Originally Posted by
79pmooney
I rode tubulars for decades exclusively, to train, to commute, to race. Went to clinchers in the late '90s. I am going back. The driving reason? I rolled an old clincher off the rear rim when it blew.
Ben
Amen on the safety benefits of tubulars. The last tubular blowout I experienced was inside a tunnel doing 40mph. I hit something large in the dark and the rear tire was flat in like one wheel revolution. As soon as I exited the tunnel I was faced with hard braking and a 90 degree reverse-camber corner. A bit exciting, but I was in control the whole time.
In contrast, my last clincher blowout occurred at little more than a walking pace. It took 20 years of mountain bike handling skills to keep my bod off of the pavement. If this blowout would have have happened at speed, or on a corner.....
As I posted earlier, the reason why elite-level riding (in all disciplines, including mountain biking) is done on tubulars is due to lower rotating mass. But safety is a close second.