Going tubular on a budget - 1 set of tires?

[dereksmalls]

Right so I've managed to score me a set of carbon tubulars for a decent price for racing. Most of the courses around here are on grass, with off camber grass banks, no sand, no rocks, a bit of sealed road sections. I'd love some Typhoons or FMB Pro SSCs but they'd cost more than the wheels I just brought!

What are my options for good all around tubular combinations for front and rear? Tubular CX tires are hard to come by in NZ so I'd have to buy from overseas more than likely. Is a Challenge Fango front, Grifo rear a decent mix or full Fango or full Grifo or Clements or something?

Any suggestions would be appreciated

[the_marsbar]

I would probably go Tufo Flexus Cubus.

[headwind816]

I plan to race on Challenge Chicane next as I have similar conditions as you.

[jockster]

What about Vittoria Cross XG/XM's depending on your conditions?

I run the XGs both in clincher and tubular and find that not only do they roll well, but behave predictable when the course gets slippery. XMs are a bit more grippy with more rolling resistance and more knobs on the sides.

Unless your conditions are more or less constant over the season, you are always going to make some trade off between grip and rolling resistance with a single pair of tires for racing.

[gt5504b]

I have to say, I've been very happy with the Grifo XS (file tread) performance in anything that didn't involve mud, even wet grass as long as the climbing in the wet is limited. I love the Limus for true mud, but really didn't ride my regular Grifos but in one race this year. I say go for a file tread.
XS if you don't expect wet grass.
Chicane if you get some rain.
(Both assuming you have pretty good bike handling skills, and will be comfortable pushing the bike til it grabs. It is a pretty fast and run ride with the file treads.)

[gumdad]

I would go Fangos front and back. What you might lose in rolling resistance over the Grifo (negligible), you will more than make up for in cornering.

[Hi|ikus]

I'm going to try out the Specialized tubulars. 260tpi, latex tube and a few different designs. I can get them pretty cheaply though.

[elmar schrauth]

Budget =n Tufo

[Dalai]

I've only started CX this last winter and was on Vittoria XG clinchers which came with the bike.

I have also just bought a budget set of Carbon tubulars for next season and have already glued on Vittoria Cross Evo XG tubulars. Picked them up from just over AU$50 a tyre; hope they handle our conditions...

[dereksmalls]

Thanks everyone. Decided to go with a combination of a Challenge Fango in front and a Challenge Grifo in the rear after trawling through a few older threads here and wasting several work hours reading through various blogs. I'll see how that goes to start and will assess later on. I'll have some mud tire on my clinchers for really wet races - probably Limus or Michelin Mud 2s - not that I race in the pissing down wet often.

[elmar schrauth]

Challenge are good allrounders as well

[HillRPete]

Thanks everyone. Decided to go with a combination of a Challenge Fango in front and a Challenge Grifo in the rear [...]

You probably already went ahead with the purchase, but I'd be tempted to try the new Chicane instead of the Grifo for the rear.