Am I missing something with tubulars ?

Dudders29

Ya carry a spare tube, fine ya get 1 puncture alls well. Ya get another puncture and it's game over ?

flasher

No, carry some tyre sealant and away you go.

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/tufo-extreme-tyre-sealant/

pippi_langsamer-2

Just how fixable are tubulars once they've been filled with latex? By that I mean un-stitched, fixed and sewn back up.

I've never tried.....nor will I ever attempt to fix my own tubs. I used to send them off to some bloke (who's name I forget), and they came back repaired.

JayKosta

Dudders29 wrote:

Ya carry a spare tube, fine ya get 1 puncture alls well. Ya get another puncture and it's game over ?

-
Basically, YES - that's why I carried 2 spare tubulars.
Also why I haven't ridden the tubs in a few years....
Tubs give a very nice ride, but have their own set of worries; I'm now using lightweight clinchers.

For a race, I'd use the tubs. For training and recreation, clinchers are fine.

Jay Kosta
Endwell NY USA

Monty Dog

IME tubs are more resistant to punctures than the equivalent clincher- very unlikely to pinch and more flexible construction. I put sealant inside the tub which deals with small punctures very well. This is fine for racing where any puncture/mechanical means end of race anyway. With some sealants, I've continued to use the tyre for years whereas with foam ones e.g. Pit Stop then it's almost impossible to repair.

DHA987S

I think it depends on a lot of factors - rider+bike weight, road conditions, tubular condition and luck. I rode ride london on tubs and didn't puncture, yet saw lots of riders chanding inner tubes at the side of the road. Was it luck? Maybe, but I did pull this lot out of my tubs after the ride



These were Veloflex tubulars so not exactly a heavyweight tough tubular. They aren't as scary as you might think.

team47b

Carry two tubs?

The fold really small so if you normally carry two tubes for your clinchers then carrying two tubs, make sense.

mamba80

Why not 3 tubs and 3 tubes plus a spare tire for the clincher rider?

for any scenario (not just punctures) we can come up with a "game over" so the clincher rider goes over some glass and shreds the tire, but tub rider can fit a new tub and carryon.
I have done 10's of 1000s of miles and never ever had 2 punctures on a road ride, i have seen many cases of poor fitting of the replacement tube that has caused multiple punctures though

Mccaria

I have Mamba - managed 3 in one ride. Given it was both front and rear wheel punctures 20 miles apart I am pretty confident it wasn't down to poor fitting. The joy of Surrey roads during hedge cutting season, made me quite nostalgic for dry stone walling. I agree there is always going to be a scenario under which nothing works in which case it is down to the phone and a lift home, as long as you charge your phone.......

StillGoing

I moved to tubs just under a year ago and would never go back to clinchers. Use them for all rides in all weathers. I've ridden over rough roads and roads scattered with loose chippings without a sign of cutting up. (I use Veloflex tubs also.)

I carry 1 spare tub and bottle of sealant. (Spare tubs don't fold up as small as inner tubes so I wouldn't want to carry more than 1.) A small puncture can be repaired at the roadside using sealant and a superglue pen and if need be, a tub can be swapped in minutes. If I was ever to get another puncture, then yes it would be game over, but you don't go out expecting the worst to happen unless you're the ultimate pessimist. Decent wheels are a damn sight cheaper than clinchers too.

cycleclinic

I ride tubs too and always carry two when on training rides club runs e,t,c. I donlt always ride on tubs but now atumn and winter are coming I will be using the bike with tubs more often that's how little problem they are. Oddly my more summer bikes have clinchers and that is something I must rectify. Sealant is the tub is not a bad idea. I intend to do that before the next time I go out.

Semantik

Tubs that are glued on properly with Vittoria MastiK 1 are a bitch to remove at the best of times, let alone at the roadside.
I would not be happy riding tubs that can be 'swapped in minutes' as that means they are not glued very well.
I would challenge anyone to get my tubs off my rims quicker than changing an inner tube.

StillGoing

Semantik wrote:

Tubs that are glued on properly with Vittoria MastiK 1 are a ***** to remove at the best of times, let alone at the roadside.
I would not be happy riding tubs that can be 'swapped in minutes' as that means they are not glued very well.
I would challenge anyone to get my tubs off my rims quicker than changing an inner tube.

Absolute rubbish I'm afraid. I use Conti glue for my tubs and if anything, I'm rather liberal with the glue application to tub and rim. Provided you leave around 4" unglued, you have enough leverage to get the tub moving and break the bond. My one blow out with a tub when I hit a submerged pot hole at speed on a flooded road (it would have wrecked a clincher too) I had the wheel out, tub off and spare tub on in less time than it took the guy I was riding with to get his clincher tyre off the rim of his bike when he had a puncture on the same ride.

Semantik

philthy3 wrote:

Semantik wrote:

Tubs that are glued on properly with Vittoria MastiK 1 are a ***** to remove at the best of times, let alone at the roadside.
I would not be happy riding tubs that can be 'swapped in minutes' as that means they are not glued very well.
I would challenge anyone to get my tubs off my rims quicker than changing an inner tube.

Absolute rubbish I'm afraid. I use Conti glue for my tubs and if anything, I'm rather liberal with the glue application to tub and rim. Provided you leave around 4" unglued, you have enough leverage to get the tub moving and break the bond. My one blow out with a tub when I hit a submerged pot hole at speed on a flooded road (it would have wrecked a clincher too) I had the wheel out, tub off and spare tub on in less time than it took the guy I was riding with to get his clincher tyre off the rim of his bike when he had a puncture on the same ride.

Absolute rubbish. Your tubs are not glued on properly then.

ugo.santalucia

When the two of you have finished rubbishing each other you can move on, maybe?

