Originally Posted by Will Goes Boing

I'm quite new to road biking, and stupidly jumped on the ebay/china deep carbon wheelset bandwagon without doing much research. I accidentally ordered the tubular version instead of the clinchers and right now I'm contemplating about whether I should just keep them or exchange them. I'll be taking a pretty big hit on the shipping charges if I opt for the exchange route since I already paid $65 for the initial shipping, now I have to pay another $65 to ship them back and I'll have to pay another $65 for the new set.

I did some research on tubulars and it seems like even though it's a lot of work, they offer a lot of advantages. If I do keep them I plan on running the continental gatorskins and if I can go for months without a flat, it might not be such a bad thing. The only thing I'm worried about is if I start getting flats every month, the price of buying new tires would murder my wallet.

I ride about 50-80 miles a week, and eventually plan on racing. What do you guys think? Keep them or just bite the bullet and exchange?