Wear rate of Schwalbe Ultremo HT tubulars??

neeb

Fitted a pair of these a while ago and the rear one is showing threads after only about 800 miles!

Is this normal? The front one is fine, still has the file-pattern tread on it. I'm actually not sure if what is showing is the threads as such or the "v-guard" puncture protection strip. It looks like tightly woven threads but a little more like tough nylon than the usual bike tyre threads. You can sort of see a very faint raised strip all of the way around under the rubber, both back and front. Wondering of it's a dud tyre and they put the v-guard too near the surface or something.

I really hope they don't wear that fast as they are lovely to ride, very grippy and haven't punctured but they are also pretty expensive..

I think maybe this tyre has now been replaced by the Schwalbe One tubular though.

imposter2.0

They are race tyres, not mileage tyres - worth considering the type of riding you do before buying something to replace them...

neeb

They're on my race wheels, but in dry weather during the summer I train on those half of the time too. I'm of the "life's too short" persuasion. But 800 miles seems a bit ridiculous even for a race tyre.

ugo.santalucia

As above, they are race tyres... you do a lot of racing in 800 miles, or not much training...

there's your answer

neeb

I'd still have expected about twice that mileage even from race tyres.

ugo.santalucia

Bad luck... it is what it is... get something else next time, but don't expect a lot... tubulars are not built for mileage

neeb

Yeah, I guess so. If I got 1500 miles out of the rear and much more out of the front it would seem like a worthwhile extravagance. There are worse things to spend money on.

sungod

depends on rider weight/power, roads, braking, incidents etc., for instance even a hint of wheel locking can strip rubber from a race tyre, but if they're wearing that fast without 'provocation' i'd look at another make/model tyre

for instance the 22mm ht is listed as 260g, the same weight as veloflex carbon which i get about 2-3x that distance from

if you are using the 22mm, another option is to use 25mm at the rear, it should last longer

neeb

sungod wrote:

depends on rider weight/power, roads, braking, incidents etc., for instance even a hint of wheel locking can strip rubber from a race tyre, but if they're wearing that fast without 'provocation' i'd look at another make/model tyre

for instance the 22mm ht is listed as 260g, the same weight as veloflex carbon which i get about 2-3x that distance from

if you are using the 22mm, another option is to use 25mm at the rear, it should last longer

I sometimes skip the rear wheel a bit when out of the saddle on short hills, that could explain why the rear is wearing so much faster.

How are the veloflex carbon for puncture resistance?

ugo.santalucia

All race tyres are crap for puncture resistance... you might have a clean sheet and not puncture for 2,000 miles, or you might puncture every other week, but it's not got to do with the tyre

neeb

The ones with puncture protection strips are better than the ones without surely?

Some background - one reason I thought I'd give tubulars a go on a more regular basis during the summer months is that I'd had very few punctures with clinchers riding on roads on dry days, and the ones I did have were often as not pinched inner tubes from one cause or another. Also I'd had good puncture resistance from the ultremo clinchers so thought I'd try the tubular version which has the same puncture protection strip. So far so good, apart from the wear...

Incidentally, I'm pretty sure that what is showing through the rubber at one place on the rear tyre is the v-guard strip, not the carcass as such. I've already put over 100 miles on the tyre since I noticed the worn patch without it puncturing. Who knows, maybe it could last for another 500 before it does..

sungod

neeb wrote:

<...>
How are the veloflex carbon for puncture resistance?

there's not much to them, cotton carcass coated in rubber, with a strip of grippy rubber bonded to it

they're light tyres, i do think the rubber cuts up a lot less than, say, gp4000s, however there's also a lot less rubber

when i do get a flat, it often seems to be where a cut has gone deep enough to catch the carcass, then over time the irregularity wears a hole in the latex tube (or maybe the very supple tube pushes through and wears on the road) - if i spot a cut like this in time, i open the tyre and patch the carcass before i get a flat

arenberg/roubaix are same construction, but with a bit more rubber, better choice for rear wheel

Grill

Mine last set lasted about twice as long. 900+ miles in Mallorca on the current set and still looking okay.