[Closed] Tubular tyres for CX

Like you say the pros out weigh the cons.
That's assuming it's for out and out racing.
Money wise it's a no brainer, that said I wouldn't bother as no amount of goods will lift me from top 30 to top 10.

Should of said its never going to be raced
The bike is going to be a winter alternative to singlespeed
The rest of our group already have CX bikes
So you could say its for training only
But any gain our them ill take willingly

Personally, if it's for training then I'd stick with clinchers. If you puncture or roll the tub it will be a long walk home. You can put stans or Effetto Caffe Latex Sealant in the tyre but that won't prevent a split tyre.

I'm currently in the process of gluing my first tubs (Dugast Rhinos). The whole process is taking me five day's, including Aqualseal.

I've gone with tubs as I'm racing and getting fed up with not being able to run my tyres as low as I'd like when the conditions need it.

Tubs are fantastic and offer advantages over tubeless/clincher tyres, even if you're training rather than racing on cross like terrain then you're most likely love them.

Glueing etc is nowhere near as bad as people make it out to be.

Glueing etc is nowhere near as bad as people make it out to be.

I found the first layer a bit of a faff on a new tyre but last night the second layer took about 20 minutes. Fitting then tonight, but confident it will be relatively painless as the tyres are now well stretched.

I found using an old toothbrush the best way to apply glue to a tub.

Pre-stretching was critical otherwise the damn things just don't go on.

Don't do it anywhere near your lounge carpet/wooden flooring either 😀

I've been using disposable Acid Flux Brushes - £3 for 5 and Vittoria Mastic One.

Luckily we've just had some carpets fitted so I have loads of off cuts, perfect for gluing duties on the kitchen table. 🙂

Managed to glue my fingers together last night when I slipped and caught the brush the wrong end. Sticky stuff! 😀

5 days to glue/aqua seal really, anyway if your not racing then I really wouldn't bother with tubs as its A LOT of faff if you puncture. If I were you I'd just run a set of challenge open tubulars which are clinchers with latex tubes

As I said on the previous thread re:gluing tubs when I first used a set of (road) tubs a mechanic friend spent days meticulously gluing, taping, layering and fiddling with my tyres, which then 'rotated' on the rim when I rode them.

When I replaced them I followed the Conti instructions (layer of glue, leave an hour, tub on, done!), and they were fine!

I know Dugasts need Aquaseal and all that, but the Schwalbe's won't. For £200 that seems a bargain, if nothing else you'll get more than that for the wheels second hand, so you can have it as a discount on the frame!

If you are not racing then I see no point at all!
More expensive tyres, which will wear quickly if ridden on tarmac. Hassle of rolling, worry of punctures.

Makes perfect sense if racing. Makes no sense for general riding/training IMHO.

i wonder how many seconds faster tubs would make me when racing, if any, i didnt feel disadvantaged at the last race with the techy off camber on my clinchers, improvments in fitness, now thts a different matter, it aint the equipment you got its the fitness and experience.

Gluing my first set of tubulars on at the moment (Griffos). Does anyone know if its entirely necessary to wait the full 24hrs for the glue to go off before applying the last layers to the rim and tub before fitting? I would like to use them for this w/e's national trophy but I'd have to fit the tubs about 3hrs before the 24 are up in order for the final cure to complete before I can use them.

Edit: I'm using Continental glue.

Tubs are ace for cross racing and make it easy to build a really nice, light wheelset (my disc cross wheels weigh 1400g)
I'd only ever use them for racing though.

I've used tubs for cross for the last 15 years. They allow a nice light wheel set, they last a long time, you can run them at low pressures for grip and they're pretty easy to fit. Admittedly I use Tufo tubs but the advantage is noticeable over clinchers. I usually get about 2 years out of a set of tubs including about a dozen 50-60 mile Sunday jaunts out to the Surrey Hills and back, a 3 Peaks and about 10 cross races. I don't use the Tufo juice but put a scoop of Stans in instead and that works well for everything apart from unavoidable metal gashes.

Those Schwalbes aren't the sturdiest though so may puncture a bit sooner than you anticipate, is it such a good deal then if you have to buy another??

Re drying times. no need to wait the full 24hrs, Get them on and somewhere warm and they'll soon go off. I raced the Worlds in Zolder on a set that had been glued on at 9pm the night before due to a practice puncture.

50-60 mile Sunday jaunts out to the Surrey Hills and back

I'd love a set of tubs and always curious as to why more people don't run them recreationally. I realise they cost a fair chunk but if you factor cost of suspension then surely still cheaper than mtb? I know repairs are an issue but if you carried a pre glued spare then as 'easy' as sorting a normal puncture?

Or am I wayyyy off?

I race on nothing other than tubs, but I wouldn't choose to run tubs for recreation, I keep a set of clinchers for that.

