It came as a surprise to me when I found them on-line. I was settling for the 23 Rallys after the old Giro that was 22 only. That little bit of extra air volume and contact patch is most welcome. I cannot ride as high/hard air pressures and the young'uns here require. Nothing way low, usually between 95-100 is plenty for this OG.

Bill the Decrepit OG

Yes. Refunded. But I have another issue. Over at Totally Tubular, they are espousing very low pressures on tubulars. And you can't get them high enough. You must be riding very good roads.

Bill, if that's decrepit, then I've been decrepit since about the age of 18, since I started filling my tubulars that way about 1970 or so.

I've been decrepit for quite a while now

Bill, if that's decrepit, then I've been decrepit since about the age of 18, since I started filling my tubulars that way about 1970 or so.

Well, I will give it a go at 105 just to see what it feels like, but since I'd already detected a little "squishiness" at 120 I'm not too hopeful. And yeah, I know the trend seems to be lower pressures - but on fatter tires. These are only 25s, and the biggest I can fit, too. In any case, I'm out for a different riding experience and prefer Ferrari over Cadillac handling

DD

DD, for me it's not a trend. I started riding tubulars on the streets of Chicago when I was 18 and bought a bike with tubulars. It took a while to learn how and where I could get enough pressure to harden the tire (21 mm cottons, I was afraid of destroying the skinny little rims in the first month of riding). I also noticed harshness and did not have the spare $$ start fine tuning my tire selection. I didn't even own a capable pump, beyond the Silca Impero that came with the bike. I tried just bleeding down the tires a tiny bit, and whatever I accomplished helped the ride a lot and did not make it feel slower. I also did not start destroying rims. After I had a Silca Pista, I could see the pressure, and the good spot was between 90 and 100. That's just the way it worked.

I never timed myself, so I don't know if harder was faster (typical roadie wisdom, even in the 1970s), or if a little softer was faster (Bicycle Quarterly wisdom). I just know I liked the 95 psi area a lot better than 110 and up.

I'm finding that, with higher pressures (110) the tire (almost) skates over the bumps in the chipseal. Higher than that might be better, but the top rating of the tire is 110. I'm not seeing a lot of difference at 90. But it's a 22mm tire. The 25mm at 90 feels squishy, and I have never enjoyed that sensation. On a side note, I forgot to check the front tire of my town bike, yesterday, and rode it at around 25 psi. A lovely ride. Another 25mm tire. Even my town bike is a road bike, with upright bars.

Perhaps this is just a feeling I'll have to adapt to. It's just a little disconcerting, always feeling like the back tire is going to bottom out and ding/dent the rim - or worse. Anyway, today I decided to get in one last run before the forecast turns again to rain (and I head out of town Monday); wanted to get a feel for the brakes after I swapped out the CLB alloy housings for standard grey Campy offerings instead. The good news is the braking has a much more direct feel. I gave the tires 105psi and although I noticed no issues on the front (except I could visibly see the deflection of the sidewalls when standing up and putting weight on the front wheel - and the funny creaky sound which is still there when I do the same) the rear did feel like it wanted to bottom out whenever I went over a root bump or crack.

Still and all, the experience of riding this bike is awesome, and some of that comes from the tubular wheelset, for sure. For one thing, the wheels being lighter, they spin up quickly - and take less effort to do so. They also keep going with less effort. The next true test will be to take them up a long, long climb and see how they feel climbing while seated - I already know what it feels like standing up and making an effort.

So, I'm not giving up on them because I'm seeing the beneficial side already; just wish I'd gotten the tires I ordered and didn't have to be concerned currently about being careful with lower-than-used-to pressures.

From today's ride:



DD

WRT the comment about the bump due to the valve not seating in the rim. I am in the process of reading "The art of Wheel Building" where the author states that this is sometimes a problem. His solution or minimizing the impact, is to champfer the valve hole. The example picture shows material being removed toward the side wall of the rims.

hoping to get out today for a ride later. Temps should be really good!
Enjoy the ride!

I chamfered the valve hole on one of my tubular wheel sets to address "the bump". I was reluctant to remove too much material, but it made an improvement.

Dean