[Closed] Dark side question . . . do I go tubular

Rip off and replace with tubs, isn't it? Don't think you can repair them, can you?

Dont bother- you'll have to change the tub if you puncture, just get some quality clinchers, unless you have a team car following you 😀

You can repair them, but don't know amyone who does it themselves. I use tubs for cx, but wouldn't use them on the road

you cant fix em at the side of the road, all you can do is replace the punctured tub.
ive used them in the past, they were considerably lighter than clinchers in those days.
these days, not sure id bother, clinchers are a lot lighter than they used to be, so the advantage isnt as big as it once was.
dont let that put you off btw, just my opinion.

NO NO NO DON'T.

I have them on several retro road bikes, on GP4 rims, as is the norm.

But wouldn't use them on a commuter, + puncture = hassle and stress

They need to be sent off for repair.
We always raced and trained on tubs, but we all carried two spares each, never did get one repaired.
I miss the ride but I'd only use them on circuits now.

I can see merit if you're getting expensive deeps or something, you just can't get 50mm clinchers below about 1500g without spendIng Lightweight money. I'd like some FFWD F4Rs or something. If you're just thinking of sommat ordinary I wouldn't bother though, and either way be prepared for faff!

good quality tubs are really nice to ride, i used (a long time ago) vittoria cx for road racing and conti sprinter 175 for tt's always glued with cement rather than tape. if you punctured in a road race you'd have support vehicles so at least have a chance of getting a spare wheel and back into the race. if you punctured in a tt (don't think i ever did) the event is over but at least tt's are cheap to enter.
you can't fix them at the roadside, so you'd have to carry spare/s for the events you mention. even then it would be hassle and spoil your event (which may have cost a lot to enter)
for me they are 'race only' and they are a lot of money (including nice wheels) to have hanging in the garage doing nothing. the last 2 sets of road wheels i bought have been clinchers, if i was racing every week on the road i might have gone for tubs. if i was doing a couple of tri's or sportives a year i wouldn't get tubs.

For non commuter riding I use tubs 95% of the time.

Interested non roadie question, is a tub like in inner tube? What's a clincher? How does it differ to tubeless offroad?

Yes a tub is essentially an inner tube come tyre that is glued onto the rim, brilliant for cross racing as they allow you to run super low pressures without the worry of pinch flats, they can also be run when flat to get you back to the pits for a change of wheel.

I'm not sure you can run tubeless tyres with such low pressures, however some cross people are looking into it.

Clinchers are simply normal tyres, used either with or without inner tubes.

The big difference is that there's no bead hook on a tubular, so you glue the tyres on (or use double sided tape), which is where the faff comes in - a puncture essentially involves taking the old tyre off and gluing a new one on. The wheels are lighter, as I said above once you're into carbon rims they're much lighter. They perform better when punctured (when properly glued they stay on, they won't suddenly blow off the rim), and have a marginally better ride quality.

99% of pro roadies still use tubs, but they are a pain.

I'm not sure you can run tubeless tyres with such low pressures, however some cross people are looking into it.

Yeah you can, particularly with 'proper' tubeless, but they tend to squirm more than tubs.

roadie tubeless supposed to be good, but limited choice of tyres/rims.
hutchinson i believe are the leaders in this...

I used to run my race bike with tubs, but switched back to clinchers as the time and hassle of swapping a tub in a race is slower than a clincher/tube, plus the fact there are virtually throw away (cost of repair approx £8) just isn't worth the time gain they offer. I run hed-3 wheels so light, but not super super light.

Not yet ridden road tubeless but that will probably be the option for my non-race road bike, when the current set of wheels die..

i would still run tubs for short TT duties, and they do feel better and are lighter, and can be run at far higher pressures (180PSI vs 130ish PSI) than clinchers with tubes, but never ever ever for commuting...

I like using tubs for cx as they're lighter with better grip and you dint get pinch punctures. However they can be a faff if/ when you puncture. I wouldn't be bothered to use them on the road unless I was racing at a high level - which frankly is beyond me.

I've ridden tubs lots in the past for supported events such as road races, crits and TT's, where you can always get back to a HQ. Otherwise I wouldn't both. If you want a similar feel to tubs, fit latex inner tubes and you will get a slightly better ride.

