Not the typical tire question...

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by David Hutton on May 26, 2009 at 12:58pm

i personally train on clinchers except when testing tire pressures in pre-ride of races or leading up to races. If you have them(tubulars) to race on do so, but you will have to get to know them and their limits before being able to gain the largest yield of benefit from them. I like training on challenge grifo tubulars and racing on grifo clinchers because it lets me find the breaking point and tracking style the tread will take considering it is the same tread used on the clincher then when swapping back over to the tubular for racing I know the points of hookup in regard to the tread and all that is left is to dial in the pressure for the given conditions on that day!'

to make things even easier you can always get a bunch of tubulars and wheelsets and just train on the same wheelset you race on like the pros :)....

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Echappe Equipment on May 26, 2009 at 1:03pm

Race the tubulars, train with the clinchers. You can always use sets of wheels, so keep everything. Do what David suggested and test the tire pressures on the tubulars while riding so you can get the best advantage from them. For a tutorial on how to get a tire glued so you need a knife to cut it off the rim (and be able to ride it virtually flat should you need): Echappe Equipment's Facebook page tutorial for tubular gluing Belgi...

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by the Professor on May 26, 2009 at 1:15pm

i got sick of dealing with the mess and hassle of tubulars and got rid of mine.
I use tufo tublar clinchers' for race day (allows greater flexability of tire pressures).
With the tech of todays' tires...sell off yer tubi's and buy a few sets of clincher treads to experiment with,
and with a few treads in reserve, you'll find your tires are not the excuse for a bad days' ride.
Besides, clincher tires are cheaper/easier to have lots of...and easy to hide from the mrs.)

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by David Hutton on May 27, 2009 at 6:55am

I dont know that I would go as far as to say SELL OFF ALL your tubulars. Adam Myerson has a good explanation for tubulars and why he uses them. If used (and glued) propperly tubulars will outperform ANY clincher if run in the right conditions. I personally race grifo's in most/all conditions except for very slick mud or REALLY DEEP mud. If I am unable to swap out for a file tread or mud tire I will find a similar clincher in the tread I need for the conditions. Where exactly do you live/race. If you have tubulars and they aren't suitable for the weather in your region you may have the wrong impression of tubulars. Either was I would go selling off every tubular you own to get a crap ton of clinchers....

• ▶ Reply