Bicycle Mechanics - Types of Tires

Okay, I am a newbie and don't yet have a roadie, but I am perplexed by the different types of tires. What is a tubular? What is a clincher? How to they differ from the regular old every day tires?

Best thing to do is go into a bike shop and ask them to show you. Alternatively, go read Sheldon Brown's articles.

If you aren't riding a (fairly decent) road bike, you will never need to know what a tubular is. Clinchers are "regular old everyday tires" (at least for bikes).

Originally posted by Dave Stohler
If you aren't riding a (fairly decent) road bike, you will never need to know what a tubular is. Clinchers are "regular old everyday tires" (at least for bikes). OK, but so what is the difference?

Originally posted by Dave Stohler
If you aren't riding a (fairly decent) road bike, you will never need to know what a tubular is. Clinchers are "regular old everyday tires" (at least for bikes).

So you don't know either, huh?
;)

Tubulars or sew-ups are tires that have the tubes sewn inside the tire. The tires are then glued to the rims.

They roll very fast because they can handle higher psi (or more bars) but are a pain in the arse if you get a flat while on a ride with no chase vehicle. Unless you are racing you realy do not need them.

:beer:

Getting one flat with a tubular is not so much of a problem, most riders would carry a spare. In vintage pics of the Tour de France you see riders with tyres strapped around their shoulders. Doing a roadside repair of a punctured tyre is a pain in the butt.
Rims for tubular tyres have much less metal, so are lighter, you can see the typical profile in a Campagnolo or Mavic website.

If you aren't riding a (fairly decent) road bike, you will never need to know what a tubular is. Clinchers are "regular old everyday tires" (at least for bikes).

Even if you are riding a decent road bike, you could live on clinchers alone... Most roadies do.

Another point not taken up yet is when you are riding clinchers and you get a blow out on the front at speed the tire comes off and jams in your fork instantaneously causing a life threatening crash. Under the same conditions a sew up will stay glued and allow you to stay upright. Does anyone out there know if Ulrich was riding clinchers? Anyway there is a famous strory, the details of who or when elude me, of a racer in the Tour or the Giro finishing a stage with flat tires. Maybe it was Campagnolo himself now that I think about it. This would be impossible with clinchers. But for training and 99% of all ctizen riding it's clinchers that rule. If you are a triathalon or track demon or if you have restoring vintage racing bikes as a hobby then you should look into tubulars (sew ups). There are still many manufacturers that make tubulars, Continental, Vittoria, Tuffo just to name a few. Check their websites for pictures, specs etc.

Ulrich (as well as all the other top teams) rides on tubulars exclusively.