We can mimic the pros in many ways; kit, bikes, shaving our legs. Even if we’ll never ride like them, we can try (mostly in vain) to look like them. We’ll buy a piece of equipment because our favourite pro endorses it, or even adopt trends that the peloton have, such as alloy classic bend bars, slamming a 140mm stem, or putting those plastic sticky things across the bridge of our noses (yep, I actually did this in the mid 90’s when Tinker Juarez was rocking them on the mtb World Cup circuit. It didnt help a bit, and I looked like a twat). There are many pro traits that are certainly frowned upon and should never be attempted, like wearing the rainbow bands or maillot jaune. Then there are things we would love to be able to do, like snort cocaine with 18 yo models, but there’s as much chance of that as Cav finishing the Vuelta. And finally, there’s things that we can do, but are probably too cautious or conservative to do.
Like running tubs.
We know that every pro bike has the tyres glued to the rims, but how many of us actually own a set of tubs? How many would like to own a set? How many get the fear of Merckx put up them at the mere thought of getting caught miles from home with a flat? Ok, I hear you say, they’re only for racing, but how many of us are good enough to benefit from the reduced chance of a pinch flat on the cobbles, or the decreased rolling resistance from a 100 gram weight saving? I’m not seeing many hands… anyone, anyone? But still, I want some!
I’ve been on a mission to find a light set of wheels for Il Profetta, and scouring eBay and TradeMe has coughed up quite a few sets of tubs. Some going pretty cheap too. Several times I’ve been poised to push the ‘buy now’ button, but like a kid too scared to jump into the river from the highest bridge in town, I keep pulling back from the edge. It’s like, I might hit the water wrong and break my neck, but probably won’t. At worst, my shorts might fall down while scrabbling back up the bank to dry land, with the other kids pointing and laughing. It’s a risk I’m not willing to take. Clinchers are like having extra-strong elastic in the trunks, plus a drawstring for back up. Tubs on a punter’s bike are like a pair of Speedos on a fat bastard.
Just as I was ready to give up the idea of tubs altogether, we received an impassioned email out of the blue from an enthusiastic sew-up fan going by the moniker of “Tubolari”. He suggested in no uncertain terms that it was less than hardcore to ride clinchers or even to use tyre levers to remove them. The most surprising thing was, he wasn’t a grizzled old Italian mechanic or former Belgian domestique, but has only been riding for a year. Is it merely a case of wet-behind-the-ears zeal, or is he onto something? Should we all be digging out under the house and storing a stash of tubulars in there to age them? Let’s see…
Tubolari’s reasons for riding tubulars:
- You get to say you ride tubulars with a smug grin.
- It is an appropriate procedure to simply ask for tubulars in determining whether or not a bike shop is a REAL bike shop even if you don’t plan on buying tubulars.
- Tubulars are generally relegated to the lightly used sections of a store thus making you more hardcore because you need to blow dust off of the packaging just to read the specs that you’ve already read online.
- Personally, I use tape (Velox Jantex 76 Competition tubular tape) and that pretty much takes the hassle out of it. I think though, it makes me less hardcore than those who use glue.
- I love it when a machine breaks (tubbie flats), it shows that a machine is just as vulnerable as a human. I love to bring my machine back to working order like a doctor. It also gives me a reason to don my Campy cap and sing Italian tunes like in Breaking Away.
- Subjective qualities:
- I take a corner at speed with tubs (Gommitalia Challenge $30 a pop) and feel the bump (I begin to panic) but the tubbies have already deflected around the rock and I’m safe, I grin and press on.
- I take a corner at speed with clinchers (Continental Grand Prix 3000, $75 a pop) and feel the the bump (I begin to panic) and jump about what feels like half a foot sideways (I check my shorts, they are dry), I press on.
- I joined a charity ride as a volunteer (ride guide), I am the official tubular tire repair/changer mechanic and get my own car, walky talky and office. The office I use will be for participants to drop off their tires and wheels for spares so I can SAG them on the ride. Not bad for starting road biking last year right?
- Piling spare tubs in your jersey gives others a conversation piece when on tours with your local club.
- Merckx rode tubulars so it seems only fitting ;).
- Tubulars are like wine, you like some, you don’t like others. Some go well with Steel and some go well with Carbon Fiber.
Some compelling points for sure, and it’s hard to argue with his passion. Or is it? Keeper Gianni loves an argument, and can refute the strongest of opinions with a sneer, or just by hitting the reply button;
Yeah, yeah, senor Tubolari, talk to me in a year when you have peeled off, opened up, patched, re-sewn, re-glued, and re-glued more a bunch of tubolaris. Sure you may get laid more often riding tubulars, but trying to get a girl’s bra off with all that tubasti glue on your mitts is tough.
