Duck! wrote:uart wrote:I know this has been discussed somewhere here before, but what do people consider the main advantages of tubulars/singles.
To my knowledge the main advantage is that they are less prone to pinch punctures, and so can be run at lower pressures. Is that about it?
That's moreso related to tubeless, not tubulars - very different.
Tubulars for starters are lighter by a decent bit. The rims don't have the extended & beefed up sidewalls that clinchers (including tubeless) need, and the tyres themselves are lighter as well because they don't have the beefed-up beads to hook into the rims. The sewn-together beadless construction makes the tyres more supple than equivalent clinchers, so will ride better for the same pressure. Being able to maintain a high pressure means there's less movement and friction between the tyre and tube, so less rolling resistance. Running at lower pressure will induce more squirm and increase rolling resistance in exactly the same manner as tubed clinchers.
Tubs are still not immune to pinch flats, although the rim cross-section does make it considerably less likely than clinchers.
What duck said.
uart you need to remember that this whole idea of running tyres at as low a pressure as possible only started a few years ago. Tubulars / singles have been the absolute premium tyre of choice for decades precisely because, being sewn up, you can inflate the things to 160/180psi without them exploding. In the olden days when singles reigned supreme, more pressure meant better rolling resistance. Pumping the things up to 120/130psi meant that they wouldnt pinch flat and were faster.
But the real reason tubulars used to have the advantage on clinchers was the weight advantage, as Duck said. Tubular rims are lighter and tubular tyres are lighter. Well they used to be anyway. These days clincher tyres and clincher rims are only marginally heavier ...the tubular advantage is now so small most racers use clinchers because clincher convenience trumps the minor performance advantage od tubulars.
Tubulars give a better ride, are more supple ...if you get a flat in an emergency situation (like going down a hill) you can ride on it as the tyre remains glued to the rim.
As for the question of riding on tubulars as a training tyre / general riding around, well the answer is quite simple. Tubulars are generally double the cost of clincher tyres, and you get one small puncture and you have to throw the thing away. They are fine if you have deep pockets. Most people I know, my son included, train on clincher wheels and tyres, and race on carbon wheels with tubular tyres. This is a throwback to the old days when cycling as a sport used to be a working class pastime, and bike riders were blue collar workers who did not have thousands of dollars to throw at bikes, bike clothing, or wheels and tyres. These days of course cycling is the new golf, and general riding around on Zipp 404s with Vittoria Corsas tubbies is considered quite normal, as is matching your tyre colour / bar tape / seat colour / clothing colour / brand etc