Going to the Dark Side...
 

...tubular wheels, that is. Got a nice little Mavic/Nisi combo recently (thanks San Rensho!), and I figure it's a good a time as any to give them a shot:

http://www.jaysmarine.com/tubular_2.jpg

http://www.jaysmarine.com/tubular_1.jpg

That said, are there any good vintagesque deals in tubular tires out there? I'm not looking for something of cheap quality, but I'm not ready to pay $60 a tire either - or is this too much to ask? :o :lol:

Take care,

-Kurt

P.S.: The two rims did come with a set of older Wolber tires mounted to them. They look fine, if a bit dry, and have separated from the protector that sits on the inside ring. Advisable to re-use them?

What Dark Side? The only drawback I've encountered is that it's hard to find tires wider than 23mm.

once the rim tape comes loose, the tires aren't very safe to glue any more. I never figured a good way to reattach the tape to the tire. A good midrange tubular seems to settle at about $40. Vittoria CX is a good choice, as is the Continental Sprinter. I've been using Tufo S3 215's all summer (no tube) and have had really good luck with 'em. YMMV, of course.

There's data out there that sez the Tufo's roll worse than other tires...

vintage tubulars cost $40 back in the day. Actually, I have a batch of nice silk tubulars I should dig out and see what condition they are in.

It seems to me there is your cheep tubulars which can be had around $20 a tire and then there are good tubulars $80 and up... I'm not to familiar with the mid range. That said deals can be had on the net for sure.. Bike tires direct is pretty good. As far as I know you just need liquid latex to reattach the base tape, which can be found in flouring stores (used to seal grout)... seem odd but that is what my research has turned up.

P.S. this is C&V, I thought clinchers were the dark side.

Kurt,

Tire Alert in Clearwater will reattach base tape for $8 per tire, and also does full on repair (replace tube, resew the tire and attach base tape). I find this to be more than worth it when Tubuluars can cost up to $150. each!

http://www.tirealert.com/

as for moderate priced tubulars? I like the Vittoria CX series (I think these replace the Nuovo pro tire
which are a good deal if you can find them), Conti sprinters (but no gumwall). I've used Conti Giro's but
didn't like them that much.
Deda Olympico also have a gumwall tire about same price as the Conti sprinters but they are difficult to find.

Marty

I use 3 different tubulars, cheap, mid and big buck.

For cheap I use Gommitalia, for mid range I use Conti Sprinter Gatorskins, and for Sunday best I like Veloflex Crits.

I have found good deals on all of them at TexasCycle when they run their sales

I need to pick up a relatively cheap spare. I can't handle the stress of riding without one much longer:twitchy:

What I really need is a nice set of Campy (or compatible) hubbed clinchers so I can head off the impending ulcer, lol.

Lately I've been running Yellow Jersey Servizio Corse 3 for $50, and black Vittoria Rallye. I have a set of NOS original Vittorias to put on something, but haven't decided what.

I like both of these tires. I recently had some 215 g Tufos with teh sealant, but took them off when the valve stem separated from the casing and the goo failed to seal up the problem. The Tufos were a great ride, but not adequate reliability.

Dark side indeed. ;) I finally hung my tubulars up in the garage and had a set of clinchers built. Too many flats, too much hassle.

Yep. I have some gorgeous sets of minty Mavic tubular rims in the secret stash, but end up building clinchers. My Paramount runs tubulars, but I don't ride it that much anymore.

Cheap tubulars from France by the boxload at $15.00 each= false economy, pop too easy

Continental Sprinter 250= pops just about as easily as the cheap crap

No thanks.

When I get back from my folks, I'm planning on taking a set of clinchers and converting them to tubulars, clinchers are a PITA to change on the road and I've not had any more flats with tubulars than with clinchers.

To each their own. The one good thing about tubulars, is I've been able to find nice wheelsets very reasonably priced, thanks to the myth that they are too much hassle. So keep spreading that rumor, it works to my advantage!

Dark side... more like enlightened.

Even the Vittoria Rally is o.k. as long as you buy the 23mm version. Not the 21mm.

OFG, I really wanted them to work. I just kept getting flats. It was weird, except for the first time when I actually saw a piece of glass puncture the tire, the others all just went "Pop!" while I was riding down the road. I have no idea why and I never saw any road debris or found anything embedded in the tires. After 4-5 flats like that in the space of a 2-3 months I gave up and got those clinchers. They're heavy of course but I haven't had a flat since and that's probably a year and a half or so now.

