Please recommend me a tub!

[TurboTommy]

Hi there

I’ve been using tubulars for the last 4 years now and I
love them for lots of reasons. But I’m sure I’m not getting the best out of them. I’ve only ever used conti’s... I’ve had gatorskins, competition and competition attack. I like them just fine. I live in London and do most of my riding either in London or the surrounding counties, so not always the best roads... And I’ve had very few punctures the last few years. To be honest up until now durability has been one of my top criteria for tire choice.

But this year I’m getting a new set of rims with a view to taking them to the Pyrenees this summer. And I feel like it’s about time I got a set of tubs that offered the full experience of tubular if that makes sense... so I’d be grateful if you guys can recommend me a tub with that in mind.

[Geoff]

Durability and quality are certainly not mutually exclusive in tubular tires. I have had very good luck with 'hand-made' tubulars, too.

Like all tires, the results that you will see will vary dramatically with your locale and your riding style. Even where we are, we have very rough roads (as a result of the frost heave that we experience and the gravel that is layed-down in an attempt to provide traction on ice and snow), I will regularly wear-out tubulars before flatting them. If you do not have sharp stuff (glass, thorns, etc.), tubulars are very durable and resist pinch-flats very well.

To the tires, I really like FMB and Dugast. I am stretching a 'new' set of Dugast Paris-Roubaix Seta 27s (my personal favourites) for Dege's Domane right now. For what you seem to want (a general-purpose road tire), I would lean toward the FMB Service Course or the Dugast Strada, both in cotton casings. Personally, I still prefer the 23mm tires for road (call me a luddite), I just prefer the way that they handle (the FMB Service Course 22.5s are very clost to 23mm). They both have a very traditional road tread on them, which I love.

Good luck!

[1415chris]

Not the best roads....? I'd find few more appropriate words describing what we have to ride on
I'd also recommend something from hand made glued rubber family.
Personally I didn't have very good experience with FMB. All Comps 26 I had, had some quality issues. The ride however is very nice.
I went through 22, 23 and 25mm offerings from Veloflex. Currently I ride on Carbon/Arenberg combo. Very nice ride, don't remember when I had a puncture. But this has improves over the years by riding on lower pressure.
Hassle free tubs, consistent equality. Tubs of my choice.

[sungod]

...Personally, I still prefer the 23mm tires for road (call me a luddite), I just prefer the way that they handle (the FMB Service Course 22.5s are very clost to 23mm). ...

+1000!

for good roads with narrow rims i much prefer a tub of matching width, 22mm front/23mm rear is what i'm riding at the moment, hard cornering just feels better, even 25mm tyres feel like they are squirming

not tried fmb, but i've used dugast strada seta a few times, the compound is really good, wet/dry grip maybe the best i've found, but it cuts very easily on london roads when it's wet, they were also a bit heavier than equivalent veloflex, maybe thicker rubber?

OP if you'll have dry roads, try the dugast, other one i would recommend is veloflex, the dry grip is excellent and over the years they are my favourite tub, the vittoria corsa g+ is another to consider but i find the dry grip not as good as veloflex, both cut on london roads when wet, of the two the veloflex are a bit tougher i'd say

if you've only ridden conti tubs you should feel a real difference with any of the above, the ride is much better

fwiw i just glued up my obies for a couple of weeks cycling trip, veloflex sprinter/criterium front/rear, can't wait!

as you are buying from uk, aside from the usual online suppliers in uk and germany, also look at https://www.cycletyres.com/ and https://www.acycles.co.uk/ (both in france), delivery is only a few days and prices can be way better, also they stock tyres that can be hard to find locally, both have a wide range of tubs, i got my dugast strada from cycletyres

[dgasmd]

Like the ones above, I still ahve and prefer 21-23 mm tubulars.

Like yourself, I have narrowed it down to Conti Competitions over the last few years as it has proven to be the longest lasting, most cost effective (cheaper) most puncture resistant, and even durable/better grip for the crappy and sandy roads I mostly ride. I had used almost exclusively Vittorias and Veloflex, and frankly prefer Veloflex for "feel" for my lardy self. However, I went through several months of endless punctures with both brands, and since the cost was 30-40% more, I ended up sticking it out with Conti.

Mileage: I would get about 25% less miles on the Vittorias and even 50% less on the Veloflex when compared to Conti. That is for the rear obvioulsy as the front would last 3x the mileage of the rear or easily an entire year's worth of riding sometimes (8000+ miles).

My Veloflex would feel so supple that in most rides I would have to look back to see if I had a flat. Not the case with the same PSI on the Conti, but that can always be "fixed a bit" by lowering the PSI on the Conti some. I suspect the casing of the FMB and Duggast (haven't tried them as I can't justify the 2-3x cost) is even better!

[TurboTommy]

Thanks for all the responses. Just what I was looking for. I’ll happily work my way through that list of tubs one at a time. FWIW these will be exclusively good weather tubs. I’m sure I’ll get caught in rain but I won’t go out on them if the forecast suggests it. I’ll probably not use them in London either. Unless I’m riding out to the countryside. I’ll be taking them to France with me this summer but I’ll also be taking a set of alu hoops in anticipation of changeable weather.

