Looking at a set of carbon wheels for use on the road and a set of tubs have come up cheap locally, having never used them before I know nothing about them.

I know people use them for TT’s but does anyone use them out on the road? Any recommendations for tyres?

Basically every pro tour rider ever 😉

I did for a while, I used Conti Competitions and wouldn’t again, they squared off on top very quickly, and there was quite a bump where the base tape overlapped.

Respectfully, I’d suggest that if you really don’t know anything about them that you just stick with clinchers. Some reckon that tubs aren’t any more hassle, but I’d disagree.

Basically every pro tour rider ever

Oh I knew they did but they don’t have to pay or change tyres, alas I also don’t have a pro team budget

Woukd rather have clinchers and run them tubeless but this set has come up cheap and local, but don’t want more hassle or expense in the long run

Well tubs are both hastle and expensive.

You can change then at the roadside, and you can put stans in the tube to keep punctures at bay. But that’s all expense and hastle compared to clinchers.

If you don’t want tubs then don’t get them. Most of the advantages of tubs are down to their being ‘pro’ and therefore had the best casing, latex innertubes etc. Their only advantage really compared to expensive clinchers (tubeless or with latex tubes) is lightweight because the rim doesnt need to resist tyre pressure.

They’re cheap 2nd hand because no one wants them outside of racing, and racers spend money on the newest/lightest/aero kit.

Recently I was gifted a good set of mavic wheels so have just got some tubs to fit them and yesterday afternoon spent a messy half hour removing the old glue from the rims.

Yes, tubs are a bit of a fanny but hopefully technology has moved on a little since when I used to ride them in the early eighties. Probably punctured about once a week back then so got very handy at sewing.

Got some Tufo S33 Pro Road Tubs from that big mail order site. These are currently stretching on the rims. Looking at reviews, they come across as being pretty puncture resistant so in combination with some sealant should provide a pretty reliable ride. Make your own mind up re cost compared with quality clinchers but I thought 18 squidley was reasonable.

In a side by side comparison the 24mm Tufo comes up a gnat’s genitalia wider than 25mm Conti clinchers fitted on classic 700C Rigida rims.

Some folk say you get a better ride on tubs. Who knows? Hope this helps.

A lot of current clinchers actually roll better too, so it really is just the weight. They are definitely more hassle and expense though. If nothing else a puncture either costs £60 to replace the tyre or a lot of faff either unpicking the tube to replace or sending it off to get repaired, and you still need a spare while it’s away.

Badly glued or taped tubs have higher rolling resistance than the best clinchers. Their advantage is weight, but again there is little in it.

I have tubs. Seldom us them on the fixed road bike. Open tubular with latex tubes or tubeless, every time.

New road? They’ll be wanting the precious things of the shop.

Rachel

If your heavy and prone to pinch punctures esp in road races where you can’t change line, then tubs are an advantage. I switched to tubs for road racing because of this. I’m not road racing now and just riding around still on the wheel s to get the use of them. Two years on the same tufo tubs and Nae punctures. However, when they wear out I’ll ditch the tubs, change the rims and go road tubeless. There is just too much fannying about with them.

Any weight advantage is offset by the spare tub you need to carry
One puncture and you’re heading home, hoping that you don’t get another!
Plus you can’t borrow a tube to get out of trouble!
The main advantage is you can continue riding on a flat tub, but unless you’re a pro with a team car following you, it’s not much of an advantage

I’ve ridden them for years, and to be honest I don’t really find them any more hassle than clinchers. Prefer the feel, puncture less often, etc. Glued, not taped as conversely I find tufo tape a PITA, and I run them with sealant although that can ball up around a puncture which you can feel every revolution with a nice, supple tub for the rest of its life. Very, very rarely I have to bin an almost-new, 80eur Velo (tbh I’d probably repair it).

But that’s just me.. anyone know any pros who train on tubs? I don’t.

a guy on our club ride using them last weekend. Had to call the wife out when he punctured!

My SO doesn’t drive, so I carry a spare 😉

I have the option on a pair of FFWD tubs, 50mm carbon rims, perfect nick, but a ten speed hub.
I dont think I’ll buy them for this reason, but otherwise I quite fancied them, they look ace, and weigh 1400g.

Some youtube channel did a test and said for feel/performance tubs are first followed by tubed clinchers then tubeless. Was suprised by the tubeless being last- was down to feel.

(I’ve only ridden with tubes)

Use them for racing, but only because I got the wheels cheap 2nd hand. They’re a bit nicer than clinchers but I personally wouldn’t bother with the hassle for everyday riding.

Open tubulars FTW. http://www.challengetech.it/info/technology/en

I have the option on a pair of FFWD tubs, 50mm carbon rims, perfect nick, but a ten speed hub.
I dont think I’ll buy them for this reason,

should be (don’t know the exact wheels, but a lot are) a DT free hub, easily changed

i used tubs for a couple of years for everyday riding never got a puncture

a nice clincher tyre and a latex tube is a lot less hassle though (probably)

I use tubs on my nice bike and race on them on the mountain bike.

