Yeah. Tubulars have largely fallen out of favor for many, especially since the technology of lightweight clinchers has advanced so much.
If I may, I'll place my vote on sealants. I wouldn't use them myself, but I never have. The thought of trying to repair a tubular tube full of goo doesn't appeal to me. But that's just me. I'm sure others love the stuff. Just my 2 cents.

I prefer a preventative measure others have mentioned. I think they help, though I do know others question their effectiveness. I may be biased. I make and sell them. They work for me. In more ways than one. FWIW.

Oh and, thanks for the comparative prices on the tires. Seems about the same here.

To uluchay and sorry for the OT to everybody else: the forum rules prevent me to answer to PM as I did not submit >50 posts...
To Moderators: this is a strange rule!
Apologies for the OT

Non preoccuparti.

As an IT expert let me explain it to you; The 50 post rule is a security measure and is necessary to eliminate the spammer software which will fill your inbox with guerrilla advertising.

If you want to participate in a long running debate but also learn more about the topic, I challenge you to read this thread: https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...y-tubular.html

well, that’s a fine rule for unsolicited PMs but I'm trying to reply to a PM from a forum member

[MENTION=29368]rootboy[/MENTION]:

I see the point of your gadget (sorry, that's the most appropriate word I could find) but I have a hard time understanding it's functionality.

Your system seems to clean the tire surface starting from the second revolution i.e. any debris that will end up on the tire surface will be caught by the metal after it's already been rolled over once.

I also think that this way the tire will wear faster am I wrong?

I flatted my rear tubular on a long ride last weekend. Big blowout (combination of a decade-old tire, high pressure, big pothole) and not repairable w/ sealant. I carry a pre-glued old spare tubular strapped under the saddle. It didn't take any longer to pull the old tubular off the rim and slap on the spare, than it would have taken to replace a tube. Rode another twenty miles, fast, on the spare tub with no worries. Admittedly when you get home you do have to pull off the spare tubular, remove the lumpiest bits of the old glue (a wire wheel in a drill works great), and reglue the tub nice and straight, which takes a while (maybe 1/2 hour with practice). But that blowout was a worst case. With most small punctures, you can use sealant which is quick, and won't have to actually replace the tub. Most sealants require a tub with a removable valve core, but some types can be squirted in through the valve (e.g. Vittoria Pitstop).

The downsides to tubulars: Tubular tires, even the cheap ones, are more expensive than clincher tires and tubes. A spare tub is more weight to carry (about 300 g) than a spare tube and/or patch kit. Most tubs are max 23mm width, if you want 25mm there are only a few choices, and if you want 28mm I think you're limited to clinchers. Regluing after you get home.

The upsides to tubulars: The rims are lighter and they ride nice! And the OP's bike already has tubular rims.

I'll take the tubulars for the ride but not the convenience. For C&V, it goes right with having toe clips, dt shifters and top feed brake levers.

That said, I do ride them. Not a racer, so I could care less of the premium brand and type. I've had very good luck with the budget Challenge Vulcano.

Strange and funny at the same time- for on or off road I ride with a camelback type pack with storage for snacks and other bike crap. Carry lightweight tools, spare misc. parts, Kevlar spokes, wire, duct tape, spare tubular plus a mix sizes of other inner tubes.... and on. I no longer bother swapping out spares and worrying what to take for each bike. I just grab the pack and go. Sort of like the SAG dude on group rides.

All this talk about flats and sew-ups and clinchers. Lemme tell you some real-life stuff.

First, I did my 30mile round trip commute again, took the Masi today. It has clincher tires. They are "high-performance, high TPI, high pressure, soft tread rubber Vittorias, not Gatorskins or Pasela TourGuard/FlatTechnology or whatever they call it now. I got a flat on the return about a mile from the house. I spent time trying to find the hole in the tube so I'd know where in the tire to check for a sliver of glass. 'Twas a very small hole, but even small holes leak when pumped up enough. In retrospect it probably would have been faster just to walk. The point is, clinchers can get flats too.

The first time I did the car/train/bike commute to my job in RI I took the UO8 which wears 28mm Pasela TG clinchers. It was about 25mi round trip, much on fairly dirty roads. On that first day I got to the office, went off to change clothes, came back to my desk to find the rear tire flat with a staple sticking out from the middle of the tread. It must have come from the office carpet. It went right through the aramid belt.

Another flat on the same bike was when I hit something, maybe a chunk of metal, that jumped up and cut the sidewall of the front tire. I tore a bit from the box of the spare tube and used it as a tire boot, popped in the spare tube and made it to work and home again.

Another flat happened on my way home. Halfway back to the train station the Schrader valve on the rear tire let go with a bang. The rubber just split off from the stem. A fellow working across the street said throw the bike in his pickup and he drove me the rest of the way to Attleboro.

Another commuting flat was on the Bianchi wearing 25mm Gatorskins. Almost to the office in the morning I must have hit a gas-pipe access cap or something, not a pothole. I'm not really sure and never found exactly what I hit, but I got a snakebite flat.

Another was from a tiny sliver of wire or something that got into the UO8's front tire. I was halfway to the train station going home. Fortunately I always left myself enough time for just such a problem, so I popped in a new tube and caught the train. It was a slow leak and took me days to find.

I once got a flat on the Raleigh, a new 25mm Pasela TG, when I accidentally dropped into a deep pothole and the edge cut the tire sidewall. That was my fault, and it wasn't commuting. Just sloppy recreational riding.

