JohnDThompson 

Changing a tubular isn't the problem -- that can often be done quicker than a clincher; fixing the tube is the problem. Save up your flatted tubulars and fix them in the off-season.

kudude

flatted on a 45mph descent. Kept it in a straight line while I braked. Turns out BOTH (!!) my wheels have brakes. I used the front (rear flat)

umd

The guy who taught me to glue my tires told me to try to rip them off every time. He said when he was a junior that's what the officials do. I guess they don't care anymore.

woodduck

I have to remember that, so when my tubular tyre on my track disc instally explodes, I use the brakes on my road bike to slow down.

Seriously so what road bikes have brakes? the point I was making is that a instant tyre blow out with a well glued tubular does not mean the tyre comes off the rim no matter how long it takes you to slow down and stop a bike. With a clincher blow out and a bit of lean angle you do not have the same degree of safety.

kudude

i don't disagree, but the thing about having to ride out an extra lap isn't really applicable to the discussion here. The story sounds scary if you're on a clincher (please, ride tubs on a wooden track), but I was just pointing out that while the tubulars may be safer, you're not totally ****ed on the road.

urbanknight

Yes, but I doubt you yanked on them nearly as hard as you would have if the tires were filled. Otherwise, the rear wheel would have started to come around. I flatted at 40 mph on a descent, and it took a little bit of real estate to come to a stop safely. Not as much as a lap around the velodrome, but more than if it was a panic stop.


Yep, they must have stopped caring 2 decades ago. Nobody ever yanked on my tubulars when I raced juniors in the 90's, but they never forgot to roll me out for gear restrictions.

spinwax

LOL!!

I raced as a jr all through the 80s, and I never had one ref/USCF rep try to pull my tires off. I remember one incident like it was yesterday. One ref was going over some of the pre race stuff when we were lined up for Corral Hollow RR in Cali circa 1988. He said " is everyone's tires glued on well?" and I said "****, they need glue?, man I thought they were too easy to pull on and off". I got a pretty good laugh but some people thought I was serious. I was a joker even at 15-16 yrs old

umd

hehe

spinwax

I know, really not that funny. But it seemed funny at the time!!

umd

I thought it was funny

nitropowered

I would say he clipped a pedal, the wheel popped up, landed and rolled the tire. When the wheel comes off the ground and comes back down while turning, there is a lot of lateral force on the tire.

queerpunk

maybe. certainly landing sideways seems to provide the force needed to roll a tubular off. but i don't think the OP specified if it was the front or rear wheel. and it seems to me it would be easy enough to check for scuffs on the pedal, and that it's hard to not know whether or not you struck the pedal in the first place.

Voodoo76

I love subtle mind game like this, I'll bet you got a lot of room going into the first turn

Checking tires was descretionary. Our District rep in MI used to do this on a regular basis up to early 90's. I think as some of the newer school officials came up the practice faded away.

Voodoo76

Any good crit rider is gonna have scuffed up, ground down pedals. If not he's not ridin hard enough.

queerpunk

true that. i wrote that without realizing that mine are all like that. and i'm not even a good crit rider.

tanhalt

My "Sigh" was to the comments about it possibly being EASIER(?!) to roll a clincher. Please. They were also pointed at the assumption that just because you flat on a clincher, even on a twisty descent, it means "instant yard sale" (I also think you might be overestimating the amount of tubulars being raced in Cat 3 and 4 races).

Was Derek basing that on the sound? A rim grinding on the ground will sound just like a pedal strike...and even if it was the pedal strike, how do you know that wasn't the RESULT of the tubular rolling? Without high speed video of the event, it's going to be hard to piece together what REALLY happened in that case

tanhalt

Sigh...once again...

tanhalt

Sure...first of all, you're comparing an assumedly "properly" glued tubular to an obviously mis-installed clincher...secondly, you're assertion about keeping upright when flatting in a corner is merely an opinion. For every example you can give, I can give a counter-example where I've seen people flat clinchers (front or rear), even on twisty descents, and still stay upright...and in one case, continue on for another 2-3 miles after flatting a FRONT clincher before stopping.

Tires are tires...and when you compare "apples to apples" (construction-wise) the performance and safety of one type of attachment method over the other isn't any better one way or the other.

tanhalt

Can you describe what tubular tires and what clincher tires/tubes you are comparing? Yes...it makes a difference.

Not even a thought about possibly ruining your rims?

patentcad

This has blossomed into quite a contentious little thread.

Well done my little Zenlings.










I know the real truth here of course, but to share it with you would only spoil the pointless speculation, paranoid delusion swapping, and general chaotic fun these threads are famous for.

urbanknight

Thank you. That makes sense. I'm hesitant to actually claim one is more or less likely to roll because I assume more clinchers are rolled (in my perception) because more people use clinchers on a daily basis. The one thing I must not have been clear on is that I'm not assuming properly done anything. Clinchers and tubulars are both more prone to rolling when installed incorrectly. In my personal experience, clinchers are easier to seat improperly than tubulars to glue improperly.

tanhalt

Sure you do

kudude

uh....that video was awesome. Quite the fishtail to save

tanhalt

I don't mean to sound rude, but ...REALLY? It only takes 2 things to make sure a clincher is seated properly (assuming both the tire bead and rim bead are undamaged)...first, put a small amount of air in the tube and then go around the tire pushing the bead back with your thumbs and make absolutely sure there's none of the tube "peeking" under the bead. If there is, "flick" the tire with your thumbs a few times until the tube goes up into the tire.

Second, after putting in full pressure, just LOOK at the rim/bead interface. If it's not seated, it'll be pointedly obvious.

urbanknight

I haven't used tubulars in years, but the last tires I used included Continental Sprinter, Vittoria Open Corsa CX and CG, Vittoria Pro L Slick, and some Wolber tire on my track bike training wheels. For clinchers, I used Continental Ultra 2000 and some Corratec tires I got at Interbike. Recently, I have used Continental Grand Prix, Vittoria Rubino Pro. Michelin P2R, and Continental Gatorskin.


Figuratively speaking, smartass But seriously, that's one of the things I like most about tubulars. As long as you don't hit any nasty bumps, you're fine. With clinchers, they can leave you riding on the bare rim. I was very happy that the P2R didn't come off the rim during my 40 mph blowout.