I've ridden a bike with tubulars before, but never owned a pair. In the quest for improved handling, lighter wheels I'm about to pull the trigger on a wheelset based around HED C2 Belgium tubulars and some Chris King R45s, probably with the tubular gatorskins as sort of a nice/race (but not exclusive to racing) wheelset.

I'm getting everything in pieces much cheaper than MSRP so I'm a bit excited, but not having ridden on tubs before I don't know if I should look at a different combo or what advice one might offer.

Particulars: I'm a Cat 4, 139-143 lbs rider who likes climbing and trains 10-15 hours a week. I kind of want to train on these too except in the most shitty of conditions. Being smaller and lighter I am probably going to do a 20 radial/28 two cross build.

I haven't exhausted old threads, so don't chastise me for that, but as someone making the leap to tubulars is there anything I need to be aware of? I will admit I'm a wee bit nervous about gluing them incorrectly (again I know there are threads for this) and my buddies have really only used them for cross (where tape is useful and gluing is not necessary per se due to the low pressures they run). My first race with them is a TT hillclimb in a little over a week... assuming I can get the parts all in time (which I've been told is not a problem).

Please, search! One is on the front page of the 'wheels forum

viewtopic.php?f=113&t=113082

Sounds like a solid build to me. The C2 is an awesome rim and I wish it was one that we were able to keep in stock. The hubs are a good choice too. The 5 year warranty is hard to argue with on the Kings.

Are you planning on building with alloy or brass nipples? May be worth considering brass for the rear DS and alloy elsewhere.

Good call on making the jump to tubys though. The only time I ever prefer to ride clinchers anymore is on the MTB.

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Sounds like a nice combo . If you wish to stay with Contis, it might be best to switch to regular Sprinters (non-Gatorskins). The regular Sprinters , in my opinion, ride better, have about the same puncture resistance, grip better and are cheaper too!