Road tires?
 

Clinchers or sewups? That is my question. I am fairly new to the road and was wondering what the diff. is between the two. I know that clinchers are like regular mtb tires and sewups have the tube connected. I would like to know what the pros and cons are of the two. I am going to upgrade my wheels and I am not quite sure what type to get. Ant help is appriciated.
Slainte:beer:
Matt

I am sure that you'll get a few answers pleading the wonders of sew-ups--smoother ride, lighter tire, and, some will say, more responsive.

Modern, high-quality clinchers come pretty close to sew-ups in weight, smoothness, and responsiveness. They will, as a rule, last longer, and you don't have to deal with gluing them. I eventually got the gluing routine down, but I found it never to be worth the extra work. With flats on my sew-ups, etc., I ended up on my clinchers so often that my sew-ups just gathered dust.

So, unless you are going to be racing, I think you'll find the hassle with sew-ups not worth it. Besides, coming from the MTB world, even a cheap K-Mart clincher (which I wouldn't exactly recommend) will seem smooth to you :p

Cheers,
Jamie

yeah unless your racing pro. and have back-up crew, the tubular tire is the way to go, but if not the clincher type tire, is much better, and more time manageable for you, all you have to carry is a couple of inner tube

Thanks for the info. Much appriciated. I think I will stay with the clinchers.
Slainte:beer:
Matt

FWIW, my tubular Tufo S33 specials have lasted longer than any tyre I've ever bought, clinchers included. Gluing is really just a 5-minute job, although you should let the glue set overnight.
Tubulars are better than clinchers in the following areas:

1) weight: tubular tyres and rims weigh less than clinchers

2) on-road tyre changing: half the time to remove and replace than a clincher. No tools required at all.

3) ride: tubulars always ride better than clinchers

4) tyre pressure: tubulars can be used at 60 psig, or at 160 psig (some even higher). for heavy riders, or for riding rough roads, this variability in pressure is very useful. clinchers can't go as low, or as high.

as far as cost is concerned, there are decent tubulars for around $40 each.

I am also new to the road, and I'm still a bit confused on what is a "sewup". Do you need a special wheel/rim for this set-up? Are the tubes really connected to the tire? If so, how do you fix a puncture?

ThanX for helping out a mountain biker turned partial roadie!!!

A tubular tire has the tube inside, and the casing is stitched together on the inside circumference and then covered with a "base tape." Tubular rims are designed with a concave surface, like a Mavic Reflex for example:

http://www.mavic.com/upload/produits/reflex3.jpg

The tubular tire is attached to the rim by special glue, to make a long story short. If the rider has a flat, the solution is to raise one's hand and wait for the support car to swap you a wheel, or else you'd better have a spare tubular tire under your saddle. Actually fixing a punctured tube on a tubular requires separating the base tape from the casing, cutting the stitching near the puncture, patching the tube, stitching up the casing and reattaching the base tape. I've never done it and I never plan to, although I did have a pair of all-carbon Zipp 440 tubular wheels for a while.

Zipp, and perhaps others, offer a latex-based sealant that can be injected into tubular tires to seal small punctures on the fly. It does work in the case of small punctures, the typical tell-tale sign being a bit of stringy latex sprayed onto the frame or fork.

Overall, my philosophy is that I don't want to carry a spare tire, which adds back the weight that was saved by using tubulars. And I don't race, so I don't have a support car to fall back on. High-performance clinchers will get the job done for my needs. :)

ThanX for the detailed response - I think I get it now! :)

Again, thanks for all the info. I decided to to give both a try. This weekend a buddy is going to lend me a set of wheels with sewups so I can feel the ride diff for my self. I will get a good 175 mi on them. Then I shall decide.
Slainte:beer:
Matt