Thanks, Coach Boyd!

I told the receptionist I'm expecting a package today, and an hour later she brought a giant box to my desk. Suddenly I'm feeling very ill, like I should go home and not infect my colleagues. I keed, I keed; I still need to get some tubes tires and have them glued. And the weather forecast says it'll be Thursday before I can ride these.

Do I want latex or normal tubes? I already pump my tires up before every ride. GP4000s? Anything else I should know?

Has anybody done custom decals on their own wheels?

The Vittoria Corsa Evo CX tires that came glued on my Bora tubulars run out of air very quickly. 24 hours later and they feel flat. I think they have latex tubes inside. I pump my tires up before every ride, so this really isn't a problem for me.

As for custom decals, I've been thinking about doing something like that with my Boras. I took off the factory Campagnolo decals because they were just too big and flashy. I'd like to get a bunch of smaller stickers that just say "Campagnolo" in white, cursive letters and arrange them in a similar fashion to the stickers on Lightweights.

What do you mean you need tubes and tires? I've never seen them separate for tubulars.

There was no "and" in what he said.

Anyway, Congrats on your purchase, how deeps are they? 38mm?

I think the fact that he was asking whether to get latex or normal tubes is what is leading to the confusion, not the lack of the word "and."

I got 38 mms. They'll be "everyday" wheels on my fair weather bike, so I didn't want them to be too vulnerable to cross winds.

Photos?

I suspect also he was asking about whether he should get tubular tires with latex or butyl...

OP: I personally love the comfort of Corsa EVO CX, but I go through the tread like artisan bread... I am partial to the Sprinter Gatorskin only because the comfort is acceptable otherwise I would go sprinter. the GP4000 tubulars are also VERY nice, but too overpriced. Choose durability or comfort. (which is MORE important) ...then go from there.

as far as wheel decals: I am thinking right off the valve: HTFU (per inspiration on this forum)

Sorry, when I saw "tubes tires" I assumed there should be an "and" in between them since the words "tubes" and "tires" do not go well together without it.

I don't have a camera with me at the moment. Actually, that's not entirely true: there's the lousy one in my cell phone, but the only way to get the pictures off the thing is to use a micro-SD card and then use my Garmin to download them. I'll get better ones later. Maybe even on the bike ones.

When looking for tubulars...try and look for something with a removable valve or valve core. I'll put about 1 oz of Stan's before I glue them up.

I ran the Vit Corsa CX's, but after a couple flats on the rear...it got pricey real fast. I'm running a Corsa CR on the rear. For what you pay (60 msrp) its a pretty decent tire.

Vittoria Corsa CX 320tpi do have latex inners, but they ride so nice. I ran them on my Boyd 50mm tubulars, and now my 303 Zipp Firecrest. Really like those tires.

But yes, they will leak out in a few days, nature of latex. No biggie.

None of them are going to leak enough air to worry about in 10 or 12 hours, right? Does altitude affect this? In the spring, I'd like to do a ride from Winthrop to Diablo Lake, which is going to take me over two mountain passes. It won't take a full 10 hours, but it'll be a while and I plan to stop several times along the way.

10hrs is no problem. They won't leak much. And you can always put an extra 10lbs of air in to make you feel better. I usually pump my tires up before I leave the house, drive to a local training spot 1hr away, ride the 2.5hrs, then the drive back, plus I sometimes chit-chat for 30-60 minutes. So there is 5-6hrs right there, tires are still fine.

Also, I started to carry vittoria pit stop with me, hoping it will save the day in case of a flat, and also I carry a CO2. If that doesn't work, a call to the team car will have to happen, or riding partner will have to come back and get me later. Only down side to tubulars, chances are slightly higher it can't be fixed. Some people carry an entire spare tire with them. But you can't fold one up very well, it would be kind of bulky trying to carry it, or maybe tie it to the seatpost?? Also, I've never been able to take a tubular tire off the wheel without some tools available. They can be a pain to remove with the glue. So I don't see how someone can change a tubular on the side of the road, unless they carry a utility knife, tire levers and have patience and strong fingers.

It depends also how well you put the new valve on the tires. Since you can buy the replaceable full extending valve for the vittoria for deeper wheels, I would go that route, and ensure to use some plumbers tape to help with the valve sealing. Little tip, put the valve on, just mount/stretch it on the rim, and ensure before you glue them the valve is working perfectly and not leaking. It would be a big waste of time/effort/money, if the valve isn't attached and sealed well, because you can't take the tire off and just check it like a clicher.

