I have recently acquired this baby:



It's an Olmo Gentleman, my guess from the '75-'79 era. I like it a lot but it's not definitely the "ultimate italian vintage bike".

The bike came with Michelin something tubular tires on fiamme rims. As I have slightly inflated the rear tire, it formed a huge lump and within a few days gave it's last breath and passed away.

I am currently in search of a tire solution, at least for the rear. I was thinking (and searching) for a couple of Continental Giro tubulars.

A guy at the LBS told me to switch to clinchers instead, he said after about three flats it would pay for itself. I have made a quick Pros/Cons list for both options:

Stick with Tubs
-----------------
Pros:
- Cheap on the short run
- Vintage bike gods will be happy and accept me to their secret tribe
- Possible social interaction with girls, explaining them how a tubular tire works (not sure about this)

Cons:
- After a few punctures I will spend all my money on new tubulars and end up living on the streets (I like wine)
- Takes about 16 weeks to install a tire
- I might get a flat on a distant planet with no food and water and eventually die of starvation
- In case of a faulty installation I might crash and die


Switch to Clinchers
---------------------
Pros:
- Practical
- Won't cost a fortune on the long run
- Always wanted to start the wheel building stuff
- Won't slide off the rim

Cons:
- Expensive initial cost
- Vintage bike gods will be angry and won't accept me to their secret tribe
- Don't know much about wheel building (and removing the freewheel)
- LBS might charge me a fortune if I can't perform the item above


I have 36h Campagnolo wheel hubs on this baby and if I go with the clincher option I will need to buy new rims, spokes and nipples, remove the freewheel, clean & service the hub, lace, true and buy a tube and a new tire.

If I go with the tub option, I will just buy the tire and the paste and apply.

I will use this bike on a daily basis (shopping, going to the train station, etc.), simply as a fast commuter. I don't specifically like the frame but the components are campagnolo nuovo gran sport so maybe in the future I might perform a frame swap.

I just want to hear your opinions on this. I'm really confused.

Hi, uluchay-

The Yellow Jersey still does 3 tubulars for $50. They are apparently pretty good and will give you a useable bike while deciding/saving in case of a change to clinchers. Do a search here for the tubular thread as it will expand your knowledge of the advantages and disadvantages of tubulars.

That's a nice offer, I wonder if they ship to Italy (and if yes, at what cost)

Thanks a lot for the thread as well.

^ This would be the determinant for me - Go with clinchers - vintage bike gods etc not withstanding.
If riding this bike was just a Sunday afternoon indulgence, then I could see sticking with tubulars but not for a commuter/grocery getter.

Yes they do, but I don't know the price. Email them, nice fellows.

Continental Giro from xxcycles (they are out of France), XXcycle - Tubular Continental Giro (700x22) - en

The downside to tubulars is price. You'll start with the Giros and eventually trade up to Veloflex Criteriums or Roubaixs at $75-$100 a pop.

I don't really see that happening. For fast training I will use my Trek which has clinchers.

126 mm wheels aren't that expensive. Plus you can probably pick up a pair of vintage clinchers at a reasonable price. Keep the tubies for days you want to pay homage to the bike gods preferably while at La Madonna Del Ghisallo,

Maybe I didn't explain that well. It's like drinking a great wine, you won't want to go back to drinking the stuff from a box.

Tubs.

May as well get at least one set of tubulars to try out - otherwise you'll always be wondering if you missed out on something special. That's what I did when I bought a used Gitane with tubulars back in the '70s. My LBS gave me an additional one that was punctured for practice so I patched that and used it as a spare. Eventually wore out the tread on them and by then was tired of the unstitching, patching, and re-sewing routine so I got some clincher rims and relaced the wheels (ERD was close enough to reuse the spokes).

Never did the gluing business - the rims and tires were a little tacky with old glue and between that and air pressure the tires seemed to be very solidly on the rims. Lived in Tucson which has it's share of fast, winding descents on the mountain roads outside of town and never had a problem. Changing out the spare for a flat was very easy and quick - just pull off the flat tire, put the spare in place and pump up. No worry about finding the cause of the flat or possibility of pinching the tube as with clinchers.

