Narhay

I have been reading through tubular tire reviews for a number of days now. I've not really found what I'm looking for. I'd like to keep it under $50/tire. I'd like to purchase 3 tires (pair and a spare) of a tan/skin wall tire for a 1971 px10 with mavic/maillard wheelset.

I've heard of mixed (bad) reviews on the following:

- Vitoria rally
- continental giro
- yellow jacket pair and spare
- tufo s33
- schwalbe montello

Do you have any opinions on these? I can't really justify spending $250 on two bike tires when my hankook Z3 tires cost $350. I am almost tempted just to replace the rims and spokes with sun M13II rims and panaracer Pasela clinchers and call it a day.

RobbieTunes

Tufo, in my experience.
Solid, long-lasting, good looking enough.

Should be able to get 3/$100

busdriver1959

I've had good luck with the Continentals. Round, durable, relatively cheap but still a good ride. Sure, they aren't as nice as more expensive tires but still much nicer than clinchers.

gomango

Just over your $50 threshold is a great tire for the $$$.

A Vittoria Corsa SC tubular is all that and a bag of chips.

The tire was made for the performance rider probably won't last forever, but the ride is excellent.

Really a good choice on wet roads as well.

However, I have just under 2,000 miles on my last set and they are just about done.

Ribble has them right now for $55 and they are worth every penny. imho

Vittoria Corsa SC Tubular, TUBULARS ROAD/TRACK

Road Fan

Yes, every one of those tires has some bad press. Personally I would not use a Giro, and I'd use a Rallye with trepidation. But my Giro experience is with tires I bought between 10 and 20 years ago and stopped using (all broke) around 2005. For the Rallye and Yellow Jersey I've had mostly good luck, but I several threads in BF document loads of terrible Rallye examples. Nonetheless I have two 23 mm on my Masi that have been very good. With YJ I've had one valve failure.

What has been very good are a pair of Gommitalia Champions, now sold at BikeSomeWhere and Starbike.com. I really like the build and feel, and on only a handful of rides I like the way they feel.

If you find them in your price range, the Gommitalia Espresso is much nicer. Lotek here has written about them several times.

There's a thread here called "totally tubular" that is worth looking up and trying to update. For a while it was the plan to use it as the collection point for tubular knowledge and opinion (this being the Internet).

Some Tufo are not repairable. I had a set of track tires on a road bike (it was an emergency), and they both failed pretty quickly. I'm not sure this is a true condemnation because of how I used them. But there was no possibility of repair, and the Tufo filler stuff did me no good whatever.

big chainring 

I ride on Vittoria Rallyes. Freshly mounted they can have some wobbles. But after you ride them a while they seem to round out and soften up a bit. I ride them at 85-90psi. Above that they are rocks.

I rode the Yellow Jersey tires one season. They are a nice tire but I found the tread strip too thin. Wore through the rear tire in 7-800 miles. I have about the same mileage on a Rallye and the tire is just getting that squared off look.

Bianchigirll 

Fred Smedley

This is the cheapest tubular I would ride and expect it to not be worse than a nice clincher with light tubes. Vittoria Corsa Elite Tubular, TUBULARS ROAD/TRACK

crank_addict

Might get stung buying those Yellow Jackets

Kactus

That's a great price. I agree with what you said, they are like riding on a cloud. If the OP wants to keep costs down, he can buy two Corsa SC's and then get a Rally for a spare.

John E

Now that the North County Transit District is getting more serious about removing Russian thistle, our local source of goathead thorns, I may give tubulars another try. I gave them up in the early 1980s after moving from Los Angeles to north coastal San Diego, where I got a lot more flats. At the same time, truly high performance clinchers were becoming increasingly widely available. I plan to keep clinchers on most of my bikes, but the 1960 Capo Sieger probably should revert to tubulars to keep the purists happy with me.

rootboy 

crank_addict

Guilty burning up on cheap tubulars. Maybe because most of my bikes are lower end and cost less than quality rubber but still enjoy the tubular ride. However, for the cheap its a crapshoot. One would think the technology has improved but lots of this Asian made lower end tubulars are not the same as the original brand name when made in Italy. I'll gladly take the original Vit Rally's or Conti Giro's vs. new today. But again, they can be found occasionally on Ammozon for low cost $20-25 free shipping (conditions apply). Try them out and get some miles in on them (with tape-- no mastic) and if they seem junk, consider some are returnable. So far had only one return on a Giro for having a sidewall wobbly offset from the bottom layer. Have no idea why this passed QC but couldn't properly test fit it.

