ljsense

I've got a rim braked road bike that will fit 700x30 tubulars.

The gravel roads around here are pretty smooth and well kept -- not a lot of loose gravel, not many big holes, mostly hardpacked limestone.

Any experience with running high volume road tubulars?

Trakhak

I rode Barum cyclocross tubulars on a cobbled-together off-road hybrid in the mid-'80's. They were fine until I flatted on a muddy trail. Thanks to the mud, the rim glue on my spare tire was useless. The two-hour ride home, with the tire slithering around on the rim and a bump when the valve came around for every wheel revolution - not fun.

But if you stick to dry surfaces, you should be OK.

msu2001la

I've run tubulars for CX racing - 33mm size. They're awesome. My favorite ones were Challenge Limus and Baby Limus, very fast rolling and super cush. I would run them at just over 20psi for racing, and 25-30psi for regular training rides. These tires had amazing grip on slippery surfaces, and floated over bumps. I currently have a tubular wheelset with 33mm Donnely PDX tubular tubeless tires - those aren't as plush as the Challenge tires, but they have a tougher casing and don't have a tube inside so they're a bit more durable. Theoretically, I can use a tubeless plug to fix roadside flats with those - I've never tried. The Challenge tires had latex inner tubes inside, so there's not much that can be done to fix a flat.

CX tubulars are glued on very solidly out of necessity and cannot be easily removed on the side of the road. There's very little that can be done to deal with roadside flats on those. These aren't like road tubulars where you might just use tape or a thin layer of glue so the tire can be pulled off by hand. CX tubulars usually need to be cut off the rim with tools. I always had a shop do this. Due to the inability to fix roadside flats, I mainly saved them for race day or a few training rides where I was OK calling for a ride home if something happened.

I suppose you could use more of a road tubular tape/glue approach for gravel tires that would allow you to carry a spare tubular to swap out in the event of a flat, but this still seems really impractical for gravel riding, especially considering that 30mm is marginal already and would be more subjected to cuts and flats than something wider. Your backup plan would be a single spare tubular tire that you'd have to ride home with very little adhesive? Seems dicey to me.

thehammerdog

if u ride well groomed rail trail stuff it will work.
I just slapped 700 x 30 cx tires on my old steed work well enough..
Not ideal and limiting..but go ride

700 x 30..kenda.

Road well on smooth trails.