Originally Posted by
Morelock
I'd always heard the same about clinchers... I think a lot of it is just repeated "knowledge" from a bygone era.
In my experience I've never had or seen a clincher "blow off the rim" like many of the arguments on the net against them seem to think is guaranteed to happen, but I could see a scenario where you flatted on the track towards the top, and as you cut back down it rolled it off and possibly toppled you and/or ruined your rim... in which case if you had a seriously glued on tubie (I know some folks love that carpet glue still) it *might* stay on and not roll off. That's pretty corner case.
*Of course for racing on a smooth track you can't get the same pressure in a clincher, and currently no tyre manufacturer makes a track specific super low crr (on par with vitt pista evo's/olympics/dugast silks/etc) so if you want the fastest out there, you do still have to go with a tubular.
I agree about the repeated knowledge lore that goes round and round. Getting rid of the old "facts" is why we communicate, right?
I can't really comment on crr, but some Vredstein tires go up to 160psi and Tufo Tubular Clinchers (tubular tire with a clincher bead attached for use on clincher rims) can go over 200psi.
That being said, I've seen household names using Conti GP 4000s on clincher training wheels. Conti GP Supersonic were supposed to be fast clincher race wheels. I loved them. But, I think they are not available anymore.
For clarification, I'm not making a case for clincher race wheels. Just asking in general.