CrowSeph

During 2017 i finally took a pair of aero carbon wheelset that i was dreaming for years.
Since then i used but not too much since when i bought i was thinking to start racing again and then for many reason i decided to postponed (due to covid situation i'm still not racing).
I use mostly when i feel super trained or when i feel competitive with my group , but most of the time i prefer using my old tank wheels (campy khamshin) for training or in case we find a route that the road is not good.

Now since the tubular seems becaming less popular , averyone is talking about tubeless and disks brake. Do you think i should sell them? maybe if i wait more time and enjoy a bit more in a near future they will lost a lot of value.
i'm planning to buy a brand new bike , but for not for now.

what you guys do in my case?

bruce19

I'd sell only because I went tubeless and can't imagine anything else. They would just sit in my garage. And, as tubeless progresses there will be no market for anything else IMO.

maartendc

If you don't use them much anyway, and you can use the money for a new bike, sell them.

If you don't need the money, and you enjoy using them, keep them. But it sounds like you don;t get much use out of them anyway, so perhaps better to sell while they still have good value?

CliffordK

Keep them for whenever you get an E-Mail from STRAVA saying "XYZ Stole your KOM"

noimagination

I really, really hope you're wrong.

bruce19

I'm just curious....why? I've used them on 3 road bikes for 3 yrs (mine and my GF's) with zero flats and zero hassles. So, I'm wondering what downside you've encountered. Oh, and they are more comfortable and roll quicker than my clinchers.

mcours2006

I bought a set of carbon tubulars a few years ago, but currently have a set of carbon clinchers on my rim road bike, so I'm sort of in the same position OP finds himself. I've probably got too many bikes and too many wheelsets to keep these ones, and fearing the prospect of having to repair a flat on the road I'm probably gonna sell them.

merlinextraligh

dealing with a flat tubular on a ride is not a big deal. Just carry an old tubular that has previously been glued on a rim. Peel the old one off, and put the old spare back on. Pump it up hard and corner a bit gingerly on the way home

CrowSeph

The fact is that the selling value can't cover a complete bike (i think i can sell at max for 400€).
As now i don't even need the money...

CrowSeph

haha i call them a secret weapon , because sometimes i use for taking my koms back

CrowSeph

comfortable not too much , the vibrations will not be disposed as a normal wheelset. but definitely quicker.
i also never had zero flats and i'm running a cheap vittoria tubular .
Another cons is , for a good rolling tubular you had to spend a lot of money!
for the clinchers wheelset i'm running a pair of michelin dynamic sport , very cheap and durable (25$ a pair) i think the most priced/quicker clinchers i can get is around 17-23$ a single one , but for the tubular i had to spend 50$+
also the tubular i'am using , they haven't the valve core replaceable that means no punture protection liquid.

CrowSeph

that's true for long routes thats okay to carry a tubular but for shorter rides can be a pain to replace or to carry a spacious tubular as spare. Also i think my friend will shoot me dead with a co2 cartidge if i had to replace a tubular during our rides

CrowSeph

Honestly tubeless seems the more appropriate , but nothing fells me more secure of a clincher due to the tubeless stall during cornering. And sometimes i do really fast cornering.

noimagination

I've used tubed tires for decades with no problems. The occasional flat takes maybe 15 min to fix, maybe 1 - 2 times per year.
I've never used tubeless. However, I've heard:
1) it is sometimes difficult to seat the bead, requiring high volume air to seat the bead (not possible for an on-the-road problem) or other shenanigans, not that you cannot make a mistake seating the bead in a tubed tire, but it is easy to fix and doesn't require any extra tools or steps
2) you need to use sealant, which can be messy, especially if the bead isn't seated correctly (see above), vs tubed tires, which you air up and go
3) there are many more little bits of gear (plugs? special seals around valve? valves with removable cores? valve core removal tool? other?), whereas with a tube tire you need a tube and a pump, often you don't even need levers
4) sealant can pool in the tire, requiring you to remember to rotate your tires periodically if you hit a period where you're not riding, or if you have multiple bikes
5) for me, it's a solution in search of a problem; if you get many flats, then tubeless might be a good solution for you, but if like me you get maybe 1 - 2 flats a year, max, the extra effort isn't worth it

If you like tubeless, then great, but I don't see the need to convert the world, tubeless is great for certain specific needs but is a needless complication for many of us.

bruce19

You do realize I was talking about tubeless not tubular, right?

bruce19

I've been using Mavic UST wheels with Mavic tires. They were developed as a system with exact tolerances so can be fitted and inflated easily with a floor pump. I've had no trouble with the issues you mentioned. Not trying to convince you of anything just related my experience.

woodcraft

It takes less time to put on a spare tubular than it does to change a tube. Tell your friend that if he's nice, you'll let him use your spare tubular on his clincher wheel if he gets a un-fixable rip in his tire.

noimagination

Understood. I'm not trying to trash tubeless either, it's great that they work for many people. I just don't want to be forcibly converted by having wheel manufacturers discontinue hook and bead rims and thus mandating adoption of tubeless.

It's like disk brakes: I like them fine on our tandem bike, but they're unnecessary on a single road bike with aluminum rims where I live. If I had carbon rims and/or did a lot of hard braking (e.g. if I lived around a lot of steep, twisting 15 km descents), that would be a different story.

mcours2006

It's the unknown factor that gives me anxiety...I do have used tubs with old glue, but I've never ever had to do it before. I've seen the same riding buddy do it a few times, and he's quite proficient at it. I also hear that putting sealant into the tire works as well, and while normally carry all these things whenever I ride with the tubs, still...

merlinextraligh

in my experience, putting sealant in at that point is a 50/50 proposition, but worth the try.

merlinextraligh

carrying a spare tubular weighs around 250 grams, and requires an old toe strap or a stout rubber band. Really not that difficult

biker128pedal

Have you thought about keeping the tubulars for the rim brake bike and n+1 get a new disc brake tubeless bikes.

Psimet2001 

Maybe I missed something but I believe the original post was asking about whether or not to keep a tubular setup and enjoy it now with the concern of losing value if waiting? if so - just keep and ride it. It already has little to no value for road in the marketplace. Seriously you will see no difference between what you would get now vs selling in a few years. Enjoy them.

For the weird tubeless side debate: Tubeless is what it is. It really isn't needed nor does it appreciably improve anything for the vast majority of roadies out there. It's a poor use of the technology but alas it is what we will all end up with across the board.

I sell, service and maintain all types of wheels, tires and systems. Tubular has an amount of work associated with it but performance is amazing. Tubeless has gotten better but still answers a question many don't have. If you have multiple bikes and ride them at different times of the year then you will spend a lot of time maintaining tubeless - something you don't have to do with tubes. Tubeless doesn't like to sit. Sealant doesn't last forever - a good innertube sometimes seems like it does.

billridesbikes

I say keep them. I kept one pair of hand built tubular wheels originally built with Shimano Dura-Ace 600 hubs (the rear has since been upgraded to DT Swiss to run a 10sp or 11sp cassette, but the front still runs the 600 hub). They still come out of retirement for the local hill climbs as they're lighter than just about anything you can buy now. I think I'm running Continental Competitions in 23mm for the past few years.

CrowSeph

i have already lots of bike....