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Just pondering this as I watch this weeks world cup. Do amateurs that race on tubs have multiple sets of wheels with different tyres so you can swap depending on course conditions, or do you fit different tubs prior to going to the race? If you do swap tubs as needed, is it an easy thing to do potentially every week?
Multiple wheelsets. Usually a set of muds and a set of intermediates.
Changing tubs every week definitely not practical.
I'm not a tub rider but know plenty.
Most ran muds on the tubs and if it wasn't muddy ran clinchers with intermediates or files. Some had a mud set and an intermediate set but with two bikes that ended up with four wheels.
Most moving onto tubeless now as changing less of a faff. Also the season usually starts with one race on files, intermediates until it gets muddy then muds until the end of the season.
I just put the limus on all season and it's rarely wrong in the NW. Maybe if I was troubling the podium it would matter more but I can't remember a properly dry track in recent years. You also have the asymmetry of a CX mud tyre being only a slight disadvantage in intermediate conditions, but a dry / intermediate tyre is v bad in heavy conditions.
Swapping tubs on the reg would be a major hassle - aside from just the labour of it the tyre base tape would deteriorate with constant glueing / unglueing and good tubs are expensive. The wheel is not a big deal - you can clean that up like new quite easy.
Terreno wet on tub wheels. Spare/other conditions wheels are clincher tubeless and I’ll fit either Terreno wet/mix/dry on them depending on where the race is and what the weather has been doing. Some sandy courses like pembrey can be ridden on Terreno dry even after a soaking.
'best wheels' are tubs with something fast on (currently Michelin Jets, in green obvs) and then a spare set or two of clinchers for it its too muddy or the P-Fairy pays a visit
as above, changing tubs for the conditions looks like far too much of a faff, especially as my podium-bothering days aren't so much long gone as never really existed
I always fitted my CX tubs with a view they were on there ‘permanently’. If I wanted another set of tyres, I’d take another pair of wheels.