Which tubular tire?

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Roundabout
Posts: 36
Joined: Sat Mar 19, 2011 12:04 am
Location: Moraga, California

by Roundabout

In that case, gatorskin works great for commuting; I just cringe every time I see gatorskins glued to race day only wheels because someone is afraid of flatting out of a race... Even if a 2min flat change would leave them irrevocably dropped.

How do the gators feel with the revo injected?

by Weenie


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Dammit
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by Dammit

I can't tell the difference personally- no downsides apart from a very marginal weight gain.

I was running Veloflex Roubaix on this bike (Serotta CSi) and killed four in 300 miles, the Gators have knocked out 1,200 now- and have had punctures, but they've sealed themselves with a minor drop in pressure.

fdegrove
Tubbie Guru
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Joined: Tue May 03, 2005 2:20 am
Location: Belgium

by fdegrove

Hi,

I was running Veloflex Roubaix on this bike (Serotta CSi) and killed four in 300 miles,


No idea how that happened but that's a lot of expensive tubs for 300 miles. I easily get at least 2K km out of a Veloflex Carbon without flatting.

Ciao, ;)
Being a snob is an expensive hobby.

tinozee
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Joined: Wed Jun 01, 2011 7:53 am

by tinozee

Same here, around 2k miles each before I have ridden the lines off. So far three veloflex Arenberg/Roubaix tires with no flats. Fairly crappy new england roads with tons of roots, debris and potholes. I do add about an ounce of Stan's to each tire once glued on. They seem really durable. I am kind of itching to try the pair of FMB Comp cx tires I have sitting in wait, but these Veloflex won't die.

Dammit
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by Dammit

They don't like flint.

Zoro
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Joined: Wed Oct 30, 2013 12:52 am

by Zoro

tinozee wrote:Same here, around 2k miles each before I have ridden the lines off. So far three veloflex Arenberg/Roubaix tires with no flats. Fairly crappy new england roads with tons of roots, debris and potholes. I do add about an ounce of Stan's to each tire once glued on. They seem really durable. I am kind of itching to try the pair of FMB Comp cx tires I have sitting in wait, but these Veloflex won't die.
We have 4 Veloflex Records. Never flatted one in about 600K racing. 3 pin hole flats in the FMB Competition cx 25s, one pin all the way through the tyre and will send out to get tube replaced and the only one that happened during the race. The 3 were patched with Pit Stop. Maybe unlucky. Hard to tell. I'm going lighter on the FMBs. Still wish the Veloflex Records were wider.

fdegrove
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by fdegrove

Hi,

Dammit wrote:They don't like flint.


Ironically the main reason why I actually use these and not most other top tiers is because they do not tend to pick up flint shards or cut up very easily.
Said it a hundred times before but why not buy tubs in the off-season and age them for at least a couple of months. IME it makes all the difference between premature punctures and no punctures at all.
It doesn't cost a dime so, why not try?

@Zoro: Record is what its name suggests: a tyre designed for timed record setting events. Have you tried Sprinter/Extreme? They're about the same tyre and weigh just a bit more than what Record would weigh in that size, give or take a bit.
Record/Servizio Corse need some getting used to as they're very narrow at 20mm. Feels like running on ice-skates.
Love them for high speed straight line riding though. (high speed is relative at my age :oops: )

Ciao, ;)
Being a snob is an expensive hobby.

Dammit
Posts: 437
Joined: Sun Mar 27, 2011 8:16 pm

by Dammit

These were aged a couple of months, in a cool dry place etc etc.

The issue is not that they cut up, but that they lack anything that keeps the cut from going right through the carcass- so the flint slices the inner tube rather than putting a pin-prick hole in it which sealant can (and generally will) take care of.

To be fair to them riding them through a British winter was never going to be a happy time for them, and they're now waiting for summer when the roads are not awash with flints ready to kill them.

fdegrove
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by fdegrove

Hi,

To be fair to them riding them through a British winter was never going to be a happy time for them, and they're now waiting for summer when the roads are not awash with flints ready to kill them.


Fair enough. There's flints and bare flints, right? :mrgreen:
That time of the year I dig up the good old Neutrons and mount something less costly. After all, Veloflex are Italian tubs....

Cheers, ;)
Being a snob is an expensive hobby.

cocoka
Posts: 6
Joined: Thu Jan 29, 2009 7:05 am
Location: Hungary

by cocoka

In Hungary,many-many rider use Tufo Tyres :)
http://www.tufo.com/tubulars/

racingcondor
Posts: 194
Joined: Fri Aug 27, 2010 4:22 pm

by racingcondor

Dammit - I ride in Surrey and Kent a lot so have similar flint problems and I had a lot of luck with Pave's this winter. I did eventually flat but that was a winter series crit at Hillingdon and was one of those races where you spent the entire thing listening to the ping of stones bouncing off downtubes (no idea how Hillingdon got covered in gravel).

steel515
Posts: 87
Joined: Sun Jan 02, 2011 2:03 am

by steel515

yes, Vittorias seem to be very old fashioned, as in no protection layer. I used to ride a Vitttoria tubular &flatted every other ride. This version had a "kevlar" belt (which I could cut with a scissor.

Foxtrot
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by Foxtrot

I like Tufo tubulars.

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rennradu
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Location: Germany

by rennradu

I've just bought a Conti Force Comp and it seems tighter than ever ; maybe it's because this one's 'fatter' (24mm) than the GP4000 I've been riding before ...
I'm gonna let it stretch on an old rim for at least one week

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robhall2003
Posts: 29
Joined: Sun Aug 07, 2011 4:18 pm

by robhall2003

I've been using Tufo tubulars for a few years with great success. I like how easy to fit they are using Tufo rim tape and using the Tufo tyre sealant as a preventative measure. Note I once skimped on adding this to a new set of tubs and suffered immediate punctures on both wheels!!

The S33 Specials are a great, lightweight tub and are very reasonably priced. I also run the S3 lite version and these run really well. I think the brand may not be recognized as much as some of the other brands but always seems to receive excellent reviews.

by Weenie


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