They’ll be going on a set of lightweight meilenstein 24e Schwartz edition which I’ve pre ordered and hopefully will have in a couple of weeks. I take on board what you’re saying about your preference to 23mm. Is that because you ride narrow rims? I bought the 24e specially to ride wider rims. But I know lots of tubs are wider than advertised so is that a moot point?

Also thanks for the links sungod. I can’t use acycles as I had a bad experience with them a couple of years ago which has stuck in my throat a little. But I’ll definitely try the other one.

[sungod]

if you are riding wider rims i would match the tub width to the rim width as close as you can

i find sizing is pretty accurate on veloflex, if the rims are 24mm then 24/25mm would be what i'd ride for road use - if you go too narrow there's more risk that the exposed edge of the rim goes directly over road debris or a sharp edge which could chip/crack the rim

[TurboTommy]

if you are riding wider rims i would match the tub width to the rim width as close as you can

i find sizing is pretty accurate on veloflex, if the rims are 24mm then 24/25mm would be what i'd ride for road use - if you go too narrow there's more risk that the exposed edge of the rim goes directly over road debris or a sharp edge which could chip/crack the rim

Cheers mate

[naylor343]

Thanks for all the responses. Just what I was looking for. I’ll happily work my way through that list of tubs one at a time. FWIW these will be exclusively good weather tubs. I’m sure I’ll get caught in rain but I won’t go out on them if the forecast suggests it. I’ll probably not use them in London either. Unless I’m riding out to the countryside. I’ll be taking them to France with me this summer but I’ll also be taking a set of alu hoops in anticipation of changeable weather.

They’ll be going on a set of lightweight meilenstein 24e Schwartz edition

Cannot offer any advice on tubs, but can offer plenty on riding in the mountains. In the height of summer you need to have a tyre that is going to perform well in the wet, especially so on really long days. The weather here can change so fast, from super hot blue sky mornings to biblical downpours in the afternoons, and not always forecast. Unless you are 100% sure of the weather, you're going to have a much better day out on your alloy rims.

[CLEAR]

Since you are on the LW ... I'd suggest going with conti GP4000s... as they tend to grip better in not so dry road and overall last longer than conti comp. And the shape pf 22 gp4000 rather nicely match to LW rim width. Ive been running these on my LWs... and no worries about pumping air every single day as my Veloflex (nicer on my Boras)

[bm0p700f]

Dugast are lovely but have no real world puncture protection. They can last fairly well but in london perhaps the life span will be short. On smooth frech mountain roads they will be lovely though.

Conti GP4000sII tub is a favourite of mine along with the vittoria Pave.

[syplam]

I think veloflex tubs are also really nice , i have tried both carbon and arenberg on my Boras. I prefer running the arenberg at a lower pressure. Mutes alot of road vibration when compared with the carbon!


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[TurboTommy]

Thanks for all the responses. Just what I was looking for. I’ll happily work my way through that list of tubs one at a time. FWIW these will be exclusively good weather tubs. I’m sure I’ll get caught in rain but I won’t go out on them if the forecast suggests it. I’ll probably not use them in London either. Unless I’m riding out to the countryside. I’ll be taking them to France with me this summer but I’ll also be taking a set of alu hoops in anticipation of changeable weather.

They’ll be going on a set of lightweight meilenstein 24e Schwartz edition

Cannot offer any advice on tubs, but can offer plenty on riding in the mountains. In the height of summer you need to have a tyre that is going to perform well in the wet, especially so on really long days. The weather here can change so fast, from super hot blue sky mornings to biblical downpours in the afternoons, and not always forecast. Unless you are 100% sure of the weather, you're going to have a much better day out on your alloy rims.

Thanks naylor. I’m definitely a bit weary of the changeable weather. I’m lucky in that I’ll have a support car for this trip so I’ll be able to switch over to my trusty fulcrums if the weather goes bad. I’ve sort of gone round in circles in my head thinking about ideal mountain wheels. Most likely the conclusion isn’t deep rimmed carbon...

[TurboTommy]

I’ve bought a pair of corsa G’s to start with. The wheels should be with me in the next couple of days so quite cool. I figured I’d start with the corsa’s but I’m looking forward to experimenting with the other recommendations too so thanks all.

[sungod]

overall i think the corsa g+ are a nice ride, supple carcass

- dry grip, not quite as good as veloflex, but they are more progressive as they lose it, grip, grip a bit less, grip a bit less, gone, whereas veloflex is grip grip grip gone
- wet grip is a bit better than veloflex

if roads are dry, or wet but clean, i would not worry about punctures - i find it's really only wet+dirty conditions where i get cuts/punctures, then nothing is safe, i even tried conti gatorskin tubs on my alloys for all the wet weather we had in uk, they still got umpteen cuts and punctured, i found conti comps no better than veloflex for wet cut resistance which really surprised me, given the extra weight and poor ride may as well ride something nice, though next winter i'm thinking of trying tufo!