It's getting kinda frustrating now though as nobody makes narrow (13mm inside diameter) box section polished clincher rims anymore and they can even be hard to find on eBay. Tubular rims are cheaper and easier to come by.

That's too bad, what tires were you using? I find the Conti Sprinter Gatorskins to be pretty tough. I've had a flat on the Gommitalia's, but that was in AZ, and I found a sharp rock that cut the tire embedded in the tread.

What tubular wheels do you have? I have a set of clinchers with Campy Record hubs, 32 hole, laced to Matrix ISO clinchers that I was planning to lace to a set of GL 330's I have doing nothing, If you have 32 hole Campy, I'll trade with you.

I was using the Vittoria Rallys. Not an expensive tire I know but then the $7 clinchers from Walmart don't get flats all the time :) Anyway, the last one, the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back, happened on a road that was under construction with the surface stripped off and no shoulder so when it blew I tried to ride it about a block to get to a place where it was safe to pull over and fix it and in the process I dented the back rim so now I got nothin' but wall decoration :(

Bummer 'cause they were really nice riding, very light and quick. I weighed the whole wheel/tire combination the other day and compared it to the new clincher setup and found the clinchers were about 420g heavier - almost a pound each! :eek: That and the Rally rear derailleur explain why my bike seems to have put on a few pounds recently.

Ive still yet to try tubs out, im really curious about the ride.

Our local clubs coach whos been around since the mid 70s has a buncha old tubular rims hanging in his garage (including some with some nice high flange hubs.. probably all campy since hes italian), Could probably pick up a set cheap, but im sure the actual tires themselves wouldn't be, plus his rule is "I'll glue for you once and show you how, but thats it!"

I have a set of Hope hubbed Ambrosio Crono's with Campy cassettte I might be interested in trading. They have a near unriden set of Tufo Pro's on them. Are your Campy hubs 8 speed?

I picked-up my first set of tubulars in the spring - so far I have been quite happy with the Yellow Jersey Servizio Corsas - 3 for $50 is tough to beat.

Try the Vittoria Rallys. They're pretty good for $25.

I just went the other way. I had a set of clinchers built last month. Mavic Open Pro rims laced to Campy NR hubs with DT spokes rolling on Conti Grand Prix 4000 tires. I took a ride last weekend, but the pavement was too rough to be able to really test them well.

8 speed in
C&V? Are you a blasphemer?

On this bike I am, lol.

Thanks for all the suggestions and assistance. Didn't come close to finding half this much help with some Google searches.

I'll probably try out those Vittoria Rallys. They look beautiful, and I dare say I won't be too bummed about how much I had to spend on them if I make a mess on the first try. :o

P.S.: Located a matching 32h Nisi locally to make the pair. I'll probably lace the 32 first as I have the original stainless spokes for the intended build for the 32 only. I'll have to buy some new DT's for the front 36h wheel.

-Kurt

I recently put some Conti Giro's on my new-to-me tubular bike and they roll pretty good for 25 bucks a piece. I was going to go with the Gatorskin Sprinters, but they were twice the price. Probably worth it for the Kevlar belt though. The up side is I mounted them right out of the box without pre-stretching them with no issues at all. I have seen them get some mixed reviews, but the newer issue Giros seem to be pretty decent compared to the older models.

Fwiw, I used the regular white Tufo tape and mounting them was a breeze compared to glue. You wet the tire down before you mount it on the rim which permits you plenty of time to center the tire on the wheel/tape strip and there is no waiting for set-up time. You can ride it as soon as you mount it as the glue sets into the basetape the second you put weight on the bike. (I've heard the Extreme Tufo tape is better yet), The regular Tufo tape leaves enough residue on the rim where you can swap to a spare tire on the side of the road without glue, quicker than changing a clincher and will permit you to home riding cautiously until you can install a new tape strip. Not sure if this holds true with the Extreme tape.

I find this an amusing thread. Dark side? I didn't know there was anything other than tubular tires.

BTW, I'm new to the forum and just re-entered the the cycling world after a 35 year absence. In the early and mid '70s I rode 25 miles daily and more on weekends, when I put on my silks, all on sewups (the term tubular hadn't been coined yet). During that time I only had one flat. It took only a few minutes to put on the spare. It was easy to fix the flat, just time consuming.

Just a different perspective from an oldtimer.