Originally Posted by
63rickert
Find the Totally Tubular thread on C&V.
Don't buy them glued. If you can't glue yourself there is just no point.
Flats are easier to change with tubulars. You must know how. You must carry a spare and an inflation device. Spare tubulars rely entirely on air pressure to hold them in place and you will need a pump that reliably puts out high pressure. Tubulars do not flat as they did forty years ago. About same as equivalent light clinchers.
Tubulars ride better than anything. That is why they still exist. There are cheap nasty tubulars that ride only very slightly better than equivalent cheap nasty clinchers. Buy the good ones. The good ones also flat less and are far far easier to mount and glue.
Availability is a problem. Almost exclusively online. Maybe swap meets. Current top tires are $50-$60 delivered from the English discounters. Say Vittoria. Say Veloflex.
There is no resale value on those wheels. They come with pads? So carbon rims and rim brakes. No market for that. Bargain the price down even further and spend the money on a few spares. Really bargain. For a Cervelo I could build alloy wheels only slightly heavier and much stronger, much more serviceable for maybe 600-800. Serviceable but not Cervelo bling wheels could be even less.Vintage wheels could easily be lighter but they won't work with 11speed.
Copy 95%. Here's the other 5%: On wheel builds, I think that "vintage" Campagnolo 10 speed 130 mm OLD wheels can accept a 10 or 11 speed Campagnolo cassette. Probably some of the 8 speed wheels can also be used for 11, but I'm not as sure about that. That means you can buy a used Campy 10-speed rear wheel from as far back as Campy 10 has existed, and it can be cleaned, everhauled, trued, dished, and tuned into a very usable, servicable, and durable wheel for a modern-style 11 speed drivetrain. This being the case, to buy a used matched front/rear wheelset of this age with tubular rims will be pretty cheap. Tubular stuff does not keep resale value well, though it is as usable now as when it was new. Plus, Campagnolo is out of favor popularly (just read more of BF), though the Campy freaks like me and a few dozen others here still know it's worth.
Now when you tell the OP about REALLY vintage Campy tubular wheels back to the FB hub days, I agree completely. Hubs that take threaded-on freewheels are capable of 4-speed through 7-speed, but in no way can handle modern-era indexing, 8 (1997 if not earlier) to modern Campy 9, 10, 11, and 12. On the other hand, such a wheelset even in very good condition can usually be had for free or in the $25/set ballpark.