Syncmaster

I was looking into carbon clincher wheels recently but after deciding that not being able to trust my rims fully when braking wasn't something I wanted to deal with, I'm starting to look at tubulars and am wondering how difficult they actually are to deal with on an everyday basis.

They're appealing to me because they're generally much lighter, they're often cheaper than clinchers (baring the cost of tires), and from what I've heard the ride is better. But I have no experience with them.

I plan to start racing so I would be using Tubular wheels to race, but I'm also wondering how practical it can be to use tubulars on training rides as well.

Seems like from what I've read people will pack a smaller/cheaper backup tube in case of flats, but also something that's really peaked my interest is this Tufo Tyre Sealant:
https://www.tufo.com/tufo-tyre-sealant/


Which would be great as both a flat preventative and also an incredibly easy flat repair tool on the road (if you get a flat, you just pour some of this stuff in through the valve and the flat repairs itself. No need to pull and re-glue a tire).

Also looking at their rim tape which seems to make the whole tire gluing process much easier.

Anyway, just wanted to see if anyone out there is riding Tubulars exclusively and how they find them as a day to day tire. Also opinions on how practical they can be.

primov8

I've been riding tubulars for the last 3 years now. I always add Stan's sealant and I also carry a bottle of Tufo sealant and have yet to use it. I ride about 100-150 miles/weekend and the occasional weekday ride or two.

Syncmaster

Wow, so have you just never flatted in 3 years?

charliemike

I haven't either in essentially two summers of riding.

Though I've probably jinxed myself.

oldbobcat

I'd ride them a lot more except for being the only guy on the ride with tubulars. In the olden days we all had tubulars so if one guy got two flats, there was a spare to spare. Having some compatibility with the other riders fosters a degree of security.

fa63

I have been riding tubulars pretty much exclusively for the last year. I pre-treat them with sealant, and only had one puncture so far that the sealant wouldn't seal.

primov8

With clinchers, yes. Besides wanting to try tubulars that was one of the reasons why I switched to tubulars and have never looked back. The Continental sprinters I replaced a couple months ago was ridden for 2000+ miles, which were installed on a set of Easton EC90s, Zipp 404s, and finally my current Enve 65s. I actually find it easier to install the tires but I use Tufo tubular tape instead of cement/glue.

Syncmaster

Tubulars are sounding pretty good so far...

fa63

Well, keep in mind that if you get a puncture or gash that the sealant can't seal, you are SOL unless you carry a pre-glued spare with you. Most of my riding is within a 20 miles radius of my home, and I have an understanding fiancee who will come pick me up if I got a flat that the sealant can't fix, so I don't worry about it too much. I am not sure I would ride them all the time if that wasn't the case.

Syncmaster

I'd still carry a spare tire and if I'm using the tufo tape, I can just use that if I need to replace a tube, no? And I've read that you can even ride back home carefully on a non glued tire, and that the old glue will make an okay bond to ride on in the worst case? Just no crazy corners and it should be fine, no?

escarpment

I used to ride tubulars. I rode them daily commuting and training in chicago for about a year. The feel of a good tubular is quite nice. And ironically they are sometimes easier to mount then beaded tires.

Price became a factor though as I would go through them like tissues during the cold season. This is before I discovered sealant....

I was pretty dumb and would not carry spares or any sort of remedy. I do remember one night I had to ride home from a friends house in winter after i had popped the rear. I rode like 3 or 4 miles on a deflated tub, with no damage to my rim. Cant do that with a clincher.

If I had money for wheels that justified tubulars, I probably would stick with them. For now I ride clinchers.

One more thing, Unless you get really good ($$$) tubular tires, they will perform worse then average clinchers. Its a fact of life.

fa63

If you use glue, then yes. With Tufo tape, getting the old tape pulled off is not the easiest of tasks, so it may or may not work.

primov8

Out on our routine 60-70 mile loop from Jamaica Estates to Oyster Bay/Syosset, my friend brought out his P2 since had the NYC-Nautica tri the following weekend. About 45 miles in, he flatted both the 808/1080 tubulars; tufo sealant on one tire, and his non-glued spare was good enough to make it back with the rest of the group.

