Making the transition to tubulars

[HillRPete]

Ah one of my favourite topics

I carry one of those light Tufos and a can of Pitstop. In the last few years I had 2 flats on the road (plus one that only showed itself the next day). The Pitstop never did anything but make a mess, but there's hoping that one day it will live up to the expectations.

[sugarkane]

I used pitstop once I got more of it on me than in the tire.. Awful stuff

[barsook77]

Hi,

Caveat #1:

Guess one of your guys does the rounds with a compressor to keep the pile of tubs inflated then?

We never inject the tires until they are mounted on a bike and ready to ride. You didn't think we inject and then let them lie around in a "pile" ahead of time did ya?

Caveat #2:

Although I heard all kinds of horror "stories" none of these concerns has proved true for me or anyone else using high end Veloflex, Vittoria or Conti's.

Those so called stories are actual fact. Why else do you keep those tubs inflated? Good looks?

I keep them inflated @80+ so the bond stays strong. Never a problem for me or the 100 others who bought rides and used this method last year.

Caveat #3:

Clogged vales? Keep the valve at the 12 o'clock position when storing.

Same as #2

What? Keeping the wheel valve @12 is a problem for ya?

Caveat #4:

Tires should be re-injected after a couple of months ... but by that time, our tires have already performed to their maximum life anyway so that concern is a non issue for us. I thought there might be a balance issue with the liquid...but it never reared its ugly head, so that is why I never mentioned it.

Money no object, extra weight no object. When done throw in the skip.
Surely after a couple of fillings that extra weight must go somewhere? Oh yeah, in the skip...

Extra weight? What a few grams??? I hate flats. What exactly is "skip"? Translate to American English please.

Tufo tape can get expensive compared to a can of Conti glue...so I buy in quantity. It comes to just over 5 bucks USD per tire and they mount perfectly true EVERY time.

Caveat #5:

Guess you don't use thus stuff or you would have known about it. Don't like tape or sealant?

No, I don't like it. Then again I don't have any guys nor cash to throw around either.

Well, neither did I when I started out. And that is why I learned how to mount everything from scratch, repair and sew, maintain and re-latex the sidewalls et al when I was broke. I'm not broke anymore.

[Denavelo]

i carry a small bottle of stans, a core remover, a straight bobby pin ( unblocking extenders ), a core remover, a small length of rubber tube ( to help get the sealant in ) and a bottle of loctite power flex super glue. plus at least $50 more on longer trips.

i only use the sealant if i have too and not a lot. never had a tire shred its tube and only have to use the sealant towards the end of its life when they square off and become fragile.
plugging the hole with the rubberised super glue was a revolution for me.. it took my ride home with a puncher from 70% to 95% and allows me to ride my veloflex carbons into the cords ( once the tire become thin i use the glue to fix any holes and cuts that i find..

normal super glue will get you home but it becomes brittle and falls out..

i took a spare glued tub to Cali with me on my trip but even on the solo rides well over 100kms that i did into places unknown i didn't bother to take it out with me.. in the 700+ kms i did the only puncher i got was on the san fran rapha cc ride where my very worn rear tire objected too the ensuing gravel bashing those boys love to do.

Ironic. I recently went to San Francisco and rode with my buddy who manages the rapha store. We set out on a long day to point Reyes and back from his place in the mission. It turned out to be about a 80 mile loop in total. We got all the way to point Reyes and my new veloflex roubaix tire gets a tiny piece of glass and air started leaking. We had lunch at the dining spot right when you drop into point Reyes and a mountain biker had some glue. Vittoria pit stop is utter crap. Pit stop was spewing out of the tiny puncture. The glue held air until I made it to above category who put Stan's in my tire. To this day the same tire holds air longer than it did before the puncture. I'll never use pit stop again. Irony is that I did the stamstiche ride from the rapha store the night prior and we rode gravel and dirt in the headlands. I got a flat on smooth pavement the next day to point Reyes. Mind baffled.

Always carry a spare pre glued tubular attached to your seat with a toe strap, because it looks good that way. Also invest in some Stan's Sealant and the items sugarkane describes above.


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[Geoff]

[petepeterson]

@sugarkane would you mind elaborating on your method for roadside repairs with loctite superglue? I've never heard of that before...

