I am guessing a newer formula as I have not used Tubasti in 20 years.

Coleman fuel is petroleum naphtha - which is what paint thinner is supposed to be. I believe the california paint thinner has quite a bit of acetone.

I get Crown Camp Fuel for gasoline lanterns at Walmart - for about half the price of coleman fuel.

The tubasti I've been getting is white - but it still gets all over the place.

Thin and wet doesn't sound right. maybe separated? The stuff I've used is a bit thick - and you can spread a pretty thick layer, definitely not runny.

FWIW this was considered by many people to be the tourist glue, at least by the racing set. It stays sticky, so it's convenient if you get a flat. Still, I knew some good racers who preferred it. It is a lot thinner than Clement red was.

I used it once and rolled a tire, which soured me on it permanently. I only ever happened to me that one time. Given that I was 15 and not an experienced mechanic, improper application was at least partly to blame.

In retrospect, I think I'd put at least 3 coats on a new rim, maybe 4, and let the first two dry before the final sticky coat. Also put a coat on the tire. Let dry for longer than it says to on the tube. I'd physically test it by pulling on the tire to see how stuck it is.

I will try it out and post my findings here when I am done. I have 20 tubes of this stuff. LOL

Got to keep this thread going :)

OK as usual for me, I get a great bike cheap or free and then obsess over the build (in this case I was justified because the crankset was to small for me :) )

It is a an '84 team miyata and I am trying to bring it back to close to it's original appearance if not specs

In this case original means gum wall tubular.

I probably should bite the bullet. be done with it, etc and get the Corsa G+, but this is not my prime rider and I want to save some bucks.....

I would like to put a a little (or lot) less expensive tire on it.

Would prefer to have a removable valve core for sealant

or can sealant be forced in through a non-removable valve core? or just not bother and as they are cheap just get extra tires?

Any way the usual suspects at the low end with gumwall seem to be

Vittoria Rally
Continental Giro
Yellow Jacket 3 for 50

Thoughts, experience, invective?

thanks

YJ tubulars 3 for $50 have been surprisingly good. Mount straight, no lumps. Not as good a ride as the pricier tubs (like the Corsa G+) but for the price, hard to beat.

UPDATE: the YJ tubs are 23mm

I've used the Conti Giro and the Yellow Jersey sew-ups, and they've been functional. The Giro is probably a better tire, though.
Currently, I've got a Yellow Jersey tire as my spare.

Are the Conti Giro's still gumwall? I'm using the Sprinter on one bike, and it's progressed from dark brown sidewall (previous generation) to black sidewall. Too modern looking for my tastes.

Steve in Peoria

The Challenge Elite Pro Tubular is in the same ballpark price as the ones you have listed but no one has reported on them...
I have tried the Vittoria Rally and the Continental Giro and was less than impressed/

All budget tubulars have negatives. I have and use all the above but two not listed and my preference are:

Panaracer Practice 270 black/tan. Three for $90 should be the ballpark retail discount.

I've been getting them for less through a LBS (wholesale and when they place large restock orders)

Also consider Tufo S33 pro when on sale. Seem as if they were machined on a lathe. Butyl tube.

The YJ tires do have a vintage kind of look to them - they're narrow and intended for high pressure and ride hard... but I remember thinking that was cool in 1984.

And IME, they fail less than V or C brand cheapies.

Cheapies are good to just start with and get used to mounting tubs on rims and have an idea what the difference in ride is between most clinchers and tubs. But after graduating to higher quality tubs, I now just relegate my Rallys and Giros to spare tire duties, just to get me through a ride after a flat. The whole point of tubular tires is to get the best ride, and the cheapies just don't provide enough of an improvement over clinchers to make them worth it in the long run.

well I pulled the trigger.....trying the Challenge Elite Pro 25mm/removable core/black and tan at $28.99 from probike will report out

meanwhile I have a set of corsa g+ clinchers to installs

damn this addiction :)

I'd like to hear to how the Elite Pro's work out for you. I'll be building my first set of tubular wheels shortly, and this is the tire I'm leaning towards starting with. Either the Challenge Elite Pro or the Tufo S33 Pro.

That's how I read the riddle too. When I first considered tubulars the BF member who got me started rode cheapies but admitted they could be better. (One blew out on a ride we were on. Bang!!) Some other BF member once posted that life is too short to ride cheap tubulars. I've subscribed to that philosophy ever since. I wouldn't know what cheap tubulars are like but I doooo like the ride of good ones. My preference has been 23mm Veloflex Criteriums. High-end clinchers like the Veloflex Master can be quite tubular-like but still aren't the same.

One thing I don't get is the seeming binary aspect of tubies......ether high end and great or low end and adequate (or worse) from the same manufacturer. Seem like the should be some middle ground......

@squirtdad - I agree but..... Look at the thread count to begin with. Higher thread count => ride quality. Then add the additional construction features of multiple layers. The gap is often bridged with sales on the lower middle tires.

I suspect quality was more continuous BITD when more people rode sew--ups and there were relatively few (no?) good clinchers.

.
There's more to it than that. I did an event in January that had a good LBS as support and I asked them to check out my bike because I was getting some brake rub around the switchbacks. He told my my rims were shot and I needed new wheels... he was right. He told me he sells a lot of tubeless wheels that would give the same sweet quality ride as the tubulars I had on...but it is not just about the ride quality. There's a whole tubular experience that I enjoy. Built up my own new wheels a couple weeks later and I love them.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Ss...A=w353-h627-no

Maybe off-topic, but definitely refers to the market. Used tubulars are often a great buy.

Add in the sell-off of a lot of 8/9/10-speed wheelsets because they can't run 11-sp cassettes. (Except for many Mavics, for which used prices are increasing)
Add in that you can get an 11-sp cassette (11-32/34 only) that will run on 8/9/10 hubs.

Equaling some great deals on 8/9/10 tubular wheelsets that can be made to run 7-11 speeds.

I was looking on CL for just such things. Found some 10-sp Mavic SSL tubulars, and yep, they are about double what they were 3 years ago. Found some 10-sp Zipps and they were about half. Bought the Zipps, and the "tubular tired" seller threw in 2 pair of new carbon brake pads, 4 new tubular tires, all his valve extenders, tubular tape, sealant, etc.

The tubular market in used wheels is very, very nice to play in, and tires often come with 'em.

I love that you sometimes see 8-9-10-speed stuff on eBay in the vintage bike parts category. So not completely off-topic, Rob. :)