Making the transition to tubulars

Wheels, Tires, Tubes, Tubeless, Tubs, Spokes, Hookless, Hubs, and more!

Moderator: robbosmans

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The spirit of this board is to compile and organize wheels and tires related discussions.

If a new wheel tech is released, (say for example, TPU tubes, a brand new tire, or a new rim standard), feel free to start the discussion in the popular "Road". Your topic will eventually be moved here!
sungod
Posts: 1702
Joined: Fri Dec 24, 2010 9:37 pm

by sungod

not tried the fmb (couldn't find stock), but i've used the other two as well as conti comps (on lw obermayer, all glued not taped)

carbon - excellent dry grip, slightly poorer wet grip than g+, still ok though, lovely ride

g+ - better wet grip than veloflex, but dry grip not quite as good, lovely ride, slightly better i would say, but they cut more easily in the wet

conti comp - best wet grip, but surprised they seemed to puncture just the same as the others perhaps even more, feels like riding hosepipe

the fmb sc rubber looks exactly like veloflex, maybe the same, with the silk casing they should be an even nicer ride

there's also dugast strada (like fmb they have silk and cotton versions), i just ordered some to try, again the tread looks like veloflex, they have a wider range of standard widths than fmb whicg allows better match to rim width

btw dugast say the silk ones are less puncture resistant than cotton, i imagine this also would apply to fmb

tape conti if you must, but the others i think deserve glue :)

Wingnut
Posts: 2196
Joined: Sat Jun 23, 2007 12:41 am

by Wingnut

In my opinion silk tubulars are just beautiful to ride...I have a pair of Italian made, not Asian Vittoria Corsa CX Seta's from a while back on some wheels that need re-gluing, but really nice to ride.

by Weenie


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leej88
Posts: 354
Joined: Mon Apr 05, 2010 4:22 am

by leej88

@sungod:

Thank you for the excellent feedback! Matching tyre width to rim width was actually one of the top consideration and with LW's 20mm rim width, 22~23mm was the absolute limit to prevent the ICE CREAM cone effect.

But since they are my daily wheels, I reckoned 25mm would offer better rim protection (which they did) against knocks and what nots.

Anyway, there was a great deal on PBK yesterday for the Vittoria Graphene G+ tubulars ($100 a pair after discount and voucher) plus free shipping so I got those instead.

Will be back to using glue for the Vittorias these time.

sungod
Posts: 1702
Joined: Fri Dec 24, 2010 9:37 pm

by sungod

the dugast arrived, i got a 22 and a 23, i'll fit front/rear

they are quite heavy compared to same width veloflex...

strada silk 22mm is 270g - veloflex sprinter c. 225g

strada silk 23mm is 310g !!! - veloflex criterium c. 255g

the rubber tread seems thicker on the dugast, though it may be there is some extra layer underneath, on the 23mm it feels really thick, much more than a veloflex arenberg, that really surprised me

sidewalls have a coating on them (dugast says neoprene), the base tape is not coated, i'll probably do two coats of glue, without coating they should stick like crazy to the rims

will fit them after the weekend

Zoro
Posts: 352
Joined: Wed Oct 30, 2013 12:52 am

by Zoro

addictR1 wrote:
Zoro wrote:
sungod wrote:yep, that's the downside of latex tubes

in prep for long rides i tend to over-inflate a bit on the basis they'll lose some
You can put about a thimble full of talc powder in (use a dry Stans bottle). That will greatly reduce air loss.



You mean put into the latex tube and then pump up?

Yes

Zoro
Posts: 352
Joined: Wed Oct 30, 2013 12:52 am

by Zoro

leej88 wrote:...
Anyone here have any experience with FMB tyres? Do they really ride that much better?

Lots - maybe 20 or so 25mm silks in different configs of tread and sidewalls.

They ride great, or about the best (have Dugast, Veloflex, Vittoria etc)
Pretty light ~250g for a 25mm
They do not like water. They work fine, then the tread will unbond a week or so later.
Seem very low rolling resistance.
Puncture resistance is about normal. Very good for rocks, not so good on medal spikes, sharp small stuff and glass.

