Open Tubulars tyres dangerous on wide rims??

Back by popular demand, the general all-things Road forum!

Moderator: robbosmans

skinnywellfed
Posts: 88
Joined: Sun Aug 19, 2012 5:41 am

by skinnywellfed

tinozee wrote: There was also a red sticker warning on the tire box itself saying not to use on carbon clinchers.


Need to ask which Veloflex are you referring to? And where did you buy them.

I have been running Veloflex Corsa 23mm on carbon clinchers for the past (2) yrs.
Just recieved a new set of Veloflex Corsa 23mm open tubulars from a UK vendor. There are no 'red' warning stickers on the boxes.

wingguy
Posts: 4318
Joined: Thu Mar 08, 2012 11:43 pm

by wingguy

solarider wrote:Just one word of caution.

I use ENVE XC rims on my gravel bike. I tried using 30mm Challenge Strada Bianca open tubulars. Possibly the tightest tyres ever made, or possibly just a bad combination with these particular rims.

Because of the tight fit, even when fully inflated to 110psi


Quick question: what's the point of running a wide rim and 30mm tyre and then inflating it to a rock hard 110psi? :noidea:

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

www.starbike.com



solarider
Posts: 577
Joined: Tue Nov 23, 2010 9:08 pm

by solarider

Fair question. To try and stretch it. Unbelievably and ridiculously tight fit those tyres!

User avatar
FIJIGabe
Posts: 2241
Joined: Tue Sep 11, 2012 6:07 pm
Location: The Lone Star State

by FIJIGabe

I just fit a set of those, and I found the secret was to inflate the tube more than I normally do for clinchers. This keeps the tire in a more clincher-like position, which I can then pop on by hand.

solarider
Posts: 577
Joined: Tue Nov 23, 2010 9:08 pm

by solarider

They now work fine for me too on narrower Open Pro rims. Just the combination with a wider rim was problematic.

The original question was about wide rims, and in my experience certain tyres are indeed problematic with wide rims.

User avatar
ms6073
Posts: 4288
Joined: Fri Jul 23, 2004 8:24 pm
Location: Houston, Texas

by ms6073

Sorry for dredging up an old topic, but was researching issues with Challenge Strada Open, latex tubes, and Zipp 303 FC wheels when I came across this thread. First, I have been a latex tube advocate for quite some time having used both Challenge and Michelin latex tubes with Vittoria Corsa Evo Open in both 700x23 and more recently, 700x25 with with no issues Zipp Firecrest clinchers. Despite having issues with Clement Crtterium Open and Michelin tubes a number of years ago, I had read good things about the Challenge Strada tires a and decided to give them a try, installing them on our bikes before Christmas. We had not gotten to try them on the road until two weeks ago and in that time, despite extremely careful installation with new Michelin tubes, despite no issues out on the road, with less than 100 road miles on the tires, my bike has experienced two rear tire blowouts/blowoffs while sitting idle.

Initially, the wife's bike was setup with the old tubes, Panaracer R-Air butyl tubes but after ording more Michelin latex, I changed those out as well, checking for pinches of the latex tube and found none, but within a week, about 10-minutes after completing a cold, Sunday morning ride, while we changed clothes and as I was about to let air out of her tires, the rear tire let loose. So loud that the others from the group thought someone had fired a pistol. Really liked how those tires rolled with the latex but 3-explosive punctures while not riding in 2-weeks, when there was not a single issue with the previous Vittoria's, now I am gun shy and can't help but think this is an issue with the tires. Ordered two sets of the new Vittoria Corsa G+ tires which we will be riding with Panaracer R-Air before risking the latex tubes.

Image
- Michael
"People should stop expecting normal from me... seriously, we all know it's never going to happen"

User avatar
Miller
Posts: 2762
Joined: Thu Sep 21, 2006 8:54 pm
Location: Reading, UK

by Miller

Latex tubes are tricky things that will squirm out of any tyre given half a chance. I've had similar experiences in the past to those you describe. I'm loving tubeless nowadays.

User avatar
arizonahalfnhalf
Posts: 214
Joined: Mon Jul 27, 2015 9:47 pm

by arizonahalfnhalf

I don't personally use Latex tubes, but yes, the Challenge Strada Opens are a son of a bitch to mount. After going through a few dozen pairs I've gotten better at it, but it is never fun. It is very easy to pinch the tube under the tire and not be aware of it until BLAM out on the road. Just be super careful when installing, inflate to 20psi, deflate back down to a few PSI and go around the wheel on both sides and make sure you can't see the tube anywhere under the bead before fully inflating. Also, did yours blow by the valve hole? I've noted in the past that these tires seem particularly susceptible to pinching around the valve stem. So you kind of have finagle with that a bit more than usual when installing and inflating.