I ride Ksyriums and you can fit tubeless tyres to them, although I'm not particularly convinced of tubeless and high pressure working well together. I wouldn't fancy a burp at 110psi!

i would still run tubs for short TT duties, and they do feel better and are lighter, and can be run at far higher pressures (180PSI vs 130ish PSI) than clinchers with tubes,

is there any advantage to pressures that high on a typical road? maybe on a velodrome - but on the road I'd want some proof that I wasn't [i]increasing[/i] the rolling resistance of the tyres with pressures that high.

At 25mph+ with 18mm tubs rolling resistance is considerably less important than wind resistance.

Not sure how you'll be increasing the rolling resistance, but on some TT courses, yes there is an advantage, comfort and cornering grip are less important so higher pressures mean faster. "on a typical road" no there is def not, you wouldn't be able to steer, your bones would fall apart and you'd shake your brain out of your nose....

If the limit is 180 then running at 150 is well within, but if the limit is 130, running at 120 on a hot day may be pushing it. I've seen several people in transition whose tyres have popped coz they racked them the night before in the cold and set them at 120psi, and the sun had it's effect during the swim the following day.

normal road rides no def not. but it depends what you are doing and adjust accordingly.
I normally run my tyres at 110-120 on an IM bike leg, I'd run them at 100 ish for an all day sportive.
I weigh about 75kg.

and as he says above aero is more important that tyre pressures.....

anyhoo, regarding tubs, loved riding them, provided someone else has the hassle, and as I'm not fast enough for that kind of support, I'll stick to clinchers... 🙂

wouldn't use tubs unless your racing. Tubs ride amazing but massive amount of hassle if you puncture or dont know what your doing when gluing etc.

I'm Running veloflex tubs on Carbon bonty's on race bike.

In general , You could just run a good quality clincher (vit corsa, Schwalbe Ultremo, Conti's) with a good tube on a good wheel and they will still feel good. I use Ultremo's R.1 and swear by them ...pretty puncture resistant as well.

There is reasonable evidence out there that tubs have [b]higher[/b] rolling resistance than clinchers...

But they do have considerable pose appeal...

crikey - ride a pair of quality tubs and there is absolutely no camparison. Dont care what the research says.

No team in the pro peleton uses clinchers (I am aware that FDJ used hutchinsion tubeless occasionally.)

[i]ride a pair of quality tubs and there is absolutely no camparison[/i]

Um... I have done and the ride can be compared.

[i]Dont care what the research says.[/i]

Um, suit yourself.

[i]No team in the pro peleton uses clinchers[/i]

For reasons more to do with the ability to ride tubs when flat.

It's not a big deal, but the whole 'tubs are the pinnacle of tyre technology' is less convincing when you look at the numbers.

Not sure how you'll be increasing the rolling resistance

the same way that pneumatic tyres have less rolling resistance than solid rubber.

not sure how aerodynamics crept into a discussion about tubs/clinchers and tyre pressure - unless the argument is that an 18mm tyre [i]needs[/i] to be run at 180psi to not pinch flat... surely not for the averagely proportioned time triallist.

aP - Member
At 25mph+ with 18mm tubs rolling resistance is considerably less important than wind resistance.

narrow tyres are not necessarially more aero, IIRC 23mm +/- is accepted as the most aero tyre size also mentioned in Fignon's autobiography

The only place I'd ever consider using tubs is on the track and even then only for racing - my normal track wheels are clinchers running some ultra light tyres and tubes.

I flat a lot less with tubs than clinchers.

Tubs feel awesomely fast on the road. I would race / do long Sportifs on them. I definitely wouldn't commute on them! I did many years ago, and repaired them myself, but it's lots of aggro!

And yes, you can ride them flat, so pretty handy for cyclocross too!

I ran with tubular wheels (they were Mavic Mach2 and vittoria Rubino Pro tubs) for a few month back, and liked them alot, but probably wouldn't want to live with them on a communting bike again. I didn't feel confident going anywhere without the Vittoria Pit Stop (and spare tub) - which saved me a couple of times. A brief excursion with velox tub-tape stopped when I saw the tubs moving round the rim. Conti glue remedied this, and held them fast (2 layers on the tyre, and 3 on the rim).

Switched back to clinchers in the end: more easily repairable for more confidence with some longer runs.

The Tubs are great, so light/quick rolling at 120psi, but still compliant. They do feel different too, in a good way.

Can you run sealant (stans) in a tubular? Or will the tyre be flat before it seals?

only with cheap cheap tubs. most tubs use latex tubes which gets stuck together by the latex sealant!