SkyWave

Veloflex Vlaanderen (27) are fantastic. Have ridden in a classic with heavy gravel and they really perform. ( Alternate wheelset uses Master 25 clincher - also a great tubular-like ride)

Considring using the Carogna tape system from Effectto Maripsoa - any one tried it ?

DiabloScott

From my observations, at least 50% of all cyclists don't even know what a tubular is, and probably only about 10% have ever owned tubular wheels.

Of course they are, but that's why they make chocolate and vanilla.

djs42

I'm using the Velox tape. Good for the first season, we'll see how it performs next year after freezing throughout the winter.
I'm on alloy rims and the Velox is much cheaper than the Effetto. Velox also offers tape for carbon rims which is more expensive.

venturi95

Conti Sprinters were my tire of choice when I last rode tubulars, very durable for the weight but this was decades ago. Always carry a miniature pocket knife, if you flat a sew up and it's trashed cut the valve off and you will be able to ride slow without the THUNK THUNK THUNK of the valve smacking the pavement and possibly damaging the rim. Also good for self defense if it should come to that. And if you are really wanting to get sealant into a non-removable core tire you can unscrew the "nut", tie some dental floss to the threaded center spindle,then force the end "nut" off the valve spindle and send the core into the inner tube. Insert sealant and fish back the core and re-assemble.

Wileyone 

I've tried it and it works well. But it was a bear to get off. Since then I've gone back to glue. Mastic works well for me.

siclmn

Rene Hearse tires. Life is too short to back to the sew up circus.

SkyWave

Did it not just roll off the rim like in the video?

jimmuller 

I wouldn't be surprised of your estimates were too high.

pastorbobnlnh 

Very true.

Bought a set of mid 1990s Mavic Cosmic wheels early in the year that were listed on CL. They were a good 1&1/2 hour drive away but I felt as if they would be a really nice upgrade for my '92 Cannondale R600. I asked the seller if they were "Clinchers or Tubular/sew-up tires?" The response back. "Tubulars. I used these on my triathlon bike for a few years." I arrived to pick them up and I took a quick look and said, "Oh, these are clinchers, not tubulars." But the seller assured me they were "tubulars."

It was Easter and I didn't want to argue. They are clinchers, but are still cool wheels. I was only mildly disappointed since I only paid $80.

nlerner

You people are talking about tubeless setups, right?

pastorbobnlnh 

Wrong!

Wildwood 

Yeah, for 29ers - i think.
Yeah, they're folding open tubulars!
Do they come in 650a/b/c?

edit:

nlerner

Well, I do really like running 700 x 38mm tubeless on my Black Mountain Road!

Wileyone 

repechage

akin to "I'm honest, I try every day not to lie about it."

Homebrew01

Clement Seta Extra...mmmmmm....ahhhhhh .......wha...huh...ohh....I just woke up from a dream .........Vittoria Corsas of 1 kind or another.

Currently, I want nice riding tubulars. For me, no point in riding clunky heavy ones.

RobbieTunes

Hmm.

Just switched my Bontrager RXL/TLRs to tubeless. They were too hard to change clinchers on, especially on the side of the road. I could have just used some more Tufo clinching tubulars, but they ride like, uh, solid rubber.

So I have clinchers, clinching tubulars, tubulars, and now tubeless. Jury's out.

Just picked up a 700/650 set of Vittoria tubulars for my funny bike. Corsa rear, Junior Corsa front.

jimmuller 

You guys talking about tubeless tubular clincher sewups?

smontanaro 

The Schwalbe Lugano T tubulars are marketed as 25mm. I measured them just now at 23.7mm or so mounted on Ambrosio Montreal rims. I suspect those rims have a deeper well than most others, so they gobble up more of the tire. I pilfered this image from an eBay listing.



The weather gods blessed us the past couple days, so I got in a 25-ish-mile ride yesterday and 29+-mile ride today. The ride yesterday was very sluggish. I realized part of the way through that the tires were underinflated, so topped them up last night (60+ psi front, 80 or so rear). Today's ride was more spirited. The tires went from sluggish to harsh though. All-in-all, a big fat meh... Good as spares, but not much else. I will stick with them through the winter, then find something else for next summer, relegating these to spare duty. Given that many of my current spares are iffy tires of unknown age and previous use which happened to come on used wheels, the Schwalbe's will at least be a step up in spare quality.

Classtime 

One more ride on these 22mm Gatorskins.

Edit: well, I guess on other one more.

tcpasley

I just picked up a pair of these from the 'Bay. Looks like Merlin is sold out of the 27mm version. Looking to put these on a Trek 620 I'm building. This will be my first attempt at running tubulars, so I have a couple of questions.

What width rim would you suggest for tires of this width/volume? I have an old wheelset with Ambrosio Montreal rims I could use, and a set with Mavic GL330 rims, widths are ~22mm and 20.5mm respectively. Would the GL330s be too narrow?

Are you using glue or tape? Any recommendations for either?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Dean51 

'No advice from me on rim selection, but I can report on my first experience with tape (Tufo) yesterday afternoon. Super fast....about 5 minutes each from start to finish. Super easy to get the tire centered. Tires (Conti Competitions) look great with no glue boogers present. However, I felt a bit "criminal" not using glue. I remain conflicted.....

Dean

smontanaro 

Your Montreal rims will be fine. I have them on at least one bike running Veloflex Vlaanderen (27mm). I use Vittoria Mastik One. Never felt the need to use tape.

djs42

I flatted twice this August during a supported ride on newly purchased Rallys ... they did not have removable cores.

Classtime 

maybe mine are new and improved?