Originally Posted by ldmataya

There is another option that is easy to forget about with road tubulars - fill em with sealant. I use Stans sealant in all my road tubulars now after realizing that I had saved quite a bit of money not having to patch any cyclocross tubulars over the past 4 years. The only reason I even remove cross tubulars anymore is to reglue them. They pretty much last as long as the tread does when re-sealed each year.

Some people don't like to use sealant in road tires because of a little extra weight and maybe the idea there is a substance sloshing around in there. Its also a bit more of a hassle because on most road tubulars you have to remove the valve core and inject with a very small hose or syringe. Newer Vittorias are real nice because they all have removable stems. I've had fantastic results. It takes a pretty noticeable hole to wreck a tire. The last one I tossed away was an expensive continental that got a 1 inch cut in it - but I had 3 years on that tire anyway.