That's an interesting thought...

...and a very good metaphor.

I have heard (from the elders of cycling) that nothing rides like a good steel frame with tubulars on 36h rims. Maybe for my next build I might consider the 50mm carbon tubular wheels but bikewise, my Trek is not far from a carton box. If anything it's a 5$ bottle.

Thanks for the tip. My place is about 30 km's away from Ghisallo. I should take both of them there to meet the gods some time.

Plus, if you get there on two wheels, you get a whopping 1€ climbers discount for the museum.

Though I respect Auchencrow's opinions on most things, I'd say tubulars are fine for buying groceries if the roads are good and the surface generally clean. I rode my only tubular-equipped bike as a commuter once and loved it. (Of course, I flatted a tire with less than 30 miles on it but I won't mention that, now will I? TireAlert patched it and has mailed it back.) I then rode that same bike on a century and liked it so much I'm building a set of tubular wheels for a different bike. But I'll admit that tubulars have a few disadvantages - they require a bit of prep, and if you carry one spare and have a second flat you'd better have a cell phone with you. I'll be carrying two spares on my next trip.

I've ridden sew-ups nearly exclusively since, ummm, '67 or so. I always use 'tire savers' and have had very little 'trouble'. I commuted one Summer ~ 15 miles each way into Boston and don't recollect ever getting a flat. That said, the price these days is shocking. I've some ancient Clement Criterium Seta Extras, along with a couple other never-ridden tires in my junk pile that I'm going to send to TireAlert for new tubes. I'd say, once one has ridden on sew-ups one wouldn't go any other way, but then I've not ridden anything current.

I met one "old-timer" who rode his tubular equipped PX10 in and around Detroit for 20 some years, and swore by tire savers. If you are going to ride tubular, I would not leave home without them. - Still, I'm ***-shy for any commuter-type bike, having flatted with clinchers frequently enough from all the nasty stuff lining the roadsides here.

Edit: Why is G U N -shy being censored? WTH?

"Edit: Why is G U N -shy being censored? WTH?" Maybe someone felt assaulted! Don't take aim at fixing it, trigger a purchase, lock and load for the next ride, target a grail bike or put you sites on a century ride you have always wanted to take!


Do try the tubular ride. Give it a chance by getting another set of wheels with clincher rims. Clincher rims are easier to sell!

Vittoria Rally are reliable and inexpensive (the equivalent of $20 each here in Italy) tubular tiers

By the way, what are the prices for various models of Tubulars in Italy, Uluchay? I'm curious and it might be an interesting comparison.

That's a neat old Olmo.

My daily commuter is wearing tubulars. The key to happiness is keeping them properly inflated and watching where you're riding. I managed to make it through this past toronto winter, ice storms and all, on 22mm tubulars, without a single flat, and that was missing only 2 days due to excessive slush.

That's impressive.

I'm going to try to not be jealous . . . . .

Thanks everyone for advices. I have decided to give tubs a chance (irrelevant picture below) and ordered myself a pair of Conti Giro's from bike-discount.de at 16 € each.




I want to hear your opinions on sealants. After watching a few impressive YouTube videos, I can say I'm somewhat convinced by their functionality and I would like to buy a big bottle to use on both clinchers and tubulars as a preventive measure.

Well from what I've heard Middle Earth is not a bad place either...

As I mentioned above I managed to get a couple of Continental Giro's for 16 € each but that's from a German online store. Vittoria Rally's are priced around 20-24 € range. I couldn't manage to get a price on Continental Giro's because my shop said that he can't see and order them on the suppliers web site.

I would say the range is between 20-90 € depending on the tire, Veloflex being the most expensive. Although I see enough people with vintage bikes, I guess most of them ride clinchers or ride super clean and avoid flats. Most shops have limited options on tubulars and one of the guys gave me a long lecture about the advantages of clinchers over tubs.