Most tubs are designed to be light and supple which is what makes them great race treads but they're just not that strong, also very expensive to replace.

Finally got my tubs on. I've got them pretty straight, looking along the tread when I spin the wheel. BUT, I'll be bugger-ed if I can get the humps out. Spinning the wheel I can see the tub rise, especially as the valve, and fall. I've faffed around until I'm blue in the face but can't get a perfectly round fit. I suppose if I'm going to run them around 1.5 to 2 bar its not going to be noticeable in the mud. Is there a trick to getting a perfectly round fit?

Right.. i need to get involved in this gluing procedure.

I've got these

[img] [/img]

I got them in white because they were cheaper believe it or not. So i've seen the crossjunkie vid

and [url= http://crossjunkie.blogspot.co.uk/2008/08/gluing-cross-tubulars.html ]description[/url]

But then [url= http://velonews.competitor.com/2010/10/news/cyclocross/technical-qa-with-lennard-zinn-getting-those-cross-tires-on-right_101235 ]Leonard Zinn suggests using belgian tape[/url]

" Using glue and “Belgian” tubular tape was suggested to me by Stu Thorne, owner of Cyclocrossworld.com and mechanic to Tim Johnson, Jeremy Powers, and Jamey Driscoll, and it really holds the tire on"

?

I thought about the Stu Thorne method bit in the end I went with just glue. I put three layers on in total and used Vittoria Mastic One. I've only had one race on them and I didn't roll the tub so I guess it worked. 🙂

Excellent. Another Bristol racer is using the crossjunkie method above and it's worked for him also. Bets get buying some glue and try and not get high 🙂

Flux brushes are perfect for applying the glue too. [url= http://www.bamfordtrading.com/products/105878-silverline-105878-solder-flux-brushes-5pk.html ]Clicky[/url]

Utter madness.

Utter madness.

❓ ❓ ❓

Can someone actually describe for me what you would do if you puncture miles from home on a recreational ride?
Also, how likely is it to puncture?

I wouldn't as I only use them for racing.

I've ridden tubs since 96, and they're almost always fine. I do use Tufo and put a scoop of Stans in, and they're very reliable. As I've said before my standard non racing cross ride is from west London out to the Surrey Hills - over Ranmore, Leith, Holmbury, Pitch, back over Ranmore back to west London. Sometimes the other way round and back in along Stane Street.

Utter madness.

Clearly someone who knows nothing about cyclocross or the purpose of tubs

Where can you get the Belgian tape in the uk?? The velox stuff is not the same as the stuff from cyclocross world, I was hoping I could avoid having to get it posted from the states. Cheers

[url= http://www.zepnat.com/component/page,shop.product_details/flypage,shop.flypage/product_id,477/category_id,73/manufacturer_id,0/option,com_virtuemart/Itemid,48/ ]Clicky?[/url]
Edit; Ignore, realise this is the stuff you don't want.

Can someone actually describe for me what you would do if you puncture miles from home on a recreational ride?

Well, if that's the only hassle, why do so many people say they race on them but wouldn't consider recreational rides on them?

I'm not stirring, just wondering prior to purchase of a cross bike.
It it common to puncture two tubs on one ride? Or just not worth the hassle of having to glue up another tyre when you get home?

I'd love to see anyone change a tub 30 miles from home in the pouring rain.
Not only are you wrestling with a dirty wet tyre that is hopefully stuck well to the rim, then you've got to fit the new one and hope to god it stays on on every corner all the way home.

Tubs are retro fashion.
Unless you use shellac, they have worse rolling resistance than clinchers. The only advantage is the ability to run them at low pressures in muddy races.

OK. Have you ever ridden with tubs?

Yes.

Crikey has no idea .
My genration of road riders had the choice of dirty great 27" clinchers or tubs. We soon ended up using our TT wheels all the time.
Glue not tape and you have a decent surface to stick to. Your spare is a used one so has a tacky surface and you store it rolled so that its sticky to sticky and wrapped. All you mates have 1 so even a double puncture is no issue.
Tubs do mean that compression punctures will be a lot less likely and I find that "rough stuffing" lends itself to those rather than glass and nails. You will puncture less and change nearly as fast. Repairs are slower of course but have a go rather than wasting money paying some one else.
Biggest problem. Cost by a long way.

[i]Crikey has no idea[/i] 🙄

Crikey has been riding and racing road bikes for a long time, and knows that the current resurgence in tubs owes more to fashion than function.

Tubs are more hassle to fit.
Tubs have no performance advantage over clinchers.
Tubs are a pain in the bum when you puncture and have to change one.

The only thing they do is stay on better at low pressures, so they work for cross and work for fully supported road racing.

I ride clinchers. I've had 6 punctures this year, two at once on the road, which would have needed a lift home if I'd been on tubs, and two at once on my cross bike, again needing a lift home.