As Keepers Tour crossed from dream to reality and routes over the cobblestones of Northern Europe were sketched out, with it came the familiar tingling in my fingertips and uneasy sensation at the base of my spine as my mind starts its irrevocable journey towards categorizing as mandatory an unnecessary indulgence. I was going to need a wheelset and tubular tires that were up to the job.
The folklore goes a long way towards that justification; Paris-Roubaix is the race where every trick of the trade is exploited to deliver riders safely to the finish. Equipment which usually carries riders for a season or more finds itself in the trash heap after a single day on in Hell – maybe good enough for training but certainly not be trusted for another race. Special wheels are built, and only the strongest tubulars are glued to the rims. Aldo Gios, De Vlaeminck’s mechanic, is said to have aged his tires in his wine cellar to allow the rubber to harden, making them more resistent to punctures.
Ignoring the possibility that there may be some difference in strength, speed, or skill with which the Pros ride over the Cobbles, it didn’t take me long to determine that it wasn’t so much a matter of wanting a set of tubulars for Keepers Tour, but that it was indeed my obligation. I have a responsibility, after all, to the attendees of trip that I not fall off my machine and bash my head open on a cobblestone. Messy, certainly, but it may also frame the event in a somewhat negative light, and I think we’d all like the opportunity to do this again some time. The only way to assure I don’t suffer some catastrophic equipment failure and jeopardize the trip was to build a set of wheels based on the same components the Pros select for the purpose, and line them in the same rubber they choose. Logical, really.
The seduction of symbols was the first phase, followed quickly by the art of building wheels. The final step was to procure the right tires for the job. FMB is perhaps the most revered name in hand-made tubular tires; inspection of photos of Roubaix will reveal the pale yellow or green sidewalls of the FMB Paris-Roubaix tire on many of the wheels bouncing over the cobbles – often rebadged on order to satisfy sponsorship obligations.
I needed a set, naturally.
The tires were ordered in December, as from January onward Francois (of Francois-Marie Boyaux from which FMB takes its name) becomes overburdened with orders from the teams riding Roubaix and indicated he wouldn’t have time to squeeze in an order from a nobody such as myself. They arrived in February, at which point they displaced a few bottles of wine to age in the darkest corner of our basement which doubles as our wine cellar. Having mounted another set of tubs on the wheels in order to bash the bejezus out of the wheels so as to make myself a little less certain that I buggered the wheel building process, they had to wait until this past week to be mounted.
They have not yet been ridden, but they certainly look the business.
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Gluing on a tubular tire is a glorious study in patience and settles beautifully in the intersection between art, science, and ritual. And the glue smells distressingly fantastic.
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View Comments
@mcsqueak
I carry a spare under my seat but I have also read something about some glue/plugger stuff that you put in the tire itself to seal up the hole. I have flatted before on tubs back "in the day" and I just rolled off the flat and put on the spare. Not really that hard at all. But I do need to look into the glue/plugger stuff as well.
@mcsqueak
That would be the the more negative aspects of tubular ownership that I've yet to experience. You could do a patch job in the field but you's have to unstitch the casing in the right spot, pop a patch on and restitch. Takes a bit of skill, apparently.
The other options are to have some sort of gloop sloshing around in your tubs in anticipation, squirt it in after the event or go for the old school spare strapped under the seat and hope that your glue job isn't too good and you can tear the punctured tub off the rim before riding home somewhat more gingerly on the spare.
@mcsqueak
@Buck Rogers
@Chris
I carry this stuff, and my buddy has used it to successfully get home.
http://www.tufonorthamerica.com/accessories.php
A bit easier than carrying a spare, but the downside is once you use it, you gain some weight in the tub.
Ah, interesting! I guess if you don't flat often (knock on carbon) then it's probably worth the risk/hassle for the better road feel.
I had my first opportunity to test Vittoria Pit Stop sealant last weekend having run over some nasty bit of debris on the road. I was told it will fix small punctures completely. It got me home but the tire wasn't holding pressure very well. Ended up having to replace the tire as I think the tube was pretty well trashed -- the damage must have been more than a simple hole. Should have the new tire glued up in the next day or so. I may do an autopsy on the dead tire to see what happened inside. It was a bit sad to be running clinchers this weekend and look forward to being back on the sew ups. Meanwhile I'll keep bringing the sealant, and also an extra preglued tire under the seat. Well worth any additional trouble.
The only downside to strapping a spare under the saddle is that if you are a bit of a short 'rse like me then there isn't much room for anything else that you might like to attach to the seat post. I've just got myself a new rear light in order to lengthen my available riding time. The battery is mounted onto the seat post with the spare tub strapped on over it but it has ended sticking out behind the saddle a bit which just looks a bit messy. Hopefully, I'll be able to sport it by folding it tighter.
@Buck Rogers
That's the exact hub/rim setup I've been lusting after for my cross bike (Chris King/HED Belgium). But unfortunately, Chris King doesn't make a rear disc hub that's 130mm wide. Maybe they'll roll out a model within the next three months while I save up the cash.
@G'rilla
@Buck Rogers
I too am eyeing that combo, though in the clincher version, as my Rule #58 breaking Neuvation M28s gave up the ghost with rim cracks after 3200km. Lesson learned - at least it was a relatively cheap one. I'll be going 32 spoke 3x from now on, like my my OpenPros. The road surfaces around here suck and they are just a lot more comfortable under my fat ass, especially when mounted with 25s, not to mention more durable. I intend to use them for road and move the OpenPros back to my CX bike though. I'd love to go tubular on them, but all my other rims are clinchers and I kind of like that I can swap all my wheelset/tire combos as needed. Perhaps someday I'll man up and do it.
Well Gents, I have made my first foray into the tubular world.
All told, the process wasn't too bad. I did mask off the brake track of the wheels just in case the mess got out of hand. I stretched and glued a spare before starting the others, and it resides in a jersey pocket for now. The ride quality is superb, and these wheels just beg for speed! Huge upgrade in my world.
@Velosophe
Welcome to the fold. Nice call on the skinwalls.