Tubs and clinchers - newbie confusion, help needed

m@gnus
m@gnus Posts: 12
edited June 2007 in Workshop
Sorry to ask what I suspect is a stupid question. [:I]

What are tubs? Are they better than clinchers (which I assume are the normal wheels seen on basic road bikes)? And what are the drawbacks to using tubs?

Comments

  • PutneyJoe
    PutneyJoe Posts: 242
    tubulars have no inner tube. adv you can pump them up harder, they go faster.
    disadv - harder to fix punctures. Harder to put on.

    But I have no first hand experience of using tubs. and I'm now in a position to buy a really nice bike.
    When I was choosing the wheels for it the bike shop guy suggested some FSA wheels but they were tubs only.
    I said that for the riding I do (100 miles plus in remote areas unsupported) they wouldn't really be an option. He said you can get really puncture resistant tyres and showed me some aerosol type stuff that keeps you going a bit too.
    My feeling that tubs wouldn't do for my kind of riding cos of the puncture problem was largely based on fear and ignorance.
    But was it right anyway?
  • MichaelW
    MichaelW Posts: 2,164
    Tubulars are for competative racing and even then only at elite levels or special events like track.
  • I don't find them difficult to put on - only real drawback is hassle/space of carrying a spare (or even two!). In my admittedly limited experience I found them if anything less likely to flat than clinchers. Even cheap ones (best, cos a lot of bother to get 'em repaired!) do seem to ride *better* than clinchers.

    d.j.
    "Like a true nature's child,
    We were born,
    Born to drink mild"
  • A friend of mine describes them as being "rounder" than clinchers. Because the tub is glued to the wheel you need less rim so a pair of tub wheels are usually lighter than the equivalent clincher wheel.

    I've a friend who rides on tubs all year round and he doesn't seem to puncture that much, i.e. twice so far this year. He tried the Vittoria aerosol stuff that Putney Joe mentions once but it just covered him in foam! It's probably as quick to get a tub off the rim and a spare fitted as it is to change the inner tube of a clincher.

    I was surprised at how many people were riding tubs when I did the GF Felice Gimondi in Italy last month. They are definitely more popular now than they have been for a while.
  • <blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by PutneyJoe</i>

    <b><font color="red">tubulars have no inner tube.</font id="red"></b> adv you can pump them up harder, they go faster.
    disadv - harder to fix punctures. Harder to put on.

    But I have no first hand experience of using tubs. and I'm now in a position to buy a really nice bike.
    When I was choosing the wheels for it the bike shop guy suggested some FSA wheels but they were tubs only.
    I said that for the riding I do (100 miles plus in remote areas unsupported) they wouldn't really be an option. He said you can get really puncture resistant tyres and showed me some aerosol type stuff that keeps you going a bit too.
    My feeling that tubs wouldn't do for my kind of riding cos of the puncture problem was largely based on fear and ignorance.
    But was it right anyway?
    <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

    Tubulars DO have an inner tube. The tube is inserted into the tyre which is then stitched together at the bottom and covered with tape. This makes puncture repair an interesting little job, helps you to while the evening away when there's nothing on telly.

    Unless you are racing at a high level they are more trouble than they are worth. They were the universal choice for racers up to the eighties because the clinchers available before then were heavy and poor quality.

    Nobody ever got laid because they were using Shimano
  • m@gnus
    m@gnus Posts: 12
    Thanks. Seems clinchers are the sensible choice for me.