Cyclocross - Reynolds Assault for Cross?? (internal spoke nipple question)

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simonaway427
12-09-11, 07:12 AM
I came across some Reynold Assault tubulars ('11) with fresh tires already mounted for a decent price.

What concerns me is that the spoke nipples are internal - meaning I'd have to remove the tires to make adjustments.

Given I'd be using these for cross, is that a showstopper?

eddubal
12-09-11, 08:53 AM
How much work do you want to do on a routine basis? For me, it would be a showstopper. If you have someone doing the work it's one thing, but I wouldn't want to reglue tubulars potentially every week. Other than the time, it's one more potential place to screw things up. I'd save them for TTs.
fietsbob
12-09-11, 03:43 PM
Maybe the PIA got the best of the the last guy. so they're on resale.

I'd not rely on them , maybe just race day, then you have the rest of the week
for that tire removal, truing and re gluing.

eddubal
12-11-11, 06:36 PM
Wait. I just went back to an earlier post where you wrote:

Did my first year of competitive CX this year and did quite well (in my opinion...a mid season Cat upgrade and still got 3rd for the season)

I really want to upgrade to tubular for next year since I've heard lots of good things - big thing being ability to run lower pressures and puncture resistance.

That said...

I'm nervous about a few things
1) While I'm technically inclined, it seems like a lot of trouble to glue a tubular. If you roll one, or get a flat, its a lot of work to repair/replace vs a clincher...

If you're concerned about the trouble of gluing a tubular, don't get wheels where you need to remount tires every time you need to true them.

I'm rolling on FSA RD-460s (road clinchers) with Maxxis Mud Wrestlers on my bike and have never gotten a pinch flat even where I should have gotten one. I ran them at 30 psi (my weight's 187) over rocky ground and even ran them on a muddy/snowy/icy course at 16psi (unintentionally) without a pinch flat. I'm not sure going tubular is worth it with a clincher wheel like that.

I do like having the ability to change to different tire treads quickly and economically. That's something that you can't do with tubies. Of course around NJ a general all purpose tire like the Maxxis Mud Wrestler, or Michelin Mud2 is more important than running tires for specific conditions because of the range of conditions that you see here.