Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - Tubular tires on the cheap? (Admin Edit from Clinchers to reflect thread content)

My friend is building his first fixed gear bike, and keeps buying the wrong stuff for a cheap build. First he bought a frame with vertical dropouts (and over paid) He bought some clincher wheels yesterday, durrr.

Um, most tyres are clinchers, so yes, you can get them cheap. Or have you confused clinchers with tubulars?

Um, most tyres are clinchers, so yes, you can get them cheap. Or have you confused clinchers with tubulars?

YES! Tubular. My apologies.

YES! Tubular. My apologies.

Clement Futuras are $45/ pair on Ebay. That's probably the cheapest you'll find.

I think you can get tubulars for 25 each, can't recall what the brand is though.

The problem with cheap tubulars is that they are typically lumpy and ride like crap. The Futuras are really bad, as are many others like the Vittoria Rally. The best I've found is the Continental Giro, which retails for about $35 and the best price I found is here >>> http://www.lickbike.com/productpage.aspx?PART_NUM_SUB='1689-00'

The problem with cheap tubulars is that they are typically lumpy and ride like crap. The Futuras are really bad, as are many others like the Vittoria Rally. The best I've found is the Continental Giro, which retails for about $35 and the best price I found is here >>> http://www.lickbike.com/productpage.aspx?PART_NUM_SUB='1689-00'

Do these really have a tan sidewall, as the picture suggests?

Do these really have a tan sidewall, as the picture suggests?

The sidewall is just the natural casing color, which is a very light creamy tan. Actually, the color of mine is much lighter than the picture suggests.

what about that yellow jersey 3 pack for $45?


I have tufo S33s, not the cheapest, but feel so nice. tubulars, though a pain to use on the street if you get a flat, feel amazing.

Vittoria Zaffiros are pretty good for the money

If you go to a shop and ask for some "take off" tires.

Often when customers buy a new bike they upgrade saddles, tires, and other stuff. Just like there is a box of stock saddles, there are often stock tires around. Shops might let these go for really cheap, especially being that they got them for free. You can spot them because they look new but also look like they have been mounted before or maybe test ridden.

lol he messed up, he meant tubulars.

unless shops have a takeoff bin for tubulars, in which case lemme at them. local roadie shop has a bin of $15 take off tires, sometimes decent stuff goes in there (found a couple dimante pros before).

just got an arione tri 2 from their take off bin, $25 :D

just got an arione tri 2 from their take off bin, $25 :D
Wow...I envy you.

lol he messed up, he meant tubulars.

unless shops have a takeoff bin for tubulars, in which case lemme at them. local roadie shop has a bin of $15 take off tires, sometimes decent stuff goes in there (found a couple dimante pros before).

just got an arione tri 2 from their take off bin, $25 :D

Ooops. I didn't read it all.

Man! That's a $150 saddle! I have one on my road bike.

lol he messed up, he meant tubulars.

unless shops have a takeoff bin for tubulars, in which case lemme at them. local roadie shop has a bin of $15 take off tires, sometimes decent stuff goes in there (found a couple dimante pros before).

just got an arione tri 2 from their take off bin, $25 :D

Ooops. I didn't read it all.

Man! That's a $150 saddle! I have one on my road bike.

are you guys going to recommend him some glue?

nah, we're going argue a bunch about who has more street cred and then post some photos of cats.

guy at my lbs uses tubasti, he says it takes longer to set but makes for a nicer bond that can be replaced easier if you get a flat or wear out your tire.

I just used tufo extreme tape (orange box i think) on my front wheel. idiot proof and seems to hold well enough

also i'm running a schwalbe milano (would switch it out for a tufo but it's already glued so meh) and it seems fine enough. wasn't too expensive

My friend is building his first fixed gear bike, and keeps buying the wrong stuff for a cheap build. First he bought a frame with vertical dropouts (and over paid) He bought some clincher wheels yesterday, durrr.
Did he manage to trade in the frame with vertical dropouts?

I fixed the title a bit. ;)

I am interested in trying the Schwalbe Milano. I can buy them very cheap here. Anyone try them?

I find the Rally to be rounder (and better) than the Giro. But it seems Giro is inconsistent in their quality. Some people swear by them, others find them to be rubbish.

I have the Yellow Jersey 3 for $50 deal--- and they are fine for commuting. I wouldn't consider racing on any of these tires mentioned.


The problem with cheap tubulars is that they are typically lumpy and ride like crap. The Futuras are really bad, as are many others like the Vittoria Rally. The best I've found is the Continental Giro, which retails for about $35 and the best price I found is here >>> http://www.lickbike.com/productpage.aspx?PART_NUM_SUB='1689-00'

I am interested in trying the Schwalbe Milano. I can buy them very cheap here. Anyone try them?

I find the Rally to be rounder (and better) than the Giro. But it seems Giro is inconsistent in their quality. Some people swear by them, others find them to be rubbish.

I have the Yellow Jersey 3 for $50 deal--- and they are fine for commuting. I wouldn't consider racing on any of these tires mentioned.

I'm also interested in hearing about the Milano.

I find the Rally to be rounder (and better) than the Giro. But it seems Giro is inconsistent in their quality. Some people swear by them, others find them to be rubbish.

Funny how people have different experiences. I found just the opposite; the Rallys I found to be really lumpy to the point that it felt like they were getting ready to blow out (thump, thump, thump), whereas the Giros have seemed to be round and reasonably durable. Having said that, it seems that the problem with cheap tires like these is that quality varies a lot from batch to batch, whereas the higher priced tubulars are more consistent in quality.

I haven't had a whole lot of tubular experience, but the milano seems like a decent trainging tire. I have a slight lump on mine, but it's not bad. the tufo s33 i have on the rear is better, but that's not much of a surprise. has good rolling resistance (but that could just be a tubular vs clincher thing), ride is not bad either.