trekmogul 

I am about to pack my bike for our trip to DUBAI next week and would love to take my REYNOLDS RZR92 Tubulars with me and my question is, Are clinchers and tubulars equally durable when it comes to punctures etc..? I have a brand new set of Vittoria Corsa Speed affixed to the RZR's and would really love to take these with me. Anyone..?

MEILENSTEIN MAN in packing mode..!

shelbyfv

Have you never ridden clinchers? If you have, seems as if you would be able to make your own comparison.

joejack951

Tubulars in general I have always seen touted as more flat resistant than clinchers, especially in regards to pinch flats. Corsa Speed tubulars, not so much. Those are supposedly paper thin in an effort to maximize suppleness. I'd race on them but I chose the regular Corsa G+ tubulars over the Speeds for my road bike even though the weight gain was painful.

All this needs to be prefaced by stating that I do not have nearly enough experience on tubulars or the Corsa tires to pass personal judgement either way. I do currently run the clincher version of the standard Corsa G+ tire as well as the tubular, and haven't flatted either version yet.

JohnJ80

It is clearly going to have a significant dependency on the specific tire.

I switched to tubulars about 10 years ago. That eliminated pinch flats which were the primary cause of my punctures. I also ride tubeless tubulars (i.e. Tufo or Clement/Donnelly) that have a single tire carcass and no inner tube. With sealant in these, I have not had a single puncture in the last 2 years of riding. I routinely wear out tires without punctures.

That said, I'd think that a tubeless road set up might have similar performance (no pinch flats, other punctures mitigated by sealant) but you'll always still have a slight weight penalty due to the flanges on the wheels necessary to hold the tire beads.

So what I'd do is switch to durable tubulars over race tubulars and I'd go with the tubeless clement LGGs. I'd be fine with that for riding.

J.

redfooj

who rides bikes in dubai, honestly

trekmogul 

In just about 6 days I will be riding a cycle in DUBAI, UAE Looking forward to a week in the heat and sun for some cycling in the arabian desert...

TimothyH

Bring back photos. I want to see what it is like.

Bandera

Bring a spare set of wheels for the follow car and make sure that your mechanic can do a wheel change in <20 seconds or you'll just look silly.

-Bandera

Aubergine 

This is tire-specific. I ride with 27 mm Vittoria Pavé tubulars, and never get flats with them. They usually last until the valve wears out. On the other hand, I frequently get flats with clinchers.

mercator

Apparently quite a few people.
Just had coffee with a friend who lives there, it's quite popular.

noodle soup

Plan on getting a puncture(because it can happen), then ask yourself "which would I feel comfortable repairing on the side of the road".

Vittoria Pit-Stop often works on punctures, but usually not on small cuts(that a tube and a boot would).

YMMV

blazin

I'd be more concerned about getting wheels appropriate to the wind conditions that are common in that region. Regardless of tubular or clincher, I'd bring the deepest wheels you've got.

noodle soup

I would do just the opposite.

TenSpeedV2

I can only imagine how smooth the roads there would be.

mpath

Umm, Kittel, Cavendish, just to name a couple.

Google it, and the roads look fantastic. I'm going there in a couple of weeks for work, and if I had down time, I'd bring my bike.

Seattle Forrest

I'm pretty much always happy to see what it's like riding in a new place.

Seattle Forrest

This is the right answer. Even puncture resistant tires will flat now and then. How do you personally tolerate risk? Would you rather have the utmost ride quality until you possibly get a ride-ending flat, and then deal with it, whatever that entails, or would you rather sacrifice a small amount of ride quality and know you can do the riding you came for?

What sort of cycling infrastructure is there where you're going? If you get a tubular flat, will you be able to get another tire and glue? Can you do it yourself, or will you be able to find someone to hire to do it for you?

Honestly, I don't think tubeless gives anything (but a few grams) up to tubular, and is as fixable on the side of the road as any other clincher.

gl98115

Gatorskin tubulars are going to be more durable than Corsa Speed clinchers, while Gatorskin clinchers will be more durable than Corsa Speed tubulars.

redfooj

It's their job to race there.

Not exactly the best climate, terrain, environment, or inspiring scenery in the world.

If work didn't pay me, I wouldn't have spent an extra second there either.

noodle soup

I'm not a fan of tubeless, but it works well on small punctures, and small cuts can be fixed with a boot&tube. This is probably what I would use in the OP's situation.

trekmogul 

To each his own on climate and scenery as those are several of the reasons we are heading there along with some of the worlds greatest shopping and architecture. We will be staying the the tallest hotel in the world and that is dwarfed by the tallest building in the world that is adjacent
from it called the BURJ..This is just a small 8 day trip then back home to States for a week then off to Panama for 10 days then home for 3 weeks then will be gone 4 months in my 2nd home of SRILANKA in SE ASIA..Yes cycling will be on the menu everywhere ..!

Seattle Forrest

To be clear, I'd definitely bring some tubes and CO2 (or a pump) with me.

JohnDThompson 

In my experience, clinchers and tubulars with comparable casing construction will have comparable puncture resistance. Tubulars are harder to fix than clinchers when they do puncture (although replacement is easy), but they also tend to be lighter, handle better, and are more resistant to pinch-flats than clinchers. And they're safer to ride on when flat, which can be a plus e.g. when you flat on a fast downhill where it may take a while to come to a stop.

How this figures in with your cycling plans in Dubai is up to you to determine.

Hapsmo911

Im not trying to be a ******, but you have like 10 bikes. You seem to own both tubular and I can only assume clinchers. If not you must have ridden clinchers. So is it that you never road the tubs? To answer the question. I think sewups are easier and less need to carry as much crap around to fix flats...

sempre1

+1 on this i have been using gatorskin on my tubular for two years now and still no punctures!!