How about accepting somebody else's opinion?

Semantik

ugo.santalucia wrote:

When the two of you have finished rubbishing each other you can move on, maybe?

How about accepting somebody else's opinion?

Yeah,accept mine...

Sorry, but I've been doing this for over 30 years. I too could fit a tub that could be easily removed at the roadside. Doesn't mean I'd be happy riding it tho'.

drlodge

It is quite normal if not best practice, to leave a little part of the tub opposite the valve not glued on in order to facilitate its removal. 4 inches is longer than I would leave, just enough to get a finger under the tub.

Tubs certainly give a superior ride compared to clinchers, although with the "open" version of clinchers also available I'm not sure just how much that difference is. I'll stick to clinchers in the winter, but use tubs in good dry weather and carry a spare tub and a can of goop. I've never had 2 punctures on one ride ever, but if that should happen and I'm stuck then its a call to home or a taxi back. Sometimes sh1t happens and you just use the bailout option.

I guess the big factor is just what tubs are being used and how resistant to punctures they are. The tubs I use are essentialy racing tubs, I don't see the point of using tubs in less than good conditions since there are plenty of tougher clinchers available that ride pretty well. Just my 2p

StillGoing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07LT-fGnpvk

Never had one roll off the rim yet and coming from motorcycling I have no fear leaning the bike over in corners.

ugo.santalucia

Couple of years back I got very excited with tubulars, but I am cooling off... the main benefit is they are safer to ride down an Alpine descent, but these days I maybe do a couple of those descents every year and it's just not worth it. Ride quality is great, but to be honest you can get very close with decent clinchers and even more with tubeless... I think what swings it for me is my attempts to repair a tub have either been a failure or a passable botch I barely trust.

I still think they are great in an ideal scenario, but riding in and around London is quite far from the ideal scenario

StillGoing

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Couple of years back I got very excited with tubulars, but I am cooling off... the main benefit is they are safer to ride down an Alpine descent, but these days I maybe do a couple of those descents every year and it's just not worth it. Ride quality is great, but to be honest you can get very close with decent clinchers and even more with tubeless... I think what swings it for me is my attempts to repair a tub have either been a failure or a passable botch I barely trust.

I still think they are great in an ideal scenario, but riding in and around London is quite far from the ideal scenario

If I was doing the majority of my riding on urban roads with all the roadside debris that gets swept towards the kerb and a high risk of punctures, I'd be using clinchers more than tubs too. But, using rural roads with the odd pothole, loose chippings and hedge cuttings to contend with, tubs present no problem.

Semantik

There ARE advantages to using tubs for everyday riding, no doubt about it- roll faster, protect your rims and resist punctures better (latex inners).
But one thing is certain-if you were about to embark on an unsupported multiday tour(LEJOG say) you would be wise to leave those tubs at home and ride some decent clinchers instead. Half a dozen puncture repair patches take up very little room. Spare tubs don't.

mattsccm

I only discovered 700c clinchers about 6 years ago. I went from 27"ers in 1980 to tubs and stayed that way, probably as it was cheaper and I had the wheels. Anyway I fancy reviving the spring wheels. Nowadays it seems to be the fashion to either pre seal the tub or carry a bottle of gunge.
1.Just what is the hot set up?
2. I assume that the tubs for this would need removable cores, yes?
3. As was asked at the start of the thread, can gunged but punctured tubs be repaired? Assuming the outer bit of the inner tube can be cleaned I see no reason why not.

pippi_langsamer-2

Sod this, I'm starting a new thread

ugo.santalucia

Semantik wrote:

There ARE advantages to using tubs for everyday riding, no doubt about it- roll faster, protect your rims and resist punctures better (latex inners).

I wouldn't say these are the benefits of tubulars... I'd say safety is the main reason, then there is some weight to be saved in the rim... rolling resistance is not better than clinchers and the alleged puncture resistance of latex is a myth... at least it is in my experience

dennisn

FWIW I haven't used standard clinchers for years. I have been using Tufo tubular clinchers(and standard tubulars) for quite some time. For me it's all about ease and simplicity. Tubular clinchers require no rim strip, are tubeless construction(no pinch flats), mount one hell of a lot quicker than standard clinchers, don't require any tools to mount them, work extremely well with just about any and all sealants, no need to worry about, or even check for, burrs on your rims, you can use very high pressures in the tires(if you wish) without worrying about them coming off the rims, they tend to stay on the rim when you have a flat, never "rolled" one(if you will), never had any issues using them on long, fast(for me) descents with lots of braking. I see very few(if any) negatives about them.

dennisn

ugo.santalucia wrote:

When the two of you have finished rubbishing each other you can move on, maybe?

How about accepting somebody else's opinion?

I know you're one of the "Mods" but still feel the need to remind you that the key word here is "forum". No one has to accept anyones opinion and in most forums people have the right to "press" their views. It's what forums are for.

dennisn

Pippi Langsamer wrote:

Just how fixable are tubulars once they've been filled with latex? By that I mean un-stitched, fixed and sewn back up.

I've never tried.....nor will I ever attempt to fix my own tubs. I used to send them off to some bloke (who's name I forget), and they came back repaired.

I used to do the same thing. Waited till I had a few flat ones and send them off. Then use them for spares. Now that I pretty much use Tufo's, well, they aren't repairable(other than tire goo) in the way "normal" tubulars are.

As for latex filled tubulars being fixed? Don't see why not. The guy I used to send my tires to simply opened them up, tossed the old tube, checked the tire for foreign objects, installed a new tube, sewed them back up on a heavy duty sewing machine, and mailed them back to me.