I prefer the full replaceable valve as opposed to the extenders. I've tried both, as long as you have the valve attached/sealed properly, the only leakage is whatever it naturally takes for the latex and through the tire. But the valve attachment is critical.

I would say it takes nearly 3 days for my current set to fully leak out air, and still there is still some air in them.

I don't think the weather/altitude would affect the speed of deflation, but I'm no physicist.

Get your self a can of Mastik One, some plumbers flux brushes at the local hardware, and a can of goof off. Then post back, Need help gluing on tubulars. You own tubulars now, you need to learn the ins and outs and it's really not that bad. IMHO

Personal experience with altitude: no problem what so ever.

First of, there is only 2 reasons these days to have tubulars: 1. weight of the entire wheel set, and 2. supple comfortable feel of the ride. Buy cheap and crappy tubulars like Tufo or Continental and you defeated point #2 above. There are tons of tubular tires out there, but this is one arena where you get what you pay for. Buy the good tires from one of the UK online places and save a ton compared to LBS. Learn to glue your own tires. Tons of Youtube videos on this task. Very simple.

Get some Vittorias then as they are a great compromise between comfort and puncture resistance. They can and will flat at some point like all tires. Send them to tirealert.com when they do for a flat repair better, quicker, and cheaper than you or I can do. in the meantime, do a search here and in weight weenies about tubulars. They have a mile long thread in WW about tubulars that may be a stickie in the road forum.

The fact you are asking this question tells me you have never had tubulars or latex tubes. Bottom line is you'll be fine.

+1. Nobody will care as much as you to do a good job in your own wheels. Besides, you'll be the one riding them and benefiting from the good or bad job that was done on them.

10 hours would be a problem with Vittoria tires unless you overfilled them to start the ride. Mine loose enough over 6 hours that I can feel the difference at the end of the ride.

would love to see a pic of these wheels. I'm planning on getting the 38mm carbons as my cross wheel setup this season

Congrats. I love my boyd's!

Agreed. After gluing up a set, I don't see what the big deal is all about. CDR (Sprinterdelacasa) has a good writeup on his blog, and the Zipp videos on Youtube are pretty good.

I have Conti GP4000s on one set of wheels and I am not wild about them. I just put Evo Corsas on my HEDs but have yet to ride them, so no reviews.

After the GP4000s wear out or flat, I am gonna put the Yellowjersey.org 3-for-$50 jobbies and see how they do.

Please post a review of the wheels when you'll have tried them. I've got my eyes on these exact wheels!

Save yourself the misery!!! GP4000, Continental Competition, those yellowjerseys, etc ride like crap. Actually, more like a piece of 4x4. You'll like the Vittorias once you ride them. Veloflex even more.

Buying a nice set of carbon tubulars and putting crappy tires on it because good tires are too expensive, too much of a pain, they flat, etc is simply ridiculous. Defeats the purpose entirely. It is like buying the $15,000 super bike to ride on the MUP at 12 MPH only because you are afraid of cars!!

Congrats on the switch, everyone has a different opinion of what's best for you. Experiment and figure out what works for YOU. I've only used a couple different conti's since switching to tubulars and they ride twice as nice as any clincher. I have never had a tire or tube that doesn't loose air, some just quicker than others and it really isn't a big deal to air up before each ride I check the pressure regardless. I still haven't had to glue my own since both sets came with tires mounted. As for carrying flat tire supplies, I just carry a can of pit stop and and extra co2 cartridge. On long rides I'll carry and extra I've been told you can ride slow without using glue. I've even talked to people that say they have ridden flat tubulars slowly to get home because the tire generally won't come off the wheel.

Trust me it is absolutely NOT worth it. Unless perhaps you really enjoy gluing up tires. They puncture easy, they wear fast, and they often times have noticeable bumps in them that you can feel on the road. I use one as a spare. I find the Conti's to be okay, they last longer and they have butyle tubes so you don't have to pump as often. Nothing rides like a Veloflex or FMB though. Keeping an eye out on forums often times you can find great deals on tires.

As for repairs I can't say enough about Cafe Laytex. I used to repair them myself by removing the stitching and patching the tube and sewing them back up. Now A squirt of Cafe Laytex and if it don't fix it then it's garbage. It will fix probably 60% of the flats you get.

Seriously don't get those cheap Yellowjersy tires