How big is too big? How soft is too soft?
The Rider is the best book ever written about Cycling. I don’t mean that figuratively, I literally mean that literally. I say this despite having had my hand in writing our own Book about Cycling. What makes this book great is not just the prose, which is immaculate, but the spirit of the Velominatus that permeates the work. My friend @ErikdR recently sent me a copy in the original Dutch and, to my amazement, the English translation loses very little of the subtext that most translations do. Still, some expressions as they are written in Dutch carry so much meaning that it is impossible to translate into a foreign tongue. This is the essential underlying art, the intangible essence that separates language from communication.
Early in the book, Krabbé rides a short warm-up and upon reaching his turn-around point, climbs off to answer the call of nature. As he remounts, he carefully wipes his tires clean before setting off back towards the start/finish line. I had never noticed that bit of the book before but the Dutch version used a particular turn of phrase that expressed, if not a love, then an unusual degree of care given to an inanimate object.
And I realized, at that moment, that Cyclists today don’t love their tires anymore; clinchers have desensitized us against the miracle of riding on a membrane supported only by air. Tubulars, on the other hand, make you work to appreciate their miracle. You have to huff some glue (technically that counts as a win-win), you have to align the tyre properly, you have to keep the glue off both the braking surface and the sidewall, which seems like a paradox to the uninitiated. Tubulars make you work for it, they help you appreciate that a tire isn’t a bit of disposable kit; it is a commitment towards mutual benefit.
I was raised like every other Merckx-fearing Velominatus: on a strict diet of Rule #5, long hours in the saddle, and 19mm tires pumped to the highest number the sidewall said to pump them to. Which was usually around 10 bar (150 psi). Simple physics: less surface area meant less friction, and everyone knows friction is an asshole.
Until the last few years, I’ve ridden 23mm tires at 8 bar, no questions asked. In the past few years, however, we’ve come to understand that lower pressures and wider tires provide some significant benefits, like being faster and more comfortable, to pick two. I have accepted this transition like a toddler “accepts” his vegetables.
Like Grandpa adjusting to color film in his camera, I have gradually moved towards wider tires at lower pressures. I’ve been experimenting with 25mm, 26mm, and 27mm tires for the last few seasons, pumped up anywhere from 6.5 to 8.5 bar. (On the cobbles in Northern Europe, I ride them at 5 to 5.5 bar, depending on the conditions.) Empirically, the difference in ride quality by tire pressure comes down first to the quality of the tire and its materials, the weight and riding style of the rider, countered by the road conditions.
Mileage may vary based on your weight and tire, but for now I’ve landed on 26mm tires at 7.5 bar. Now I’m just waiting for my order of Gianni’s Digital Lezyne pressure gauge to show up so I can really get down to business.
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I switched to 28s two years ago. The ride quality seemed perceptibly better and they were fast, or at least equal to the 25s they replaced. Last year when I picked up my newest bike it was suggested that I inflate my tires to no more than 7 bar. I took that advice and whether I am riding 25s or 28s the ride quality is wonderful. Evenually all of my rides will be fitted with 28s, but not before all of my 25s are gone (I do try to be frugal).
I will stick with clinchers. I am too lazy to do tubulars (I did ride thm when I was younger) and I just cannot get on board with road tubeless (I am not an early adopter).
@Oli
That's a lesson for us all:
Never post from your phone while driving, kids. Autocorrect and holding your coffee and steering with your knees is a recipe for making an ass of yourself while also, less importantly, endangering lives.
@Nate
Hence the need for some latex "tubas" (mentioned above).
@wilburrox
I had the same Ultegra wheels. Retired them two months ago when I overcooked a turn and went flying into a rock garden - the fuckers are so solid the front barely came out of true. While both tyres exploded, the bead was still in place. PS: This is your best friend - Conti 4Seasons come off (and on!) in seconds.
@RedRanger
Frank is on board for Heck of the North. That's not exactly a regular riding scenario.
For anything else, why castrate your tyre? In either case a puncture means a new tyre. On tubulars you anyway don't have the same pressure minimums (just note the pros at P-R), so why not a real tubular as god and Merckx intended? Rolling resistance is one hell of an issue if you're interested in going fast, and there's a pretty good correlation (and causal relation) between casing suppleness and rolling resistance - and a butyl-lined tyre will never be as supple as an identical latex, cotton or silk-cased one.
Tubeless makes sense for 'cross, probably for gravel. But as a road tyre, a tubeless tubular is just... odd. Anyone remember Tufo's old clincher-tubulars?
@frank @robsandy
2 years, 10,000 miles on gatorskins here in goathead country. One flat. I'm a believer.
@Justin
Moved to goathead country from cactus thorn country. Went gatorskins front and back a while ago and haven't gotten a single flat. More rolling resistance = stronger guns, and with skinny pins like mine I'll take all the help I can get.
@Owen
Okay, I was going to bitch you two out but then I used "the googles" to figure out what a goathead was.
Gatorskins still suck, but I can see why you might need them. Those things are nasty.
@Owen
I live in "everything is sharp and pointy country". Gatorskins work well, but are way to stiff for the crappy pavement. I have switched to GP 4000s and tubes with some Stan's. Best of both worlds, decent puncture resistance, good ride quality, and puncture resistance. Clean up sucks, but the ability to just squirt some more air in the tube and continue with my ride is worth it.
I suddenly got curious as to how Stan's in a latex tube would work, or is that counter productive?