In response to the rest of the thread, have been riding Veloflex Corsa 23mm and 25mm as well as Challenge Strada Open's on both alloy rims and Reynolds carbon clinchers (actually older models with narrow rims and newer models with the firecrest shape wide rim) with absolutely no problems for years. Knock on wood.

User avatar
ms6073
Posts: 4288
Joined: Fri Jul 23, 2004 8:24 pm
Location: Houston, Texas

by ms6073

arizonahalfnhalf wrote:deflate back down to a few PSI and go around the wheel on both sides and make sure you can't see the tube anywhere under the bead before fully inflating.

Yes, did that. Very easy to distinguish a green latex tube from a black tire. 8)

did yours blow by the valve hole?

Actually almost 180 degrees opposite of the valve stem on the non-drive side. I used to have similar problems with Michelin latex and Vittoria Corsa on narrow Reynolds SDV deep carbon clinchers, so I switched to Challenge Corsa latex which was relatively problem free, then switched back to Michelin as there was a time when it was hard to source the Challenge tubes. Had not had any issues with the Vittoria tires since switching to the Zipp 303 FC clinchers, so despite much TLC with the tires, was surprised by these blowoffs.
- Michael
"People should stop expecting normal from me... seriously, we all know it's never going to happen"

Team Murray
Posts: 36
Joined: Thu Apr 30, 2009 11:19 pm
Location: Los Altos, CA

by Team Murray

I've run the Vittoria Open Tubular CX and CG Pave on HED Ardennes for years with no issue of

mr4fox
Posts: 276
Joined: Sat May 15, 2010 2:01 pm

by mr4fox

ms6073, I'm sure I once read a thread on here about reliability issues resulting in spontaneous ruptures of latex tubes. I seem to recall most people agreed it was mostly one brand (possibly Michelin) was more problematic than the others. Might be worth justvtryimg a different brand tube. I had pretty good luck with the 50g Vredstein tubes and I think they were also the same tubes most people recommended in that thread..

I should also chime back in and say that I'm still alive and haven't had any tyres blow off or catastrophic failures using 25mm tyres on my pacenti rims despite veloflex, vittoria and schwalbe replying to my emails and recommending not to use that tyre width/rim combo. I've probably only done 1500km on those wheels so not a great test period to be fair. I did get a pinch flat once that sounded like a gun shot (sudden deflation) on the rear but the conti Gp4000s II stayed firmly in place on the rim, although I was riding in a straight line so I guess it would be pretty unlikely to roll off the rim anyway.

I simply can't imagine the schwab pro one tubeless ever coming off at all. They are so ridiculously tight on my rims. Broken levers and four hands required. I might just replace the rims when these tyres are done lol!

User avatar
ms6073
Posts: 4288
Joined: Fri Jul 23, 2004 8:24 pm
Location: Houston, Texas

by ms6073

Thanks for all the replies. So I have 2 sets of Challenge Stada 700x25 Open tubulars, used for less than 200-miles, who wants a set? I mounted new Vittoria Corsa G+ (Graphene) 700x25 tires on our bikes this evening using Michelin latex tubes on my Zipp 303 FCs and Vittoria latex tubes on the wifes 303's. Before mounting the new tires, I compared the beads of the the Challenge Strada, G+, and the 320 tpi, 700x25 Vittoria Corsa Evo CX III Open we had been using prior to the Challenge tires. What I observed was that the Vittoria tires had a slightly deeper, but more uniform bead compared to the Strada which seemed inconsistent, varying from a somewhat sharp lip to less pronounced as you radiated away from the logos.
- Michael
"People should stop expecting normal from me... seriously, we all know it's never going to happen"

User avatar
nefariousintent
Posts: 20
Joined: Fri Jun 06, 2014 4:27 am
Contact:

by nefariousintent

If you were in Australia [emoji14]
Using Tapatalk

User avatar
ms6073
Posts: 4288
Joined: Fri Jul 23, 2004 8:24 pm
Location: Houston, Texas

by ms6073

Check your Private Messages!

nefariousintent wrote:If you were in Australia

Wife and I were in Sydney and Melbourne last July. Really would have liked to take a ride on the Great Ocean Road but it was cold and very windy, but both of us wished we could stay. :mrgreen:
- Michael
"People should stop expecting normal from me... seriously, we all know it's never going to happen"

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

www.starbike.com



Post Reply