jcb3

I'm a Tufo fan and like the S33Pro 24 - totally bulletproof and ride them down to the casing. They ride about the same as a gatorskin clincher (or gatorskin tubular for that matter) despite the bad press. Generally can be had for $30 and a rear lasts me 1500 miles. Weight is 310g. Two sets so far and I had one slow leak once, put in some sealant and that was that. I have them on my weight weenie trek 700 (19 lbs) and have no issues with the ride they produce.

A couple club riders I know (on expensive plastic bikes) keep going back to the Tufo Hi-Carbon - for durability - although these guys use the tape. There's nothing like the old school joy of getting covered in Tubasti.

I've tried a set of Tufo Elite and they are a bit more plush than the S33s - the elites have high thread count. I have a Elite S3 25 on deck - those are 265g and a high thread count.

I inherited a set of Vittoria Corsa Race tires- clearly these are really nice tires, - there isn't much to them and I picked up a small wire on the first ride and that was that one ride - one flat - Done!

Merlin is blowing out vittoria pave 27s for $40 and I've picked up 7 tires - the 27 measures about 25 and they are really nice (although I'm not sure I could tell the difference between them and the Tufos because the bikes are totally different). I'm riding them now on my plastic bike with plastic rims - good luck for about 1000 miles. Not much risk trying these out. The pave's have a huge reputation.

I want to make a point about weights. You will save about a pound with tubular rims. Either low profile carbon or araya aero 4 (which I've been hording because I like them so much) are 300 grams. Most clinchers are 500, there's a pound right there. Probably another quarter pound saving on the tube and etc.

Joe