Spare Tubular or CO2 Inflator?

Always carry a spare tubular. No exceptions. Unless of course you enjoy standing around waiting for someone to come and get you. CO2 or pump, it's your call. I sure wouldn't rely on a tube of sealant to get you home. What if the hole in the tire is too big for the sealant to work? No, carry a spare always. They are not that hard to put on out on the road IF, key word IF, you have stretched the spare on a rim for a few days. Learn
how to change tubies out on the road(they don't need to be glued on to get you home). If you find you can't change them, on the road, for whatever reason, then sell them and go with clinchers. Sounds as if you're new to tubs. Mounting them for the first time is always a chore but with practice it can become a piece of cake, no big deal.

Depends on what type of 'racing' you're doing - in a road race, if you don't have neutral support / following car then it's game over. With a TT/triathlon, carry a spare tub and inflator. I have sealant in my tubs and carry a CO2 inflator - enough to get me back to the finish.

As Dennis says, if you don't have the ability to fix the stuff, then using it in a race, it busts then you and suffer the consequences - well, many will say you get what you deserve - be prepared and don't expect others to sort it for you.

tubs are not ideal for beginners but they do give you more options than clinchers.

this is the contingency i work to when i am riding my bike with tubs...

1. remember, unlike a clincher you can normally ride perfectly ok on the flat tyre if its only a few miles to home.

2. if the hole is not too big you can try a repair at the roadside using something like stans no tubes and a co2 inflator - which is why i only use tubs with detachable valve inners - hopefully 'stans' solves the issue and in 2 or 3 minutes you can be on your way.

3 if that fails to work then you can swap the tub by the roadside but remember to go easy on the corners afterwards and stick the new tyre on properly when you get home.

BTW don't be too dispondent about your choice. practice will make you more confident. tubs should never be hassle to fit in the first instance.

however most do need gently pre-stretching on a dry rim for 24 hours beforehand. forget to pre-stretch and it can be a hell of a messy and stressfull job, dragging a reluctant virgin tyre across the glue.

every system has a down side. some clincher/rim combos are almost impossible to fit by the roadside. also, with clinchers, sometimes the sharp object remains in the tyre and punctures every subsequent tube. whilst this subject has been done to death on the forum, but just saying, nothing is perfect.

If it is any consolation I am sure it will be easy to sell those wheels.

It doesn't matter what other people think - you have to feel confident with your choice of equipment otherwise it will spoil your bike time.

mabarbie wrote:

My question as a novice in the tubs area is, how do I carry the spare tub, around my shoulders like in the olden days? The whole tub won't fit in a under seat bag, so maybe taped to the under side of the top tube?

Fold it up, put a velcro strap around it, and carry it in a rear pocket. No big deal.

mabarbie wrote:

I've just got myself some tubs and am going to fit them with Conti Gatorskin Sprinters, unless someone says not too for very good reasons. These will be my 'race' wheels in sportives like the etape caledonia, ie short and hopefully no tacks.

My question as a novice in the tubs area is, how do I carry the spare tub, around my shoulders like in the olden days? The whole tub won't fit in a under seat bag, so maybe taped to the under side of the top tube?

As Dennis said or you can also fold it up real tight and fit it under the seat. Old toe straps are apparently good for this and you'll have a nice retro look going on then.

As for the Conti Gatorskin again do a search on biketechreview. I'd summarise them as durable but not fast, I think I'd be more inclined to use vittoria evo corsas, but that's a personal choice.

Here's a link to some good tub/tyre testing.http://www.biketechreview.com/tires_old ... g_rev9.pdf

SHAWPYE wrote:

chrisw12 wrote:

SHAWPYE wrote:

Hi All,

Thanks for the replies.

My Conti tubs are glued onto my rims as that seemed to be the more secure method compared to tape. When fitting the tubs I pre stretched by inflating them on the rims for 24 hours but made fitting no easier. There was two of us struggling to get the tubs on the rims.

For this reason I can't see how I will be able to replace at the roadside. I can change clincher inner tubes in minutes and a hell of alot quicker than it took to fit these tubulars. This is why I would prefer to carry sealant but as some of you say if the puncture is large sealant would be pointless.


I will be racing upto 70.3 IM distance so there is a chance of getting a puncture over that distance.

This is my first experience of tubulars and I followed all the guidelines for fitting to try to make it as easy as possible.

I run gatorskin clinchers on my trek and those tyres seem immune to punctures, good rolling resistance and grippy. Maybe I should stick to clinchers and ditch the stress of tubulars.

If you are changing inner tubes in a clincher in a few minutes then you are doing it wrong! It should take you a few minutes just to inspect the tyre and find the cause of the puncture, you do inspect the tyre? A pre stretched tub is much, much quicker to change than an inner tube in a clincher.

I think you'll find that gatorskins have not got good rolling resistance, they're certainly not a race tyre, if you are planning of switching back to clinchers as a race wheel.

If you want some more 'scientific' tub/tyre advice then have a good search at biketechreview.com


Also another tip I haven't seen mentioned for a while. For triathlons I've read of people leaving a small part of the tub unglued, then if they puncture they rip the tyre from that part. I've also read of people taking a razor/stanley blade and just cutting the tub and ripping it off.

Yeah, I do inspect the tyre by running my fingers around the inside and outside of the tyre a couple of times. When I say minutes I'm being generous. From what I have now experienced I can certainly do a clincher change quicker than a tub change.

I pre stretched my tubs when fitting but didn't help. Maybe the gatorskin tubs i used are less flexible due to the various layers and gatorskin technology used.

Agree, I proper inner tube change takes minutes (including a tyre check etc, etc) getting a properly glued tub off takes as long, if not longer.

I'd love to know how I can substitute taking a spare tub for taking a Co2 cartridge.