Dave Mayer

I ride tubulars every day on my work commute, except during the dead of winter. I carry a spare tire all of the time. I glue with Vittoria Mastik; good glue and cost effective by the tin.

Stan's has caused me to come back to tubulars after a long absence. With Stan's, it now takes a massive hit to cause a flat, the kind of impacts and punctures that would kill a comparable clincher. About twice per year I hit something that kills a tire. In March I hit a large (undetermined) object in a tunnel that (at 70kph) that flatted my rear tubular. The tire was truly kaput, but at least Stan's allowed me enough deflation time so that I could ride it out to a safe stop.

A few weeks ago I had a sidewall cut that Stan's couldn't seal. But I was within a few minutes of being at work, so I rode it out with the flat tire. Couldn't have done that on clinchers.

But other than that, despite daily commuting on 250 gram race tires, no other problems. I'm sure I've have multiple small punctures that I never even notice.

StanSeven

The other downside that hasn't been mentioned is the weight of carrying a spare offsets the tubular weight advantage - this doesn't consider the argument of rolling weight versus static weight.

cruiserhead

I ran tufo tubulars and tubular clinchers with sealant. The only problem is you can't get that out of lycra, ruins it. It's cool to hear the puncture and then seal up within a few spins of the tire.

the sealant dries up fairly quickly so you have to maintain it a bit.

I love the ride of tubulars

eric01

Guide to various sealants

https://www.slowtwitch.com/Products/T...ants_2765.html

A few years back I used a sealant that dried up on me when I stored the bike up over the winter. Left a hard spot in the tubular.

So I don't pre-treat my tubulars anymore, but I do carry some with me -- and C02 -- in case I flat on the road.

Homebrew01

Correct

topflightpro

Tufo Tape really should not be used on race wheels. It's fine for holding tires on, but it doesn't hold up as well with intense cornering, like one might find in crits. You greatly increase your chance for rolling a tire using just tape in a crit.

Syncmaster

Really? I've heard that if applied properly (and on Tufo tires only, unless you shave off the bottom layer of other brand tubes), it works just as well as glue?

Thanks to everyone else here. Great advice all around and I'm even more tempted to start riding tubulars.

Ebuzz

I've been riding tubulars exclusively for 16 years now and I don't race. In those 16 years I've had 2 flats. Once I didn't even know it was flat till I got home. The other was just last week, ugh!, but that was probably my fault b/c I could see that the rear was worn. I carry a spare in my bag and have been using Tufo tape lately. It was hard to get off the last time, but not that bad. I may try and go back to glue as I fix my last flat as soon as I can decide which tire to get. I'm liking the Tufo S33 special, but haven't decided for sure yet.

Syncmaster

Interesting. The thing I'm curious about when using the Tufo tape, is if you get a flat and you need to replace the tire entirely, can you put new tape over the residue of the old tape? Or will you have to mount it without new tape and wait to get home before you can remove the old stuff and mount the new tire properly with fresh tape?

BTW I've read that getting the Tufo tape off is easy if you use a heat gun to warm the tape a bit before you peel it off.

Ebuzz

If you get a flat with Tufo you can just put the new tire on to the same tape and it will adhere well enough to get you home. I would not do to much else, just ride home. I've never tried the sealants! When replacing the tire, I always just take off the tape and reapply new tape & new tire, although I think I've read that ppl have reused the same tape, but I wouldn't try that. As for removal, I just used a "zip-strip" type of varnish/paint remover (can't remember the exact name right now) and it worked great. Clean down to the rim.

Syncmaster

This is the problem I can see with using tubulars in distance riding. If I flat and the sealant doesn't work and I need to replace the tire entirely, is there a solution to gluing on a new tire that's solid enough to keep riding normally on?

Busta Quad

Wait until you have to pull one off a rim on the side of the road on a hot day and work the spare back on.