Do you need to fill air in tubeless tire?

Answer 1

Of course you need to fill up air in a tubeless tyre. Contrary to what the name may suggest, a tubeless tire is not made of solid rubber (that would make the tyre too heavy and decrease engine performance).

So tubeless tyres take the exact idea of a regular tyre and eliminate the rubber tube from it. This is because having an addition rubber tube poses many risks - because the tube is a separate entity from the tyre, often times friction between the rubber tyre and tube causes extensive heat build up increasing the possibility of a tube to burst (such as during a high-speed long distance cruise). Since the rubber tube is relatively thin (compared to the tyre), it bursts in an explosive manner, causing rapid deflation of the tyre leading to loss of vehicle control (and hence an accident).

In a tubeless tyre on the other hand, a coating of rubber (halobutyl) is done on the inner surface of the tyre itself. This coating makes it air tight (or impermeable) so that when air is pumped into it, it stays in there. So yes, you do need to put air in the tubeless tyre.

Moreover, the tubeless tire weighs less than a conventional tyre (by about 500-700 grams). This isn't much weight, but it does have an impact on engine performance and fuel efficiency (increases both). Another problem with the tube is punctures, often caused by pinholes, nails or other such small sharp objects. In case of tubeless tyres, these are not as frequent. This is because if a nail or other sharp object protrudes into the tyre, it stays there for quite a few days without any significant loss in the air pressure as the nail itself seals the hole.

However, contrary to what the 'experts' say about tubeless tyre repairs being much easier than conventional tyres since all you need is a sealant kit that has a chemical that when injected into the tyre seals it back again, without compromise in tyre quality. I find that tubeless tyres can be expensive to maintain. This is because if the puncture is in the side wall of the tyre (which is much thinner than the circumferential surface which stays in contact with the road) - you will have to replace the entire tyre because the side wall cannot be sealed off with these 'kits'.