Originally Posted by
DiabloScott
It's about the experience. This is C&V and tubulars are part of the package with old-timey nice bikes. At least as much as steel frames, toe clips, slotted cleats, downtube shifters, and exposed cables. They do give a very nice ride, but I'd bet none of the tubular fans in here use them for any perceived performance advantage. I understand why some people don't want to bother with them, but I don't understand the need for people to make strawman arguments against them.
This is my closest point of entry into this discussion. I use clinchers and am quite happy with them. High quality clinchers ride great. However, I do have a set of tubular wheels that I built for my De Rosa for L'Eroica a couple of years ago. I did that specifically to get the "complete package" experience. I cheated and used the Mariposa tape instead of putting myself through the embarrassment and pain of learning the gluing process, but I wanted to ride with tubulars.
They were nice. I had an issue with one of the stems and ended up pinch flatting because I tried to ride with the pressure too low. The Mariposa sealant seems to have fixed the problem, but I don't really trust that tire enough for a long ride. Psychologically, I think it's very similar to the way I get skittish on fast descents after having a horrible speed wobble issue. I can convince myself that it's not a problem, but I'm just more comfortable with clinchers. I'll probably try to ease myself back into it eventually, taking the tubies out on short rides until I can build up some trust in them. Anecdotally, I have a 25% failure rate for rides with tubulars.
