Im thinking of tubs and carbon wheels, any advice?

on-yer-bike

Im currently loaning a pair of Fulcrum Speed wheels with Continental tubs. I think Im hooked. How much air is optimum? I rode with 135 psi and it was a hard ride. Are there carbon wheels as good but cheaper? What tubs would you recommend? Which brake blocks? Is tape as good as glue?

These wheels look particularly good on my 08 Cervelo RS

Chip \'oyler

PSi depends on how much you weigh. I raced yesterday and put 120 in my Veloflex Carbons - and I'm not light

I got my carbon wheels from this guy www.wheelsmith.co.uk

50mm Gigantex on Novatec Lite hubs with CX Ray spokes. Less than 1400g and £475. A right bargain.

Anonymous

I've put tape on mine and they feel absolutely rock solid, not messy at all. In fact, fitting the tyres was a doddle.

Them there Wheelsmith wheels are a bargain. Saying that, all the wheels on there sound pretty fine!

I've got swiss stop yellow brake blocks which seem to work fine, not tried them in the wet yet though...

I ended up with Continental GP 4000SR tubs as I couldn't wait for Vittoria Evo Corsa CXII 320TPI to come back in stock in the UK.

They seem great but people rave about the Veloflex Carbons, although they are about 30 quid a pair more expensive as nowhere seems to do any decent discounts on them.

on-yer-bike

Chip \'oyler wrote:

PSi depends on how much you weigh. I raced yesterday and put 120 in my Veloflex Carbons - and I'm not light

I got my carbon wheels from this guy www.wheelsmith.co.uk

50mm Gigantex on Novatec Lite hubs with CX Ray spokes. Less than 1400g and £475. A right bargain.

Thanks, these look interesting. Do the rims have any graphics on them? Do you know which big name wheels use Gigantex or which big name wheels they look like?

Anonymous

Planet X use Gigantex and I suspect quite a few more do...

Chip \'oyler

on-yer-bike wrote:

Chip \'oyler wrote:

PSi depends on how much you weigh. I raced yesterday and put 120 in my Veloflex Carbons - and I'm not light

I got my carbon wheels from this guy www.wheelsmith.co.uk

50mm Gigantex on Novatec Lite hubs with CX Ray spokes. Less than 1400g and £475. A right bargain.

Thanks, these look interesting. Do the rims have any graphics on them? Do you know which big name wheels use Gigantex or which big name wheels they look like?

Gigantex make rims for loads of different brands. The rims don't have any graphics, apart from the warning stickers! The wheels also come with carbon specific pads, which will save you some money as well to begin with (although they aren't as good as the Swiss Stops). Derek at wheelsmith can also fit tubs if you like. He fitted my Carbons and he uses tape - I've ridden them all year and they're rock solid.

Anonymous

I'm thinking of getting some light shallow rim tubs built up by him now I know how much nicer tubs roll and I have found out how easy they are to fit...

fungus_the_muffin_man

What do you do if your out having a nice ride and you get a puncture? You can't bang another inner tube in so do you have to take everything you need to fit a tub? If so isn't all that a bit bulky?

Monty Dog

Generally, you need to carry a spare tub. I generally only use my carbon wheels for racing - if I flat it's game-over anyway - I carry a Vittoria Pitstop which is an aerosol sealant / inflator to get me back to the start / car. I also use Tufo tubs and sealant which is pretty effective - but they don't feel as nice as a Vittoria or Veloflex. A spare tub weighs about 300g, which is about the same weight penalty as a pair of carbon clinchers over a pair of tubs - I'd rather have a spare tub strapped to my saddle, than a harsher riding, heavier wheel anyday.

Infamous

You don't need anything to fit a tub, just carry a pre stretched and pre glued spare. Rip the old one off (destroying your expensive carbon rims in the process) and stick the spare on.

chriskempton

You take a spare tub, and either tape it or glue it on (most people will have tape already on the spare, or rely on the tackiness of the old glue to get home). Yes it is bulky, and that's just for one spare, some people carry two. An alternative is the all in one repair and inflate CO2 cans like Vittoria Pit Stop, but again this is not without drawbacks.

That's why a lot of people would only use tubs for racing.

fungus_the_muffin_man

cheers guys

Chip \'oyler

I only use my Carbon tub wheels for racing.

I use clinchers for all other riding.

dcj

I carry an old pre-glued tub, two small Stan's no tubes and 3 CO2 cartridges.
if the hole looks fixable I use Stan's as this seals flats of small to medium size instantly, and then a C02 re- inflates the tyre in under a second.

The tubs need to have removable value cores to make it easy to use Stan's.

If the rims are deep section an old plastic straw will let you get the fluid into the tyre once the valve extender is unscrewed.

I find 100-105psi is a good compromise, a fraction less in the wet. I tried 140psi but it felt sluggish, and completely lost the smooth ride quality and connected grippy feeling.

James_London

Tubular pressure: Optimum tub pressure depends on your weight, the tubular you're using and conditions. At 76kg I'd normally use 110 PSI rear and 105 front. If it's damp, more like 95 rear, 90 front. 135 PSI sounds high, isn't very comfortable and will give you little advantage in rolling resistance.

Other wheel options: Too many to mention! Hard to tell what difference you're feeling most with the Racing Speeds - the wheel or the tubular, though probably a combination. Racing Speeds are lovely wheels but exactly how you intend using them and what you want to spend are important in making a useful suggestion.

Which tubs: Continental tubulars are quite rigid and don't ride nearly as well as a high threadcount tubular like a Vittoria Corsa EVO CX II (320TPI) for example. Higher threadcount (TPI) tubulars like the better Vittoria and Veloflex tubs deform more easily and provide better grip. They also have latex inner tubes which improves the ride but they require frequent topping up. CXs used to be more puncture prone but the new version is improved and probably almost on a par with Continentals. If you're bothering with expensive wheels, you might as well put good tubs on them - Vittoria Corsa EVO CX IIs in 23mm for best or Pave EVO CGs in 24mm in poor conditions.

Which brake blocks: Depends on the rim. SwissStop Yellow work well on lots of rims though they are a bit squealy. They work quite well with Racing Speeds.

Tape or glue: Tufo Extreme tape. Much quicker and easier to apply and just as strong a bond as glue. There is also less to go wrong than gluing so perhaps less chance of messing it up when you first try.

on-yer-bike

Thanks for all the useful info. I'll use the wheels for TTs and riding on nice days.
The weight penalty for clincher rims is more than I can bear.

One more question: Which hubs? Is it worth paying for PMP over Novatec?
Should I choose straight-pull or normal? What are the advantages/disadvantages?

Chip \'oyler

PMP are supposed to be a nicer hub.

Advantages of going with 'normal' spokes is that the spokes are easy to get hold of - and therefore easy to maintain if you break a spoke.

TBH this is the reason I got some wheels built - I was fed up of breaking spokes in factory wheels then not being able to repair them or else having to wait ages for the spokes and having to pay for a batch!