Originally Posted by
Maelochs
This is why I don't like you---you have too much talent and skill.
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I won't do tubular because of the (perceived) difficulty of changing tubulars on the roadside in the rain at night along a dark stretch of road two-thirds of the way through a painfully long ride... which is exactly where I did my last tube swap (well, honestly it wasn't raining ... ) But I dream of a pair of 1300-gram clinchers tough enough to support me.
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changing a tubular is pretty quick, as fast as replacing a tube if you know what you are doing. In my experience (6 years riding, 4 mostly on tubular) tubular tires flat less than clinchers, and never pinch flat. Also you can put sealant in them and they become impervious to little thorns etc. that kill a tube.
for alloy, tubular rims are not a whole lot lighter or better than clincher. they used to make 250 gram tubular rims (yes alloy) but now most are around 400g and overbuilt for cx use
for alloy rim brake pads CoolStop has really nice salmon colored pads for wet, and combination pads (black and salmon) for all conditions, and a three compound CX pad for even more conditions