Tubs

Tubs. Yes or no?

Ridden them a couple of times and they are leagues above clinchers but are they worth the hassle? Are they much hassle?

same here as have used a couple of old tubs and sprint equipped bikes but never tried using better quality new ones .

I am going for tubs for my current build .

going to order some Vittoria , the cheap ones on ebay .

rims are GP4 .

and i am going to use rim tape , a lot easier than glue . thinking of opening the valve and squirting some latex inside in case of puncture . not sure if that would work .

btw , was on Sheppey today for work , , but still managed a nice ride .

I could see Sheppey on my ride today but didn't brave it over the bridge (beyond there be monsters).

I ride on tubulars and am currently using Continental Sprints. They're pretty good and stick well in the wet.

I'm looking at Continental Grand Prix or Competition as they have better puncture barriers, but the price is high. I do get a lot of punctures as the road margins have a lot of flint in them, which washes onto the road in rain.

As for the poseur aspect the bike looks pretty good with a tubular wrapped up under the saddle

And a big plus secondhand tubular rimmed wheels are cheap,cheap,cheap at the moment. I've been stocking up on those on ebay and I've got some great wheels for around the £100-130.00 mark.
Got some little used Mavic OR10 on Record hubs last week with brand new Conti Sprints for £130.00 all up inc. skewers & regina Oro 6 speed block. Bargain!
Hassle wise, they are a pain in the nether regions to repair a puncture.

If you only have one set of wheels then stick with clinchers, but if you have more than one set, tubs are fine - they're not really a hassle, just more time consuming.

When I was a lad it was (almost) all we had. We rode tubs all year - except of course, those diehards who insisted on still riding heavy 27" wheels and tyres (they also probably had a brick in their saddlebag for extra training). Winter was heavy 14-16oz monsters (which still punctured), summer training was on 10-12oz ones and general racing on 8-10oz ones with - if you were rich - a 'special pair of wheels' with 6-8oz ones. Most people used Dunlop cement, Clement Red was used by a minority of riders. I didn't like it and stuck (pun!!!) with Dunlop - and still do as I have a tin that is still usable. However, I have used tape in recent years which seems OK.

Tubs do give a ride that seems to be more 'lively' but whether this translates into extra performance compared to modern clinchers such as Ultremo ZX etc., I'm still not sure.

My 'retro/old skool' racing is generally on tubs (Rallye's, Giro's - nothing fancy) but 'modern' is on clinchers. I go a lot faster modern - but that is probably because of tri-bars etc. not the tyres.

In the good old days sunday runs were viable on tubs as we all carried one so evn a bothender puncture didn't matter. Funnily enough I had fewer punctures with tubs. I have never thrown one away that wasn't cracked through to the inner ( I keep them for years in case they get better!) and have never paid to have one mended yet don't suppose I have done more than a dozen in 30 years.

Am I the only one who worries about blowouts on clinchers on fast down hills having had rear one wrap itself around a hub once. Tubs don't do that which is why I have a yearning to go back.