Definitely possible to have a blow out with a tubular. Or to puncture or pinch flat.

Despite some popular misinformation, your chances are roughly equal on tubulars and clinchers providing they have the same type of tube (latex or butyl). The main reason people think clinchers flat more easily (especially pinch flats) is that most people riding clinchers use butyl in them. Bad choice.

I've been riding tubulars longer than most of you have been riding bikes. You can definitely have a blow out with a tubular. When it has happened to me, it was just like a blow out with a clincher, a loud pop followed by a medium to slow speed deflation.I guess I've been lucky, because it has always been a rear wheel blow out and didn't effect steering to a stop.

I have heard of people melting the glue by lots of braking on descents and then rolling the tire off. Never seen it happen.

a timely post for me as I had a front tub blow out yesterday,

conti competition, on a freshly stoned road ( in the uk they have this habbit of just throwing down some tar and chucking a load of loose chippings on top then coming back a week or slo later and sweeping up whats left...) walking pace, recived a sidewal cut and deflated... changed that for my spare (vttoria rally ) and about 1 mile later had a catastrophic blow out, sounded like a gunshot, result gravel rash and stiches to the knee...

conclusion, next time get off and carry the bike!

the potential for a flat from a road hazard is the same, the potential for a "pinch" flat,is greatly reduced or almost eliminated with Tubies, as for tube material, a latex tube tends to be less prone to flats especially if the tube is a size up, say a 25-?? tube in a 22 tire, think how easy it is to pop a balloon stretched to the max vs one not fully stretched, the thing i have observed most is many cyclist don't watch tire pressure, i pump before every ride, 115 lbs for me, but if i rode at 85 lbs i would be more prone to a snake bite, since the tube in a Tubular tire is vulcanized and sewn into the tire casing the potential i reduced of pinching at lower pressure. in Cyclocross you i can run 28 psi in my "tubies" but have to run 38+ in clinchers or i will flat even with latex tubes, But for Tri, i love Latex tubes, but keep in mind latex tubes leak quite fast compared to Butyl. Just my $0.02

Maybe if you have a few too many drinks, it's late, one thing leads to another...

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float , hammer , and jog

Huh. I figured it would be someone like Duffy or blep.

Q: How can you tell which tubular on your bike has been blown?
A: It's the one with the big shit eating grin.

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Live long and surf!

Ok, more specifically, is it possible to explode your tire from heating of the brake track?( a la carbon clincher).

Ok, more specifically, is it possible to explode your tire from heating of the brake track?( a la carbon clincher).

No, the glue melts and the tire comes off instead. Same result.

I doubt a clincher tire bead would come off the rim either if it was installed properly, and the rim hook was decent.

Alright. So on a 1 mile descent, would it be best to

Drag brakes.

Brake all at the bottom.

Consistently pump my brakes getting close to end.

I had a blowout on a high speed descent. Front tire. Did not crash. But man it scared the crap out of me.

Just coast?

If you are worried about your rims/tires/skin more than speed, I think the best bet would be to go slow and alternate on the way down.

Tubie?

I want speed with minimal risk. As in, I want to break 80+kph this year(previously limited with good hills and small mass) but want to stop at the bottom in the safest, most effective way.

By my definition, you have had flat tires.

To me (and I've had this happen twice) with a blowout, there is a load bang of a pop. Deflation is instantaneous (even faster than a wife can fly off the handle!). The result is a (clincher) tire with a tear in it. The tube either has a long tear also, or there is a star shaped explosion hole.

I was riding a century ride years ago and there was a distinctive loud bang/pop, followed almost instantly by a metallic bang as the rim hit the road. It was the guy beside me thankfully. He asked WTF was that? I replied "your back wheel". Yes, he was fairly new to riding. :-)

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TriDork

"Happiness is a myth. All you can hope for is to get laid once in a while, drunk once in a while and to eat chocolate every day"

Wasn't this what happened to Joseba Beloki in that horrific crash in the Tour a few years ago? Or did his just come unglued? Not an expert on tubulars.

I misread the thread title as "attire".

Beloki's rear wheel lost traction and slipped/bounced sideways. When the tire made contact with the road surface, it remained there while the wheel kept moving until the tire pulled off the rim, his rim hit the surface and he he high-sided it to his detriment.

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"Go yell at an M&M"

I've heard that before, but I'm pretty sure it's not true. Pinch flats are equally likely with clinchers and tubulars, assuming that both contain latex. Both are the same size (e.r.d.), and the shape of the rim shouldn't matter: to "cut" a tube a clincher rim would have to cut through the tire itself, and this doesn't happen. Instead, blunt pressure of the tube bottomed out on the rim tears the tube. Think hammer, not knife.

Watch a pro race, or even better a pro cyclocross race: flats on tubulars routinely, and they're not punctures, they're pinchflats.