Hi

Having been massively disappointed with the quality of my last set of Vittoria Pave CG tubs, they were out of round and wouldn't hold air or even blow up to anything over 100psi I am rethinking my unwavering addiction to Vittoria tyres.

What is a really great, puncture resistant race tubular with some training and the odd sportive thrown in ???

Basically I'm looking for a Pave equivalent. Is the Sprinter Gatorskin any good ? I've never been happy with Contis on clinchers, but as they are genuinely made in Germany and not stitched together by some baby in Taiwan with her teeth as Vittoria are, thought they might be better.

Any advice/recommendations greatly appreciated !

Thanks
Sean

Gatorskins are great but a tad heavy, new Evo CX 2's seem to hold up OK and ride great, Tufo S3's can be ridden to the cords with no issues or flats.

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Curt Brown
2012 Cannondale Supersix EVO SRAM Red 10.8#'s
2012 Cannondale Super X 14.1#'s and dropping....
2011 Cannondale Carbon Flash 1 17.2#'s
1999 Cannondale F2000, SRAM XO 18.9#'s
http://cbevo.com/2012_cd_supersix_evo_31.html

Vittorias are still 'real' tubulars with pretty nice, supple casings and latex tubes. The Contis, on the other hand, are quite 'clincher-like' with butyl tubes. Having said all that, I have a large stash of 'donated' Competitions which have proven themselves very durable and are quite serviceable.

Does the butyl innertubes on the Contis help them to actually hold their air ? I am loathe to lash out on another pair of tubs that don't even hold onto the (Limited) air you can get in them !!!!

Curt, how do you find the CX2's (320tpi) ride compared to the original 290tpi CX's ??

And do you mean Tufo S3 Lites ?

Conti tubulars with butyl tubes hold air about the same as clinchers with butyl tubes, and much better than tubulars or clinchers with latex tubes, presuming of course that you're not losing air due to leaky extensions.

What do you mean by "limited" air? If you are using a floor pump, it should not be difficult to inflate them to recommended pressure, and indeed even to maximum allowable pressure. If you are using a crummy mini-pump, then of course it could be a different story.

My favorite for the conditions you discribe is the sprinter in non gatorskin version.

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I ride the sprinter gatorskin tubes and they're brilliant, excellent tubes puncture protection and to my taste great roll feeling. I rode the Vittoria slicks CX before and didn't like as much


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Thanks guys, HammerTime, I agree, but with a floor pump they were leaking faster than I could put it in ! I know that extenders aren't brilliant, but nothing should be that bad.

Reckon I might give the non-gatorskin Sprinters a go.

Any other last minute additions ?

roadiesan, you must have something wrong with your pump, the tire (and its valve), and/or the extensions. A Conti tubular should get inflated with no trouble. Perhaps your extensions are not only not brilliant, but in fact really "stupid".

+1. Your original post now make more sense. I suspect that there is nothing wrong with the Vittoria tire. The valve extender must be incorrectly installed for what you are describing.

Are you using a Hed or Zipp-type 'sleeve' extender? While those can be made to work, the best ones to use are the type that install betweem the valve body and the valve core. Put a wrap of teflon tape over the threads for a better seal.

Nah, its not the extenders I've used them before and they are tickety-boo. PTFE tape and a good seal, it was the Vit's it wasn't only the not holding air problem, but the worst thing was they were "square" ! Seated and glued well, they were "rouched" up opposite the valve, they had (I think) been folded and stored badly and had a kink in them. A right faff, all that gluing and they were for the bin. Sent them back and got a refund but still WOFT ! Will see if the Contis are better, fingers crossed

I think they ride the same, they weigh just about the same too. I have S33's and S3 21mm lites(215g), both are bulletproof but do not ride nowhere near as well as the Vittoria's.

_________________
Curt Brown
2012 Cannondale Supersix EVO SRAM Red 10.8#'s
2012 Cannondale Super X 14.1#'s and dropping....
2011 Cannondale Carbon Flash 1 17.2#'s
1999 Cannondale F2000, SRAM XO 18.9#'s
http://cbevo.com/2012_cd_supersix_evo_31.html

Very good are Challange tubular tires from normal version. Perfect are dugast or fmb

Hi,



Unfortunately the EVO 320 TPI had a change in the compound of the central thead. Vittoria are quietly working on so in the meantime I'd advise the SC version which is very good.

Tufo S3 lite must be among if not the worst tubular in history. Light, yes but that's it.



I've seen quite a few far from perfect Dugast and FMB tubulars although the latter are getting better over the last couple of years. Dugast however seem to be too involved in CX to bother with good road stuff.

Challenge are surprisingly good but suffer from a poor image.

Ciao,

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Being a snob is an expensive hobby.