Which one is faster? Tubular vs clincher tire question.

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Sosan
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by Sosan

pdlpsher1 wrote:
Sosan wrote:I personally do experiments with a powereter and various wheels and tires on an uphill. For a same power, Turbo cotton or Grand Prix TT clincher+latex+wide rim (17+mm+ inner width) always gives me the faster results than Vitt. Corsa CX3 tubular+3 layers of Mastik One+ lighter wheels. All the tires are 23mm or 24mm according to the casings.

However, I should admit that the tubs feel more comfortable, partially because of the structure and partially the piece of mind. Tubs are less prone to puncture and explode on downhills.


Your clinchers and latex inner tube exploded on a downhill? Clinchers and latex is a bad combination.

For the safest and ultimate performance one should ride a tub. Personally it's not worth it for me as I don't race. A fast clincher tire like the Conti GP 4000 and Conti Supersonic tube is good enough for me.


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Except for the long and steep downhills that need intensive braking, clincher+latex have performed very well. I've used the combination for club races many times and it performed exceptionally well. It saves several Watts compared to tubulars, based on my repetitive experiments. Still, not as confident as when I'm on tubs, because clinchers can pinch flat, blow off for some reason, and feel harder than tubulars.

However, I also saw one of my friends blowing off the clincher+butyl tube on a downhill, so not sure if latex is the real culprit.

sawyer
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by sawyer

HammerTime2 wrote:
sawyer wrote:Smooth centre that looks fast. What is interesting is it's a totally different tyre to the standard comp. the base tape is more like Vittoria's (in colour and feel/suppleness). It appears to have very little if anything in common with the normal Comps

But that said, there are pictures of Pro LTDs on some pro bikes with the standard "dotted" tread, so clearly there are two tyres out there. I wonder tbh if the dotted one is just a standard Comp re-badged? I did also wonder if the one I have might not be made by Conti (just because it's so different to anything else they make - I've used them all!) ... but then again, Conti have as much experience making tyres as anyone in the world, so no reason why they couldn't do something unique in small batches for pros ...
Sawyer, I'm not saying these are not legitimate, but given that you bought them on ebay, are you sure they are not counterfeit?. And to be clear, if Conti rebadges tires made by another company as Conti Comp Pro Ltd, then those are genuine, not counterfeit. Do you have latex or butyl?

Meanwhile,
In Making the transition to tubulars, bcmf wrote:So you learn something new everyday:
Conti Competition Pro Ltd tubulars. Pro team issue only? Not all are latex tubes inside. Tyres marked alx are latex and tyres that are marked PT have butyl tubes.
Also the stitching on the comps look remarkably similar to Vittoria as does the silk liner inside is almost the exact same as the Vitts.
Possibly 'finished' in the same factory?


Can someone in the know please get to the bottom of this?


Hi Hammer - the are latex. One of the guys I bought them from is (low level) pro (I did my DD!) ... don't think they are counterfeit though they could be made by someone other than Conti. They do however look well made comparing them to all the other tubs I have lying around. Will see how they roll ... first one will be mounted this week
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Dr.Dos
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by Dr.Dos

You can run lower air pressure in tubulars, lower == faster in most conditions.

I run latex tubes in my race clincher wheels without any problems. On the contrary, I suffered from slow punctures twice this year (yeah, yeah, damn those fast but fragile Turbo Cottons) but was able to finish the race because latex does not blow up like butyl. I would not use latex in the mountains, though as heat build-up would kill them probably as it would kill superlight butyl tubes.

I glue my tubs with three layers of glue on the rim and two on the tire, adhesion (and thus crr) should be better than the stuff tested in magazines. As a part time CX racer I know how important proper glueing is for various reasons.

Conti Pro Ltd. are awesome tires, I was able to source them from local pros in earlier years and loved them. I race on clinchers these days mostly as I prefer to ride to my local races and can only carry spare innertubes and a small pump with me.

Conti GP4000SII and Specialized Turbo Cottons are awesome tires, the first a tad slower, the latter a bit too fragile for my taste but oh so grippy and silent during cornering. The 25/26 mm variants are awesome at around 6-6.5 bars on wide rims.

sawyer
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Location: Natovi Landing

by sawyer

Right, the whole Pro LTD thing was nagging so I did some research

The version I have, and I believe ultyguy's also, are TT specific. They are exactly the same as those on the Movistar TT bike at the GCN vid below (hats off to GCN for their stuff btw - first rate). They are ALXs FWIW. I have a feeling these are going to ride very fast indeed ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRUGxMj ... RtVjEonQbE
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Calnago
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by Calnago

That makes sense. Now find us some Competition Pro Ltds with the dots all round and latex tubes. Really want to try some of those.
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Dr.Dos
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by Dr.Dos

Calnago wrote:That makes sense. Now find us some Competition Pro Ltds with the dots all round and latex tubes. Really want to try some of those.

Indeed there are versions with latex and butyl tubes. They have different casings and compounds as well but these are mostly one-offs for time-trialing and cobbles.

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