Originally Posted by Sheldon Brown
It's Jobst Brandt you're disagreeing with, not me.
My experience is that older tires tend to be a bit more puncture resistant, probably because the tread rubber is less sticky, so small bits of glass or gravel don't tend to adhere and work their way through the tread. Jobst and I disagree on this, one of the few areas where we don't see eye-to-eye.
I've never been into going fast in wet conditions, so the wet-traction issue is moot for me.
Sheldon "Gave Up On Tubulars A Long Time Ago" Brown
Well Sheldon, Thank you for the correction. I guess I will have to search for something else to argue about pointedly. The only times I have gone fast in the wet was while racing, but I was also young and indistructable. I do still like tubulars, the current clinchers are as close as they have come, just ugly. Perhaps the tubless ones will handle better. But, I can imagine a rapid air loss puncture with one that would get ugly fast while going down hill.