Originally Posted by
rapwithtom
I've got an unexpected opportunity to pick up some used Zipp 303 tubulars for cheap, Opinions appreciated...
Tubulars clearly offer higher performance. No contest. The rims are 100 grams lighter per, because they do not need the 2 hooks for the tire bead. Seriously, do any elite or pro level riders compete on clinchers? Training - maybe.
Tubulars are very much safer. In the last 40 years on the road, I have had multiple sudden deflation events. On tubulars the rubber flattens out and stays stuck on the rim. You have to straighten out your line, but you can ride a flat tubular for a good distance. My record is about a mile riding on a flat tubie. I would have ordinarily replaced the tire, but I was at the end of a ride; I could have gone much longer. The rim was completely fine after this. Try this on clinchers...
On a flat clincher, you are faced with a wriggling strip of rubber that threatens to jam into the brakes or stays. And you are faced with trying to slow down on the 2 metal rails of death.
Rolling a tubular tire... I've never done this, except when testing an unglued tire at a walking pace. My fault. I have never seen anyone else roll a tire, except when they were already going sideways and were doomed anyways. For example Beloki's big crash in the Tour a few years back. His fate was sealed well before the tire rolled.
Finally, pinch flats. Don't get these on tubulars, unless you hit something so big that it will knock your fillings out and kill the tire and the rim.