Has anyone tried the Bontrager R4 Classics tubs? 700x28c, and on half-price sale for $50, which is about the upper end of my tire budget these days.

https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/e...Code=black_tan

Man, I might get those for my modern disc bike. It's odd they don't list the thread count but I found a review on the clincher version and it's 320.

The good thing about tubular tires is you can always find high end ones on sale because they probably have trouble selling them.

just for reference challenge elite pro https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...-tubulars.html

If you scroll to the bottom of the page you'll see the specs. Took me a while to figure that out - bad webpage design.
I see that the weight is 370g, which may be a little heavy, and it has flat protection, which might make it less supple. Seems like it might be kind of like Continental Sprinter Gatorskins, but wider. That would probably be OK with me.

In preparation for today's ride I mounted a new, well actually newly-repaired by Tire Alert, Veloflex Criterium on the rear of my Masi last night. The tire had been prepped already but that was over a year ago. The rim had been prepped too and ridden a fair amount but suffered a flat on its last ride so I'd mounted a many-times-repaired spare, rode home and parked the bike to be dealt with later. So I put a new layer of Vittoria Mastic on both, waited a while, then mounted the tire on the rim.

The ride today went just fine but I experienced something I've experienced before. The tire, I believe the new rear one, makes a cyclic noise. At speed it sounds like tchck..tchck..tchck at the speed of the wheel rotation. A slower speed the crisp tchck stretches out to skriit...skriit...skriit, or even shriiiish....shriiiish....shriiiish of longer duration. It seems to be the glue pulling away, probably around the valve stem where Ive generally left it more lightly glued. Sometimes it goes away or is quiet on every other or every third rotation, but not for long.

Have any of you ever experienced this? Know how to make it stop? I'm thinking I might pull the tire off and thicken the mastic around the valve stem, but that's just a guess. I imagine I think I believe that I remember that it goes away eventually. But maybe not. What am I doing wrong?

Hi jimmuller. Yes, I've had this happen to my tubulars. Usually it goes away. Sometimes I'll put glue in there and it'll go away. Tubulars Rule.

I've been riding Vittoria Paris Roubaix sew-ups on my Bates for commuting and regular rides. They ride quite nice and are robust and comfortable. The only thing I don't care for is the green sidewall. I think I paid $60 each for them. As an aside, round Rallys are better then they get credit for.

Vittoria came out with their new line up of tires a couple of years ago and they got rid of the green sidewall option. The only tubular they make now is the Rally. I don't really like their new stuff. My favorite clincher tire was the Open Corsa and that's discontinued. I don't like the tread on their new tires.

I don't understand the comment then don't make tubulars. I see a number of tubular options for vittora. the replacement for the green pave is the Corsa Control.

AFAIK, Vittoria never made a Paris Roubaix model... you're probably thinking Pavé... and the green sidewall is a badge of pride. I also really like the file tread pattern.

Yeah pave, my bad. I think it looks like I'm trying too hard to color coordinate with my bike.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...fe82f45479.jpg
Bates bar

they definitely are nice tires.
I rode in to work today. Foggy and misty in morning.

Thank you for the reply. :thumb:

I can get that noise at the valve if I don't follow directions and give the newly mounted tire a day or two to dry. I have pulled the tire away near the valve and injected more glue but now I wait.

Consider getting some Stans if the valves have removable cores(mine do). The base tape on Rallys is a ***** to remove when patching a tube. A Vittoria Corsa spare will introduce you to nice tires and be an ok match to your Rallys. Get a pair if you see a deal. I think the Continentals have the fewest QC issues. Gatorskins ride like Rallys and unless you ride gravel are not worth it. Regular Spinters are my go to and often on sale.

Anyone used Stan's in an FMB or Veloflex? It has been my experience that it ruins the latex tube in the long run. Someone else have experience to share?

I've used Stan's in Vittoria with latex tubes... no prob. Worked at least once... kind of... got me home at least.
Didn't work at least once.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...92f33b2f31.jpg


Next time I put on new tubulars, I'll cut one open to see what it's like. Here's one that didn't use any sealant.
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...5ad4df7fe1.jpg

My experience was it was all good for a while. Then go to pump up for a ride one day and sealant all over the place. Trip to Tire Alert followed.

Yes, I've used Stan's with Veloflex (and Dugast, Challenge, Vittoria, Continental, Ritchey, etc.). I've only had a problem with Stan's once on a tubular, and that was on a Vittoria Corsa G+. I got a blowout on the tire after running over some glass (loud pop and sudden loss of air). The tube sort of collapsed on itself and fused together along several sections, including the valve area. This prevented me from being able to apply my sealant or even pump up the tire to try to find the leak. I'm not 100% sure, but I believe the sealant that was already in the tube may have caused the issue once the blowout happened. Otherwise, I'm a happy Stan's consumer.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...b345fb45_k.jpgUntitled by gaucho777, on Flickr

Pulled out my fixed gear bike to ride today, and lo and behold, the rear tubular tire was flat. No sign of a sealant leak, so I couldn't determine where the puncture is. Nothing fancy; just a YJ "3 for $50" tire, but I've had good luck with those. This one is on its second or third season and still has decent tread. Felt like riding rather than dealing with it, so a swapped the tubular wheels for clincher wheels and went for a ride. When I got back, I squirted some more Stan's inside (not easy, as the valve cores aren't removable), pumped it up, swished it around, and still no obvious sealant leak. I'll keep checking, and if I find it, I'll position the wheel with the leak site down, so the sealant can pool there and plug the hole. Otherwise, if it's still holding pressure tomorrow, I'll put it back in service and hope for the best.

My understanding is that early formula Stans was not kind to latex tubes. But nowadays, there is nothing to worry about.

I've read that Caffélatex is good for latex tubes, it produces a foam. You can buy it in a little 60ml pouch that fits in a jersey pocket.

I've been putting Stans in Veloflex tires with latex tubes for several years now and have had no problem. The only would-not-fix problem I've had was a hole it would seal but not be able to hold the high pressure I like to ride. Still, it would hold enough to get me home.

I went ahead and picked up a pair of these this morning, seems like a stellar deal at $70/pair. Always liked the Panaracer clinchers I've owned, might as well try their tubulars at this price.

Day before yesterday had a flat out on the road on a tire that looked totally 100% good, and has been reliable. About 7 miles from home, and all I found in the tread were a couple of very small, almost imperceptible cuts in the tread with nothing to extract.

The old bottle of Stan's liquid latex was in the backpack and a very old spare. No glue, no tape.

Long story short = The liquid latex did not work, even with a 2nd larger shot of liquid; but the old tubular held out til home, but went flat soon thereafter.

I will post mortem this flat tire rather than just pitch it, to find what took it out so catastrophically and irreparably.

Luckily my wakeup call to be prepared with better spare and tape to hold it in place. Luckily I had a bunch of CO2 cartridges as I kept trying the Stan's, before going to spare tire.

Remember, after so many miles, those trusty old tires, ain't so trusty.

I don't use Stan's or any equivalent but I did start carrying more cartridges after have 2 flats (with replacement tube) and a loss of air during one 11 mile commute to work. Didn't want to be late. Fixed it at the desk later in the day and used my pump to get it good enough to get to work with 4 stops to pump up far enough and riding on the handlebars to reduce weight on the rear tire. Semi-slow leak.

OH! does this belong in the "I hate flat tires" thread?