Clinchers w/tubes: carry spare tube or?
 

So my daughter has a bike with clinchers. I have always ridden tubulars, so what does one carry for flats with clinchers? A spare tube (or just a patch kit? ) and tire levers? Plus a pump or CO2 inflator of course. Im not even sure she would get the tire off! They are Vittoria Corsa 2.0 and a bit tight to lever on. Im not really sure what the benefit of clinchers are. Thanks in advance.
Robin

Yes to all.

You pretty much mentioned all the things different people do. So which does she want to do? I don't flat much. Less than once a year. I carry a spare tube and CO2 inflator... sometimes.

What ever she or you decide is best, just make sure she practices doing whatever is required a few times. Especially if you use a CO2 inflator. Some don't do what's expected when you puncture the cartridge. And in the heat and rush of trying to get back on the road they can frustrate a person.

There is also tubeless that can be considered. I'm not there yet and maybe to old to learn that new trick.

-if it's a local ride, then carry 1 spare tube, tire boot, 2 tire levers (get the big Pedro levers), CO2, and make sure she knows how to use all these.
-if it's centruy ride or remote, then in addition to the above, carry a patch kit (make sure she knows how to patch), extra CO2 cartridge
-always carry the phone, with a GPS tracking app if you're concerned about her whereabout (GPS tracking drains battery though)

Got it! Thanks all.
Just riding local.
As much as I hate taking that tire off and back on again, fearing pinching the tube, we had better do it.
I found the CO2 inflator easy to use,tho i was surprised how quickly the tire inflated. But, yes, better go over it.
Those Vittorias do ride nice, tho.
Best, Robin

Pump
Levers
Patch Kit
Tube
Tire Boot
.....and....... 3 feet of parachute cord

once those tires have some heated miles on them & were removed a few times, the effort to remove them gets easier. Which also might indicate the casing is breaking down too. Double edge sword with those. If she's not planning to go tubeless, I'd find a different tire that is easier to replace when servicing on the side of the road.

Benefit to clinchers is you don't need to be proficient at gluing a tire on a rim.

I'm sorry the tires are Corsa 2.0s, especially if they're Speeds. I'm not the only one here whose Corsas flatted after approximately 250 miles, making them by far the least durable clincher I've used. You may soon be patting yourself on the back for asking how to fix flats.

parachute cord??

Ok, thanks, but they are new. Date on box was April 2021. Nice and sticky and flexible.

Oh, Graphenes if thats any different. I can fix flats, but was not sure if you all carried a foldable spare tire! I seem to recall some small bottles of “flat fix” one could inject into tube, roll around, then *try* to inflate. Looks like carrying tools is what one has to do.
-Robin

What ?
You don't carry Parachute Cord... what are you thinking !
:)

When you try to install really tight tires that last 8-10" just wont go on the rim.
And it's too tight just to place a lever in the middle, so you have to go at it from one end.
Problem is the other end slips off the rim.
Tie one end of that last piece with parachute cord around the tire and rim and it wont slip. Make sure to bind it several times.
Now you can lever the last piece into the rim starting at the untied end using two levers.

It's the only way I can get Conti 5000's on my rims, and the 5000 TL's are even tighter.

Barry

Yeah the Corsa's are nice tires, I have or am currently running those tires on a couple bikes. I haven't used the 2.0s officially but have the original version and they are fantastic. They will stretch a little bit over time and become way easier to mount. For me they were a lot easier to mount than my Challenge open tubulars but now after some time the Challenge tires are easy enough to get off. Open Tubulars are like that. Some clinchers also have that problem as well but I find the open tubulars to be a bit tougher. Though actual sew-ups are not terribly different I have had a set of tubulars stretching for years (not really because I felt they needed to be stretched that long I just haven't had the time or energy to want to finish cleaning ancient glue from the the rims and glue them on so I have just let them sit and stretch in my living room.

I carry a patch kit (Rema Tip Top, accept no substitute) and a spare tube plus the other stuff needed to fix a flat:

15mm wrench (on bikes with nutted axles)
Tire levers
Small pump

I've never tried tubulars... clinchers seem to be a fairly user friendly technology and are the "devil known" for me, meaning that I'm familiar with their failure modes after 50 years of riding. AFAIK tubulars are limited to narrower tires, but I could be wrong about that.

I too love the Corsa G+ (the earlier pre-tubeless ready version of the Graphenes). (Although I will be going back to to dinosaur treads aka tubulars. Very likely still the Vittoria Gs. And my stash of clincher G+ are likely to last until I have the wheels to go tubular.) I rode Vittoria $15 cottons as training tires as a racer many moons ago under quite a variety of labels. I took the ribbed tread completely for granted. Then they disappeared in the early '80s and I never saw a ribbed tread again until the G+s. My all-time favorite tread. Got reminded first ride.

I carry - 2 tubes, patchkit, 2 tire irons (plastics? :)) and sometimes boots. I put the tubes in a sock. Protects them and makes stuffing them into the far end of the tool bag a lot easier.

I always make it a point to have 5 bills or more in my wallet. I've used that many to jury rig a boot for a huge tire slash to get home. Laundered them and spent as if new. (For big cuts, you can extend the bills past the beads so they get pinched down when the tire is mounted. Now they are acting as structural cord. US dollar bills are very strong, but here, using several is appropriate.) Those bills have bailed me out in other ways a time or two also.

I've heard the same stories as shared by the poster above re: flats and the G Speed tires. The regular Gs hae served me very well. They aren't magic. They still wear out and I still get flats but the combination of wear, flats, wonderful feel and grip in a tire that is not heavy - well I used to have to ride very expensive tubulars to get that. (I'm going back to tubbies for a very different reason - peace of mind. I've blown a clincher and had it come off the rim and jam in the seatstay. 25 mph. Collarbone, ribs, helmet on both sides and and acre of road rash. I don't want to do that at 40+ in this lifetime. By contrast, I've blown sewups at ~45 and it was so uneventful I do not remember when or where.)

2 tubes, 2 Michelin tyre levers and a pump.

Just do the right thing and get your daughter a tubular wheelset.

hahah! Yes, I am regretting that decision…..

Yup. That totally happened!

I carry at least one spare tube, and a patch kit. Spare tube is for when I need to fix a puncture quickly, like in inclement weather or if on the edge of a busy highway. Patch kit is for if I have more time, and to repaid any punctures later, which then become my spare tube.

I don’t think a chance encounter with a random piece of debris tells you anything about durability as much as it does luck.

That's exactly why I mentioned that it was hardly an isolated incident, but reported by enough others to make it a well-known deficiency in the tire. :rolleyes:

I don’t think getting a flat with a lightweight road racing tire— particularly one billed as race-day specific as the Corsa Speed is— is a deficiency either. Flats are random occurrences caused by debris on the road, and unless specific and extreme steps are taken to guard against them, they’re going to happen, no matter what, if you hit the right kind of debris in the right way. You can reduce them with thicker, heavier tread and more materials, but it’s silly to think that a tire billed as the lightest and fastest in its category, as the Corsa Speed is, is “deficient” if it flats on public roadways.