Switched to tubular - emergency advice

cycleclinic

I willing riding to the shop today on a bike with tubs.

I have a spare tub oreglued folded up on its base tape in saddle bag. If i pucnture i remove the old tub and fot the new one. Inflate and ride. There will be enough glue on the rim to bond to the glue on the tub. The bond forms in minutes. By the time i get to where i am gokng the bond will be rock solid.

StillGoing

Jerry185 wrote:

New bike has Conti GP4000 22mm tubulars which, learning curve updated, is the 'best thing ever' and 'will never puncture.' I've seen advice on repairing damage in the workshop/home, but when you're on the road and miles from home?
Advice please on what to carry in the pouch;-
- spare tyre and sealant
- inner tube with valve extension
- nothing at all?

Thanks

I found it was fine when riding in the company of others that were using tubs, but on your own it was too much of a gamble and returned to clinchers. Granted, tubs were far more comfortable, suffered less punctures and the wheels are cheaper than clinchers, but I blew 2 within weeks of each other hitting potholes. I used to carry a pre-glued spare and once its on, you're in the lap of the gods.

ugo.santalucia

When I rode tubulars I found them impractical for long rides. It's difficult to carry two spares, which is what I like to carry on anything more than a very short ride (no luxury of a taxi-alike partner). So I did carry a spare and a can of Pitstop. The only time I used the latter it did actually work on a very small puncture. When the hole was bigger I preferred to use a spare and always began to make my way home, as I didn't trust going further with just a can of spray as an option.

Some say tubulars puncture less than clinchers, it is not my experience, they are about the same... being essentially the same thing as the corresponding clincher version, it would be hard to be otherwise.

Repairs are expensive and time consuming, you are looking at 2 weeks and 20 pounds... you can have a go yourself, but it's a very fiddly job, especially with modern tyres... some, like your Conti, cannot be repaired at all.

On balance, the novelty factor and marginally improved ride quality wore off pretty quickly and I swiftly moved back to clinchers and tubeless without regrets

cougie

I bought deep rims and tubs for racing with but they really punctured far more than my clinchers. Used them for a season or so and went back to clinchers.

Less punctures and easier to Carry inner tubes that you probably wont need. When you race 112 miles you need to have a bit of faith in your tyres. Any flat will lose you hard won fitness improvements.

shortfall

Dinyull wrote:

Jerry185 wrote:

Perhaps I should have turned down the Cipo bike with Zipp404 wheels on a Dura Ace groupset for £2K because I didn't know enough about tubs - silly me.

Are you sure your fast enough for that bike? Also, what's your weight? Anything over 70kg and oh dear!

Patronising? Much?

joe2008

I've used Clement Strada LGG tubulars for the last couple of years. They are a tubeless construction, but stitched like a tub not open like a traditional tubeless tyre.

They have some advantages over the other three models:

Over tubulars: Tufo sealant works as it would in a tubeless tyre because it is sealing the rubber casing, not a latex inner tube, so it is really reliable. They just don't cut up, they eventually wear, but they do last a long time. They still have the feel of riding a tubular tyre.

Over clinchers: you won't have to deal with the tyre leaving the rim on a high speed blow-out, and you can use cheaper tubular rims.

Over tubeless: if the sealant fails to work the tub is easier to remove and replace with a spare, than it is to get a tubeless tyre off, deal with all that sealant, fit an inner tube, and put the tyre back on.

Tufo also do tubeless tubulars but they are in comparison they are like garden hoses; you do pay a lot for the Clements but they far out last other tubulars that I've used.

dinyull

Shortfall wrote:

Dinyull wrote:

Jerry185 wrote:

Perhaps I should have turned down the Cipo bike with Zipp404 wheels on a Dura Ace groupset for £2K because I didn't know enough about tubs - silly me.

Are you sure your fast enough for that bike? Also, what's your weight? Anything over 70kg and oh dear!

Patronising? Much?

johnnymcg259

ugo.santalucia wrote:

When I rode tubulars I found them impractical for long rides. It's difficult to carry two spares, which is what I like to carry on anything more than a very short ride (no luxury of a taxi-alike partner). So I did carry a spare and a can of Pitstop. The only time I used the latter it did actually work on a very small puncture. When the hole was bigger I preferred to use a spare and always began to make my way home, as I didn't trust going further with just a can of spray as an option.

Some say tubulars puncture less than clinchers, it is not my experience, they are about the same... being essentially the same thing as the corresponding clincher version, it would be hard to be otherwise.

Repairs are expensive and time consuming, you are looking at 2 weeks and 20 pounds... you can have a go yourself, but it's a very fiddly job, especially with modern tyres... some, like your Conti, cannot be repaired at all.

On balance, the novelty factor and marginally improved ride quality wore off pretty quickly and I swiftly moved back to clinchers and tubeless without regrets

This^
Use tubs for racing..........not for training/commuting/arsing about looking over the hedges while tootling along.......

