everything: The material is heat-sensitive and therefore only approved for disc-braked wheels. With rim-braked wheels, the frictional heat would be too great for the Evo inner tube. If the blue inner tube breaks down: The material can be repaired with stick-on patches. Schwalbe also emphasizes the good recyclability of the Aerothan material and is launching the innovative product in 26, 27.5 and 29 inch sizes.

www.schwalbe.com