I wasn't riding sew-ups then. But after 4000 miles on those roads five flats is probably a good average! Yes I did ride the Masi sometimes. My new job has a longer commute (but directly from my house). Some of the roads are pretty dirty. It's the tiny piece of glass you don't see that gets you. Whatever cut the tire on my first sew-up commute would probably have cut the Gatorskin too. I have more or less concluded that high-performance tires may have a shorter life expectancy. The tread on the Masi's rear is quite worn and cut up. But I'll probably keep commuting on it sometimes. Life is too short to ride bad tires all the time. And anything, even 28mm aramid-belted tires, can get a flat.

On the other hand, after nearly 5000 miles the tandem hasn't had a flat. Maybe 32mm is the way to go!

I've tried the inexpensive Michelin Liberty and Continental Giro tubulars, but had "blister"-type failures with both of these models.

I only ran about 95psi, but the casings on these somehow allowed the tube to escape and bulge under the tread with a blister that pops with a bang while riding.

I later tried Tufo S22 tubulars, which were not only tubeless, but completely reliable, and retained pressure for weeks!

I've also used Continental sprinters with excellent durability.

Sealants work well against small punctures, but latex-based sealants harden and become ineffective in a matter of months, which is okay if you actually can wear out the tire that fast.

The "Tire Saver" wipes the tire continuously so it wipes during the first revolution, less than 360 degrees of revolution in the rear and less than 180 on the front. Often it is not the first contact that causes the flat but the second contact with the ground that drives the debris into the tire causing the flat.

It does not wear the tire faster as it is adjustable and some actually have it float just above the tire to get rid of the wiping sound.

Having said all that, there is debate if they really work. They are more of a proactive approach to keeping the tire clean. There are those who use their gloves to wipe the tire during or after riding through a "dirty" section of road. I would never try that for obvious reasons related to bike control. And that is the bottom line, you do what you think is best. Those of us who appreciate the performance of tubulars ride them and take some level of preventative action to keep air in them during a ride.

+1 on the tubies.

Continental Sprinter Gatorskins in 25mm appear to work pretty well on PA's crappy chipseal roads, so my guess is they'd work just fine around Lake Como. The downside is that they don't look even remotely close to vintage.

Vittoria's Corsa CX is a nice tire in 23mm carcass - have 'em on my Bridgestone RADAC, and they've held up okay as well. The tubes require refilling after about three to four days, though, which is annoying.

Dugast makes a good sew-up tire, as does Boyaux - François Marie Boyaux Prepare to spend some of your retirement savings to get them, though.

Challenge Paris-Roubaix are nice, and also expensive.

Just logging back in here, and could answer this, Uluchay, but SJX426 pretty much covered it all in his helpful post.

You're already in Italy, as far as access to affordable tubular tires is concerned.

For the kind of riding you've planned, I'd get some Tufo S33 Pro's for about $40 each.
Very durable, long-lasting tire. Use the mounting tape, for a no-mess, easy install.
That experience alone may well answer any questions you have.

Your bike shop wants to sell you wheels and tires, and then, tires, and tires, and tires.

I see no evidence, anywhere, that flats are guaranteed on tubulars. I've not flatted one.
Enjoy the Olmo. It's not broken, so don't fix it. Get a new tubular tire and ride.

This is very simple. If you see George Clooney riding around Lake Como, say hi.
Let him buy new wheels and tires, and you can stick with what's worked for years and years.

If you ride, flats are a fact of life, whether you use clinchers or tubulars.

(I mostly ride clinchers and get my share).

Fixing a flat is a lot easier with clinchers which is why they make sense for commuting, but what happens BETWEEN flats makes the case for tubulars. Take your choice.

On the occasions when I ride tubulars, I use rootboy's tire savers:
- Considering the time/expense of flatting tubulars, it just makes sense to take this small precaution, as did the most experienced riders BITD.

I use the tire savers too and there are some flats you cant avoid unless you can see really well at 20 mph


What made this so painful was this was the second ride on these that I picked up at the Recyclery in Portand for $15.

OK well here is the pic I could not add in edit mode:

I'd like to know more about tire differences. Marketing blurbs don't really say much. For example, between the Vittoria Corsa SC and CX? Or Veloflex Record and Master? Perusing websites I see that rated PSI specs are lower for some, while the EVO SC was listed as 210. Not that I'd run them that way but it makes me wonder about the casing differences. I also have to wonder how much of what one reads in website descriptions is laziness on the part of the ad writer.

OUCH! Effing meow… man, that is ugly. And sad.

My regular training route passes by his gate. Never seen him though.

He's known to ride one of the following: Harley Davidson something, Piaggio MP3, Colnago MTB.

PS: I don't think he'll buy me wheels and tires but I'll keep a screenshot of your post on my phone just in case. I don't think a pair of Zipp's will hurt his budget.

@jimmuller - me too. I have always used TPI as a metric for assessing tubulars, I am sure there is more, such as cotton vs. silk vs. whatever as well as latex vs butyl tubes.
@rootboy - I cried for a week. They were heaven to ride compared to the Rally's or the other tires I had purchased used.

When I rode back in the 70's I got a lot more flats than I do know. Glass bottles were the norm for any sort of beverage and I would roll through large areas of scattered glass on the road. Just about all my flats were glass related. Although in late winter I would get punctures from road salt. Now days most everything is in plastic. It's somewhat rare to run into shattered glass in the road now, and when I do its usually easily avoidable. I've been riding sew-ups quite a bit over the last several years. I've had one flat, on a tire whose tread was worn paper thin.

But the main reason I ride sew-ups is so I can look cool with a folded spare on the back of my leather saddle. Gets me my props in the weekend peloton.

Better yet!