Thigh_burn

Thanks all for the very helpful responses. Really useful.

darkhairedlord

spare wheels in the boot of the team car.

mamba80

Thigh_burn wrote:

Thanks all for the very helpful responses. Really useful.

all u need is a preglued spare and a small can of sealant, co2 canister/mini pump, plus a 'phone.

lost count of the number of times on club rides...... spare tubes are already punctured/fail to remove the thorn etc/pinch inner tube or the tyre is completely knackered..... none of this concerns the tub user.

joe2008

johnnymcg259 wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

When I rode tubulars I found them impractical for long rides. It's difficult to carry two spares, which is what I like to carry on anything more than a very short ride (no luxury of a taxi-alike partner). So I did carry a spare and a can of Pitstop. The only time I used the latter it did actually work on a very small puncture. When the hole was bigger I preferred to use a spare and always began to make my way home, as I didn't trust going further with just a can of spray as an option.

Some say tubulars puncture less than clinchers, it is not my experience, they are about the same... being essentially the same thing as the corresponding clincher version, it would be hard to be otherwise.

Repairs are expensive and time consuming, you are looking at 2 weeks and 20 pounds... you can have a go yourself, but it's a very fiddly job, especially with modern tyres... some, like your Conti, cannot be repaired at all.

On balance, the novelty factor and marginally improved ride quality wore off pretty quickly and I swiftly moved back to clinchers and tubeless without regrets

This^
Use tubs for racing..........not for training/commuting/arsing about looking over the hedges while tootling along.......

darkhairedlord wrote:

spare wheels in the boot of the team car.

In the 70/80/90's we rode many thousands of miles on tubular tyres with no sealant, no mobile phones, no team car :roll: and, to be honest, not a care in the world. We had a spare under the saddle, and always made it home.

cougie

Tubs were fine as everyone in the club rode them so a double puncture wasnt a problem.

And clinchers were pants then. They're really good now.

noodleman

Tubs or clinchers puncture with similar regularity. How can one differ from the other except for snakebite punctures. Having said that, I've personally punctured less on tubs and the 4 punctures I've had have all been repaired on the road with Stan's.

lesfirth

joe2008 wrote:

johnnymcg259 wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

In the 70/80/90's we rode many thousands of miles on tubular tyres with no sealant, no mobile phones, no team car :roll: and, to be honest, not a care in the world. We had a spare under the saddle, and always made it home.

This was also the case in the 1962. My transport to school was a track bike on tubs.I punctured outside Belle Vue main entrance. I was always on a tight schedule and the penalty for being late was a strapping on the backside from a sadistic pervert also known as the deputy head. Fitted spare tub,track bike -no QR,and I wasn't late.Spare tub was always behind your saddle wrapped up in a plastic ice cream sign,liberated from outside a local shop.

joe2008

cougie wrote:

Tubs were fine as everyone in the club rode them so a double puncture wasnt a problem.

And clinchers were pants then. They're really good now.

Double punctures are much more likely on clinchers as people fail to remove the offending flint. I've never had two tubs puncture on one ride.

cycleclinic

The bike (to work and back and then to the hospital in chelmsford and back) I rode today has two spare gator skin tubs in a topeak saddle bag. Very easy to carry two spare tubs. Never needed more than one though. I ride that bike over very long distances and never had an issues. Tubs are very practical tyres because when you puncture you put a fresh tyre on and no more flats for a while.

Still tubeless tyres are generally better but the comfort of a vittoria Pave 27mm tubular or similar is hard to beat.

cougie

I had two tubs go in the space of a mile. It was about that point that i decided I'd enough of tubs and sold the wheels.

jgsi

cougie wrote:

I had two tubs go in the space of a mile. It was about that point that i decided I'd enough of tubs and sold the wheels.

Thats enough bad luck. but the amount of times you've seen people put in tube after tube and watch them also pop .. so on the plus side did you buy a lottery ticket afterwards?

ugo.santalucia

cougie wrote:

I had two tubs go in the space of a mile. It was about that point that i decided I'd enough of tubs and sold the wheels.

That's 40 quid a mile... assuming they could be repaired, otherwise 80... not bad going...

cougie

Sadly irrepairable and they were my race tyres - just warming up the wheels the week before my big race. 120 quid that mile!

Year before i gashed a tufo in a similar warm up. Even with the sealant it wouldnt hold.

Possibly my house has been built on a tubular graveyard?

markyone

This well said

FWIW I recommend a wee bottle of Tufo Extreme Sealant in your back pocket and a C02. Once you get over the fear of a tub puncture and start to ignore all these internet forum terror stories, you'll realise that there's nothing to worry about. I haven't carried a pre glued tyre on a ride for years now and the Tufo has sorted any flats

dennisn

markyone wrote:

This well said

FWIW I recommend a wee bottle of Tufo Extreme Sealant in your back pocket and a C02. Once you get over the fear of a tub puncture and start to ignore all these internet forum terror stories, you'll realise that there's nothing to worry about. I haven't carried a pre glued tyre on a ride for years now and the Tufo has sorted any flats

You should try and bottle that luck you have.
I don't carry a pre-glued tubular, but I do carry a cheapie spare(and ride it home gingerly if I use it). Never had any issues doing that. Do like the Tufo sealant.