I’ve done my time with them and moved on, tubless road clinchers is where I’m heading, the great beyond. Come with me.
Cheers, Gianni
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View Comments
@Minion
Ummm, nope, I've read that three times and I haven't the faintest clue what bit(s) of my post you're referring to...
Eddysboy said, rather mysteriously I thought, that you could train all day on tubs if you were under 175lbs. I asked him what was behind the weight limit and he replied that heavier riders wear stuff out faster - but that doesn't explain why its 175lbs not 150lbs or 166lbs and 11ounces.
As a 187lb rider (and 6'3") I demand to know !
@scaler911
I've made that call before. Ha ha ha!
@all
predictably unsound advice, especially about the phone call, thanks
I just assumed they must be massive compared to a spare inner tube, which I stuff down the front of my shorts, but then I guess I could always wrap it around my body like they did in the 30s
I also assumed that when you glued them on, they were meant to stay on, so getting them off would ruin the tyre, and leave a mess on the rim, so you couldn't stick another one on
That said, they do look the cat's pyjamas, and I must try them out sometime, if nothing else to feel intellectually superior
@Jeff in PetroMetro
Ha, thankfully I've only made one call so far, and it's because I had gone further away from home than planned, and down a rather large hill (Scaler: Went down Cornelius Pass Rd into Washington Co. by mistake a few weeks ago, instead of OLD Cornelius Pass Rd... whoops, bit of a difference there) so I was clearly not going to make it back home by the time I had originally estimated. I just had to let her know that no, I don't need a ride, but I'm going to miss our previously scheduled appointment by a bit of a margin...
Unless I injured myself badly or wrecked my bike too bad to ride it, I'd feel a bit silly calling home. Especially for something such as a tire.
@Minion
I have image of fighting with a roll of Cellotape - or does this glue know what to stick to and what not to stick to
Would feel understandably anxious about shoving a pre-glued tyre down my shorts, unless they come in natural skin colour, in which case that might prove positively advantageous
I ride Hutchinson Fusion 2's on a road tubeless set up. It rolls smoothly and doesn't flat (knock on wood).
@mcsqueak
would seem a brave move to phone and ask for a ride - bad enough you need her to come and collect you in the first place......you USA lot are so direct
..... but then you USA lot think an arse is called a fanny, which would of course cause all sorts of confusion with a European lady
@harminator, @Oli, @fasthair
Indeed it was a TT. I had also ordered new aero race gloves (which I rode on Haleakala) but they didn't arrive on time. I was obviously devastated by this and the knowledge that my hands weren't aero as I communed with butterflies weighed heavily on me. Heavy stuff.
Here's the bike on level ground (the shot of me climbing is on a steep little 17%-er. Strictly speaking, if the front is in compliance for the TT clause, then he rear is out of compliance.
@fasthair
You aren't risking public scorn for calling me out on anything. Certainly not from Officer Oli who, among other contributions around these parts, also finds that my spelling and grammar is the only on the site that requires correcting.
@ DrC
Of the flats I have had on tubulars on the road, none of them were the POP, CRACK and blow out like i have had w/clinchers, all of mine have been slow leaks, slow punctures and even 20k out i was able to limp home, plus one CO2 cartridge.
I have carried the spare on long rides when i would be out of touch for a while, and could have popped the tubular off, and even though it is surprising, you can pop a tubular off as quickly and put one on dry to limp home as quickly as a clincher. So, yes, they are glued on for a reason, but they can come off just the same. Makes sense, right? But so do clinchers and the rubber grabby thingy's that ethereally grab the rim conceptually until you dive into a corner. really, its all the same minutia to some degree, and now we are simply considering it all in fine detail.
I frankly agree and have no clue as to the wt issue someone brought up, i come in at ~165-170 and go through tires/chains/cassettes/etc fast as anyone, so perhaps there is a caveat there or...something
hope that clears things some...for now
@all
I'm in post-vacation dig-out so haven't had a chance to read the thread yet, so at the risk of dragging the conversation back to the subject of Tubs...
I'm currently riding Mavic Open Pros on my Campa hubs on the TSX. My winter-project ambition is to build these over into tubs. But as Bretto describes here, I am very wishy-washy about whether it's a good idea. I desperately want them, and also am feeling good about a Spring trip to Vlaanderen to ride the cobbles, where obvs the only option is 3-cross tubs; Zipps are staying home.
But do I dare ride them on Bike #2 during the rest of it's lifetime? I hardly ever (touch wood) get flats...so what's the risk? Very little, I suppose.
I've also recently made the switch to latex tubes in my Zipps. What a massive fucking difference that makes. The bike rolls so incredibly nicely with those...if that's even a taste of how tubs ride, there is a lot in it.
All my regular tubes are on the way out for latex lovelies...are my clinchers on the way out as well?