1415chris
Posts: 1433
Joined: Sat Apr 18, 2009 8:59 am
Location: Surrey UK

by 1415chris

I had four FMB Competition 26, of which three had some sort of quality issues from the start or developed it over the time.
The fourth is in my storage....
They ride very nicely indeed, but do the Veloflex as well. On top of this, much more tubs from Veloflex covering much more miles and imo, they present better product quality.
Last edited by 1415chris on Sat Jul 29, 2017 9:08 am, edited 1 time in total.

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eurperg
Posts: 936
Joined: Mon May 14, 2007 10:32 am
Location: Finland

by eurperg

I have had four pairs of FMB Paris-Roubaix tubs, and they were all lumpy. They feel fast and supple, but on smooth pavement the lumpiness can be felt.. :(

sungod
Posts: 1702
Joined: Fri Dec 24, 2010 9:37 pm

by sungod

on wet london roads the dugast cut on the first ride, the rubber on the 23mm is extremely grippy but seems a much softer compound, a few hundred km later the tube holed at the cut, put tufo extreme in and carried on another 60k, next day it blew out but immediately resealed without losing much pressure, impressive of the tufo!

decided to take it off and repair it - while keeping the tube inflated enough to not stick to itself - the basetape is quite thin compared to veloflex/vittoria, and stuck much more firmly, even with care it tore when i levered off the tub

construction is slightly different to veloflex, with the carcass being folded back to be double thickness under the tape, probably to give more strength to take the stitching

i put a rema patch on the tube (while inflated, as the tufo sealed the hole) and a couple of layers of old veloflex carcass on the inside of the cut to retain the tube and hopefully prevent any road grit etc. poking through, sewed up, my old tube of barge cement had gone really thick but it seemed to restick the basetape ok, left it on the rim under 9 bar to cure a bit and test my sewing, then took off and reglued/mounted, about 3 hours total, then let it cure overnight

rode it today, seems ok

stax
Posts: 84
Joined: Fri May 18, 2012 3:35 am

by stax

After many hours of research on this and the glueing tubulars thread, I recently put my first set of Enve 4.5 tubs onto a new Mosaic RT1 frame. I went into the process a bit nervous but feeling well prepared from all the reading I'd done and it was a smooth and simple process. I didn't do a great job of centring the front but it wasn't too noticeable till riding. I have since removed, re-glued and re-centred it, and that too was a simple process, purely because I felt knowledgeable going into it. Many thanks to the good folks who give their time and experience to help out us tub noobs on this forum. I wouldn't have considered moving from clinchers had I not had this amount of information simply and freely available.

Thanks again, and for anybody wondering- yes, it is very much worth it.

dereksmalls
Posts: 2305
Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2011 9:20 pm
Location: New Zealand

by dereksmalls

Ok so I got some Veloflex Sprinters which are 22mm, the rims I have are 23mm wide. Am I going to have a problem here with the width of will the tubs sit ok?

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dj97223
Posts: 822
Joined: Sun Nov 06, 2005 7:27 pm

by dj97223

It should not be a problem, but mount them without glue, inflate them, and look. If the base tape covers the entire rim bed, you should be OK.
“If you save your breath I feel a man like you can manage it. And if you don't manage it, you'll die. Only slowly, very slowly, old friend.”

dereksmalls
Posts: 2305
Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2011 9:20 pm
Location: New Zealand

by dereksmalls

dj97223 wrote:It should not be a problem, but mount them without glue, inflate them, and look. If the base tape covers the entire rim bed, you should be OK.


Sweet. They look fine, so I think I'm ok on that front then. Cheers

Christono
Posts: 39
Joined: Wed Dec 21, 2016 10:22 am

by Christono

Sorry if this is a stupid question (or has previously been asked) but how bad of an idea would it be to ride tubs without any kind of glue or tape?

Forget long term use. Let's say I'm doing a 1km hill climb, only up, would there be any chances of rolling a tubular?

by Weenie


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sungod
Posts: 1702
Joined: Fri Dec 24, 2010 9:37 pm

by sungod

personally i wouldn't try it

you'll have some friction and the valve stem as the only thing stopping the rear tyre moving wrt the rim

on a hill climb there'll be high force, maybe you'll rip off the valve stem, maybe the tyre simply comes off, either way you might hit the deck

glue seems a better option

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