Originally Posted by
79pmooney
Fascinating. And, though he never mentions it, a really elegant argument for tubulars. Go to 18:00 on the video and look at his advantages for each, hooked and hookless. Tubulars have all of them. Any pressure that tire can handle. Rim simply isn't a factor. Road damage - as long as the rim is still a hoop, tire stays on. Yes, it does require a good glue or tape job, but we are talking a technology worked out completely 125 years ago. There is no flange that needs to stay more or less intact. No flange - easier and cheaper to make. Lighter. Much simpler from the molding, layup and QC angle. Virtually any tire can be run on any rim.
And yes, I know, such an observation is completely unacceptable here.
Not so much unacceptable as bemusing.
Might become a moot point soon, now that so few of the European pro teams are still using tubulars. Two? One?
I wonder how long it will be before manufacturers scale back on production. Just like manual transmissions in cars, tubulars won't disappear entirely, of course, since there's going to be a cosplay market for at least another decade or so. (Not referring to you, obviously. But most of the comparatively few riders on tubulars use them on vintage bikes that they ride only occasionally, it appears, doing most of their miles on more modern bikes.)