Beau210

Had a guy walk into the lbs that I get all my stuff from looking to sell a pair of carbon tubular tires for about $500.0. Just wondering how they work. Are you wheels dead if you get a whole in the tire? Do you glue on a new one? If so how do you do it, it seems like if the glue was strong enough to keep the tire on the rim and airtight then it would be pretty hard to get off. So all in all how do you like tubular tires? Thanks guys

garage sale GT

I'm waiting to see how the Road Forum treats someone who hasn't bothered to do their homework!

Beau210

Pretty sure 90% of questions on this forum could be answered by google. Still doesn't give me the opinion of people who have actually used it and know first hand. Even if I just googled reviews I still wouldn't get the sheer number of different people who have used the product first hand and aren't getting paid to give it good ratings. At least not without going through a lot of web pages. Isn't that what a forum is all about? If not then why not just use youtube?

fa63

They can be hard to get off (especially if you did a good job gluing them in the first place), but you learn to deal with it with practice. To minimize chances of getting a flat, most people (including me) use some form of sealant in the tires. If it is a large cut / hole though, you better have a pre-glued spare with you or you may have to call for the SAG vehicle (wife, GF, mistress, etc...) to come pick you up if you flat far from home.

Here is a recent VeloNews article on how to deal with tubular flats:

https://velonews.competitor.com/2012/...r-flats_207186

garage sale GT

The inflation is part of what holds the tire on the rim. I hear you can carefully ride home on an unglued tire but have not tried it.

Homebrew01

Yes, just take it very easy around the corners.

18hockey

Botto doesn't venture in here so it shouldn't be too bad.

garage sale GT

I find the best thing is to let the glue dry for a few days.

BrainInAJar

You can tape down new tires, but the tape sucks. The real pain in the ass is what to do with the tire afterwards. You either toss your $50-100 tire for a little hole, or you have to learn how to patch the flat & sew them back together. I'm not sure which one sucks more.

Having ridden them on my race wheels for a season, I've come to the conclusion that tubs are way more trouble than they're worth.

Homebrew01

There's someplace you can send them to get patched .... don't remember the name.
Also, sealant is an option I think.

BrainInAJar

No, there's somewhere *you* can send them to get replaced, I'm Canadian. The postage makes it not worthwhile.

Beau210

Do you end up having a lot of glue build up that won't come off as you use the rims and replace tires? Is it easy to learn how to glue the tires on or would a newbie like me have to bring it to a bike shop every time?

MikeyBoyAz

I feel tubulars are worth the racing scene, not the daily rider scenario. I had tubulars, and only had two flats with two tires, both Very far from home and both required a pick up (critical failures). I since return back to clinchers and keep a spare tube and co2... and a dollar bill. If you are racing and have a sag bus... go tubular.

merlinextraligh

It's not that hard to learn to glue tubulars, but it's important that you get it right. If you have a good shop, it would be worth paying them to do it the first time, and watching how they do it.

Homebrew01

You are allowed to carry spares.

Beau210

these would only be for races. I have some aksiums that I train on but I'm tired of getting flats on the RR and wasting to much time changing the tube. It would be nice to have a back up set in the pace car and just toss them on. Wasn't really planning on going tubular but these walked in the door and are a pretty sweet deal.

I <3 Robots

I run a bit of Stan's in my tubulars. Punctured a couple times...tires still hold air.

I gave up on the Pit Stop.

If I know I'm riding out to some out of the way spot...I'll bring a spare tire.

Gluing is the most critical part. There are plenty of videos on Youtube to show you how.

curiouskid55

wtf is a carbon tubular tire and why would two of them be worth 500 dollars?

KypD

this.

prathmann

The glue isn't that strong and it's a combination of the glue and air pressure in the tire that keeps the tire firmly on the rim. When you get a flat you can pull the tire free of the rim and install your spare tire (tubular tires fold easily since they have no bead and you can keep a spare or two under your saddle). The spares should already have a tacky glue layer on them so they'll adhere nicely to the rim.

So fixing a flat on the road is actually much quicker and easier than with clinchers. No need to use tire irons and no need to search for the cause of the flat since you're replacing the whole tire/tube combination. OTOH, once you get home there's the issue of fixing the flat tire which is kind of a pain. First determine exactly where the hole is so you only need to undo a little of the stitching and pull out part of the tube and determine the cause of the flat. Then patch the tube as usual and redo the stitching and attach the basetape. Much more tedious than just patching the punctured tube that you removed from a clincher tire.

escarpment

Gluing tubular tires is not necessarily hard if you are competent with basic physical labor. It is tedious and gets easier the more you do. And I have known guys that barely put any glue on their rims. The tire pressure does most of the work, like prathmann says. If you have the money there's no real reason not to ride them everyday. But it can get costly. I have personally given up on them as they are just too expensive to deal with. Great for racing though, safer and when done right have their benefits.

danvuquoc

+1 Not worth it on non-race.

kleinboogie

tirealert. They can fix tubes, put on new tape, etc. Very reasonable prices.

I've been training on my tubulars a lot more. I have a bunch of tires I bought and my 60mm wheels have 21mm tires and I want to put 23 or even the 25mm tires on them. Generally though the ride is smoother due to being able to put less air pressure. A great glue job is a pain to remove the tire but worth it in piece of mind. GL

Seattle Forrest

They were wheels with carbon tubular rims, not carbon tubular tires. I'm not saying that to be pedantic ... if the guy selling them argues, you don't want them. If they're just tubular tires sans the wheels, well, $500 is expensive even for a pair of sew-up tires!

I'd be pretty leery of buying used carbon wheels. Inspect them very closely before you do, and make sure the brake tracks aren't too worn.

I love the ride quality of my tubulars, especially when cornering.

You don't glue them yourself ... you pay LBS to do that for you. That might change when you see what they charge, though. But you don't have to make it all the way up the learning curve in one day.

Supposedly you can ride home on a flat, even on carbon rims, because the tire is glued on, and doesn't rely on air pressure to hold it to the rim, so it'll protect it from the road. You'd want to go slowly, and be careful through turns. For what it's worth - probably not much at all - LBS claims tubies are safer than clinchers, because a front blow-out would make your handling wonky, but can't catch in the fork and flip you. Sounds like a pretty far-fetched scenario.

Mind if I ask why? I've got a can of the stuff myself, and try to remember to bring it on every ride...

Psimet2001 

That was actually my first thought as well.

OP - assuming you are looking for carbon tubular wheels...that you mount/glue tubular tires to.....not carbon tubular tires.

I can ride just about any wheel combo I want....I make them. I ride on clinchers. I race on tubulars....because I can.