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Looking at getting a cross type bike for something different, want to be able to ride it on road as well as on bridle trails, gravel paths, etc.
Already have nice Planet X tubular wheels so want a tub tyre recommendation please. Doesn't need to handle mud when I t's muddy I'll be on the mtb
Would something like a vittoria cross xn roll ok on the road?
Most cx tubs would wear out very quickly with any road use, if it had to be tubs then a heavy winter trainer style might work.
If you are mostly riding gravel etc get the widest heaviest thing you can. Something meant for the Paris Roubaix maybe? I did have some file pattern CX tubs but they don't seem to exist any more.
To be honest with small width of road tubs mean that they cope with even deep mud well. you will only run out of grip standing up on slick stuff.
Like a Vittoria Pave CG? That's a 27mm, would that be ok on gravel?
Other one I wondered about was Schwalbe Sammy Slick - which is a file pattern. But I wondered if that would like be noisy on road and wear quickly
Tubular tyres for racing 'cross are great, but tubs for messing about in the countryside, not so great...
If you already have tubs, get someone to drive you 10 miles from home then ride about in the mud and try to change the tub as if you have a puncture. Then try riding home on the result.
Getting a well stuck tub off when it's wet and dirty and cold, then getting your spare tub on when it's wet and dirty and cold, then inflating it and riding on it is not an experience you'll want to repeat in a hurry.
For 'crossing about in the country, kind of XC lite, you are far better off using tyres and tubes.
Putting aside the issue of tub vs clincher, the topic is really what tread pattern would work best for combined road/gravel bridleway cycling - wouldn't really call it xc lite.
this:
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I use Griffos, but they are clinchers...
I have tried tubs off road and like crikey mentions, and I have experienced, they are rubbish to fix whilst on the trail. Cold glue, wet, mud, no way of cleaning the tub rim, no way of cleaning the tub itself, inflating them too soon before the glue has set...
All this you really must experiance in a winter environment to get the full frozen stubbed, cut, slippy, unable to grip sensations on your fingers.
You will change to clinchers quicker than McDonnalds can provide a Big Mac 😉
Sammy Slick it is then I guess. At least they're cheap by tub standards
Grifo XS?
Grifo looks good
Quite a few file tread CX tubulars out there - Dugast Pipistrello, Challenge Grifo XS, Vittoria XN, FMB Grifo Sprint, Tufo Dry plus... \
Though TBH I agree with crikey, for general use you are better off picking up a pair of cheap clincher wheels and tyres.
I always used to use Tufo Flexus Cubus for my riding - with a scoop of Stans in once mounted. They were very reliable - only let down by my sudden inability to stop them rolling off the rims at the New Years Day Madison (2 years in a row) after 15 years of not having any problems.