Originally Posted by
Andiroo99
Hi All
I recently had some wheels hand built for my vintage steel Mercian bike. I used vintage 32H Suntour Superbe Pro hubs, DT 2.0 Spokes and some vintage NOS Ambrosio Montreal 'Tubular' rims. The only problem was I did not realize that the rims were tubular. Why.... well this was is a long story.....
Anyway, there is no way I would have built up wheels using tubular rims as I do not race and like being able to swap tires easily in terms of different sizes and obviously for easy road side repair. I do not race and use the bike only for weekend rides around my home. It maybe does 50-100 miles a week if that and is put away in bad weather. Roads are usual surburban roads with mix of some potholes and glass etc but on my clinchers rarely if ever get punctures but I would never go for a ride without a spare inner tube and a puncture repair kit etc....
So I figure my options are:
1) Suck it up and just by some new clincher rims and get the wheels rebuilt. The only pain here is that I just spent good money getting the wheels hand built and I now need more rims + have to pay to get rebuilt and i have some tubular Montreals i wont use.
2) Buy some expensive tubular tires which should be ok for regular riding (I have been looking at 700x25 Conti Sprinter Gatorskins at close to $80 each and risk it. I guess i could carry supplies for roadside repairs and just make sure i always have my phone if i end up with a hole i cannot repair.
3) Just cry....
I am feeling truly indecisive.... any help welcome...
Best
A
Well, if you're looking for suggestions that you rebuild with clinchers, you're probably on the wrong thread!
In your shoes, with a great, practical touring bike like the King of Mercia, I would buy some 27mm tubulars from Dugast or FMB (the Challenge brand can save you a bit of money but isn't quite as nice as the two others, IMO) and prepare to be shocked at how nice the ride of your bike will be.