Agree with Mister Robbie though with Tufo. I like the product line and quality for the price. (I really like the tubular / clincher for the clincher rims.)

Other low end to consider is from Challenge. I forget at the moment what model named but its a lower cost using butyl tubed. Not silky or the lightest but have been wearing well. Priced in the low $30's.

Narhay

It looks nice and i am intrigued but where are you finding it for $55? I'm seeing $65.

Narhay

Do you know if they have a skinwall? Tire looks nice but black walls may look off on the Peugeot.

gomango

Don't forget to change the destination on the top panel, as well as the currency.

I just ordered another set this morning at that price.

gomango

I've never seen one for that tire.

You could check their site.

Home - Vittoria.com

Narhay

Ah, I see it now. Thank you.

gomango

Caught me before as well.

No worries. Nice tires.

Chombi

Aside from the Vittoria Rallys I have on a couple of wheelsets, I've also been loving riding on Schwalbe Milano tires on my bikes for at least three years now.
Very light an lively feeling tubs that also did not suck up too much money from my wallet when I bought them (about 45 - 50 bucks each, average.), plus they are very well made with no lumpy areas under the base tapes that cheaper tires like the Rally's tend to always have and the tread and base tapes are laser straight on the carcass. They also have very nice light beige colored skinwalls for that classy C&V look. Only thing negative about them is they are not as tough against flats compared to even the Rallys as they do not have Kevlar reinforcing belts to fend them off (that's why they are so light), so they work best for rides on mostly smooth clean roads only.
Sad thing is, it turns out I was buying the last of them in the last two years, as Schwalbe quit making them some time ago, even eBay sources for them are pretty much gone, but if I ever see any for sale out there, I'll snatch them instantly for spares! Schwalbe supposedly replaced the Milanos with the Lugano model that supposedly resists flats better, but I don't think they come in skinwalls, and they do not have the nice silica rubber based tread compound which gave the Milanos great road traction.

SoreFeet

I would also suggest the Tufo tires. They are rounder and easier to mount than the Vittoria tires. The yellow jersey tires don't last more than a few days, the tread is thin and the casing tears easy. Continental sprinter is a good tire and probably a better value than the vittoria. But considering that a set of good tires would cost you as much as a set of good rims, I would in fact join the darkside and go clincher with the PX10 bike.

gomango

You certainly aren't talking about the Vittoria Corsa SCs are you?

Lascauxcaveman 

Glad to hear that. I just mounted one as my very first ever fresh tubular, did a meticulous job cleaning the rim (heat .g.u.n. technique - not a single molecule of old glue on that baby) did an extra-careful job setting tire to rim (that cloth strip overlap is within microns all the way around, I tells ya) and it spins kinda lumpy. And at 110 psi feels a little harsh for tire that's 20 psi soft of maximum. Not horrible, but not terrific, either.

SoreFeet

Yes the Tufo are easier to mount than the Vittoria. They seem to be quite uniform and more straight than the Vittoria. But the Vittoria has the ride quality that the Tufo doesn't.

Tufo tires are fairly resilient but they don't have the flexible casing of the Vittoria. Durability comes at the expense of ride quality to some degree. I think the OP would enjoy spending more on tubulars if the rims and hubs are in excellent working order.

The other option would be to simply find another clincher wheelset to use. I would recommend the specialized sealed cartridge hubs or mid 80's Sansin wheels. If the bearings and rims are in slightly used condition but near mint, they perform really good and spreading the frame is easy to cinch the hub into.

If the goal is to maintain originality the stock wheels should suffice. But if the rider is looking to take the PX-10 on more frequent trips then a clincher rim with wider tires inflated at lower pressure would certainly make the ride nice too.

xiaoman1 

Hello,
Giros with tufo tape...nice and clean.
Regards, Ben