[shimmeD]

Superglue is used from the outside of the tub to seal cuts on the outer layer. It needs to be flexible glue, otherwise it'll just dry up hard and fall off.

[fdegrove]

Hi,

Loctite has a Super Glue that has some rubber mixed in. It's readily available in Europe from just about any super market.
That said I rarely ever use anything to fix a cut, the small ones stay small and the big ones mean trouble sooner or later anyhow...

Ciao,

[petepeterson]

OK cheers. I suppose it really only acts as a filler. I thought it was somehow being used for repairing flats.

First ride on new set of Boras w/ Arenbergs last night. Such a treat after a winter on clinchers.

[n808]

I remember the first road bikes I had back in Norway in the 90's. Everybody was using tubulars, as clinchers had not yet become popular (or good enough). Then in 2004 I got my first clincher wheels on the bike I bought here in the U.S. Since then I have been wondering why anyone would want to ride tubulars for recreational riding / races. But now after I started following these forums, I see tubulars are back in favor (if they were ever not..) and everyone who uses them apparently loves them greatly.

Could you please help me understand this: is it more like one can appreciate an analog turntable over a CD player (I do this myself), or is it like buying expensive HDMI cables over no-name cables that carry digital signals just as well as the expensive ones?

Or let me phrase the question differently. I read a great many posts about the far superior ride quality of tubulars. Could someone please try to describe how it is superior? If one were able to perform a double blind-test *) to compare, could one easily notice riding on one over the other, assuming one used high quality tubulars and high quality clinchers and tubes? (I would not recommend riding blindfolded)

*) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double-blind_trial

I am curious, I don't mean to upset any tubular fans - but I would appreciate if you could help me understand how tubular ride performance/quality is superior. I might want to build/buy a tubular wheelset myself.

[Anth73]

I only got into road bikes about 5 years ago and didn't know what a tubular tyre was. Occasionally I would see a rider with a spare tyre under his seat or in his jersey pocket and thought how odd it was.

About 2 years ago I started road racing and noticed all the better guys raced on tubulars. So I bought myself a set, got a mate to put the tubulars on and only ever used them in races pumped up to 130+ PSI (I weigh about 67kg) and always drive out to the race, even my local crits, in fear of puncturing. Sure they seemed quicker but I didn't really notice a bug difference compared to clinchers.

This summer I decided to ride the tubulars to my local crits and in doing so discovered their beauty. With pressures dropped to 115 PSI the ride quality is sublime! I can't comment on the supposed key improved puncture resistance compared to clinchers but I'm sold on their advantages despite the perceived hassles of gluing and addressing punctures. The best advice I can give is to read the gluing thread to inform yourself of life with tubulars and decide if its for you.

[shimmeD]

I too rode tubulars in those days. I've been back on tubulars and not going back to clinchers any time soon. The advent of sealants make changing tubs less often, and I haven't repair any this time around.

Spot on with the vinyl analogy. It's the sum of all the parts that makes it stand out. CDs cut out low and high ranges that we can't hear whereas vinyl produces a wider range including those CDs don't do. And guess what? Vinyl sounds better. Playing vinyl on the other hand (like tubs) takes more effort.

[HillRPete]

Always carry a spare pre glued tubular attached to your seat with a toe strap, because it looks good that way.

Hmm maybe, but a tubular wrapped in a plastic bag under the seat doesn't look quite as good.
Thankfully the small Tufos fit into a tool bottle, with room for a multi tool, CO2 cartridge and some other small things you need sometimes. Carrying only the sealant in the jersey these days, but thinking about fixing it onto the tool bottle too, with some velcro or so.

[fdegrove]

Hi,

Thankfully the small Tufos fit into a tool bottle, with room for a multi tool, CO2 cartridge and some other small things you need sometimes. Carrying only the sealant in the jersey these days, but thinking about fixing it onto the tool bottle too, with

One can't help but admire the brave.

Ciao,

[beanbiken]

Maybe i'm crazy or just ????? well anyway. I've been riding tubs exclusively for a couple of years now [recreational rider no races] and run Stan's never had a problem but for once when I found a thorn in the tyre, removed the offending item.........SSSS for a couple of seconds and then silence. Carry a pair co2 canisters but no spare tyre.

Steve M.