They can be a faff, but I’m happy to glue them and repair them myself. The ride feel is lovely and I haven’t punctured them badly enough Vittoria Pitstop couldn’t sort it. I use open tubulars on my commuting bike though.

should be (don’t know the exact wheels, but a lot are) a DT free hub, easily changed

FFWD do three options – their own hubs, DT240s and DT180s. Id be amazed if you can’t get an 11 speed body for their own hub though, just need to know what it actually is.

Ok thanks, I’ll contact ffwd.
I did buy one from wiggle but it didn’t fit, then lost interest as I broke my collar bone.

Tubs over clinchers for me and it’s not even close. I use tufos on the urban commute because punctures will happen, and they seal. Out on the open road you’ll get very few punctures, so use what you want. Zero faff either way, only incontrovertible drawback is on the rare occasion that you do puncture it costs money. Repairing a punctured tub is something from a previous age.

Tubs over tubeless is a different story, not an argument I could make as I’ve never run tubeless on the tarmac. I suspect tubeless must be the future, even for cyclocross. I got on tubeless very early on the MTB and it seemed to take ten years before it reached widespread acceptance, and that’s for a no-brainer. It will prob take triple that for the road, given how hidebound and traditional roadies are and punctures aren’t that huge an issue on the road anyhow.

I tried tubs, felt lovely, punctured early and I lost the love. Currently ride tubeless.

TiRed – Member
Badly glued or taped tubs have higher rolling resistance than the best clinchers

Interesting, how?

Because there is energy loss in the tyre moving on the glue (given the glue stays flexible) – though that applies no matter how well the tyre is glued.

Exactly that.

The fastest tyre in the world is currently a tubeless Corsa Speed G+. And when you’ve ridden them on 25mm rims, you won’t want anything else (for racing TTS anyway). Their regular G+ are also lovely.

Just replaced my first pair. Rear had multiple glass cuts, front died of a sidewall slit in a race. But 10 watts faster free speed as a minimum. About 20p/km!!!!

Tubs for racing here also, occasionally use them if I’m out for a local loop between races and can’t be bothered to change over pads for less than an hour.

Rest of the time it’s tubeless clinchers which have been excellent

a guy on our club ride using them last weekend. Had to call the wife out when he punctured!

Same thing happened on our club ride a few weeks back, but not before he’d showered everything within a few feet with pitstop foam 🙂

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ET1jRVynOBA
[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ET1jRVynOBA[/video]

Some youtube channel did a test and said for feel/performance tubs are first followed by tubed clinchers then tubeless. Was suprised by the tubeless being last- was down to feel.

I’ve not ridden tubs but tubeless Pro Ones have a terrific ride quality, much nicer than clinchers IMO.

The carbon wheels video above is worth watching.

barrykellett – Member
The carbon wheels video above is worth watching.

That guy is brilliant – seen a few of his vids, I could (and have) watch him rabbit on for hours 😆

unless you are going to be riding with a support car then I would give them a miss.

unless you are going to be riding with a support car then I would give them a miss.

However did we manage before the invention of clinchers?

However did we manage before the invention of clinchers?

However did we manage before progress 🙂

Tubs are nice to ride but carrying a spare is bulky and can be hard to mount unless it’s well stretched. Repairs are a faff. Fitting is quite a nice job but still a faff compared to clinchers and needs planning over a couple of days. The pitstop stuff usually leaves you looking like you’ve had a run in with the marshmallow man. They’re also not that much nicer to ride than a decent open tub with latex tube.

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4dGMDtsq64[/video]

But 10 watts faster free speed as a minimum

2.8W saving over a pair of their tubular versions but the rims will likely weigh 100g more each.

I race tubs most of the time on the road and have also been using Pro One tubeless for some crits which really are lovely but noticeably heavier.

Crazy to use tubs just for riding though IMO

I only use tubs .

when living in the Uk , I used them to commute everyday for nearly 3 years . maybe 3 or 4 punctures .
I use Tufo tubs glued with jantex tape . and put some sealant in them .

the Tufo s33 are cheap for a reason , much better value are the carbon ones .

I’ve got nothing to contribute as far as opinion on this goes, but did watch that video with the Aussie guys, and really enjoyed it, no bullshit, just decent technical expertise – quite enlightening.

So that’s about 0.25% increase in weight – on all those occasions where you’re putting out less than 1000W the tubular ones are unequivocally slower.

So that’s about 0.25% increase in weight – on all those occasions where you’re putting out less than 1000W the tubular ones are unequivocally slower.

You’re assuming it’s a linear comparison when it’s not.