Search.... there are probably 10000 posts on this.

I'll just toss this out.

I, for one, can change a normally glued tubie far faster than I can a clincher.

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"you know, aero trumps training ;-) "
R10C 10/09

Tubies are actually easier and faster to change when you flat in a race. The wheels and tires are lighter. The can hold higher pressure on occaisons where it is needed. Clinchers have improved to the point where performance is probably equal, and the subject of much ST debate.

Personally, I still like tubies.

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David
* Ironman for Life! (Blog) * IM Everyday Hero Video * Daggett Shuler Law *
Disclaimer: I have personal and professional relationships with many athletes, vendors, and organizations in the triathlon world.

Tubies rarely, if ever, pinch flat.
Faster to change.
You can ride them quite a distance while flat.

(I ride clinchers.)

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_________________
Dick

Take everything I say with a grain of salt. I know nothing.

There may be 10000 posts on here and hundreds of thousands of posts all over the internet if you Google it up but why be a douche bag about it? There will be zero questions and zero discussions on ST going forward if the answers to everything is "search." If you don't want to answer the question don't.

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__________________________________________________________________________
My marathon PR is "under three, high twos. I had a two hour and fifty-something."

Or you could figure out that this question has been answered so many times its mind numbing for people to continue to post the exact same question about it.

Or you could just not be a douche about it, like zoom said.

A lot is tradition because 20 years ago there was almost no such thing as a race quality clincher. A lot is personal taste, which won't be resolved by quantitative debate. Tubulars offer a significant weight advantage which is more important for road racing than TT/Triathlon. Tubulars are less prone to pinch flats because the tube is fully encased in the casing. Tubulars are much more time and labor intensive to mount properly in the shop/home. Some say on the road changes are faster than clinchers, some don't. A tube is less heavy/bulky to carry than a tire. Everything else is a matter of debate.

I ride clinchers for the convenience, but I recently bought one (front) tubular for TTs. I don't care much about weight, and I'd be wary of hard turns on any tubular applied on the road after a flat, but... for TTs flatting is a non-issue: if I flat I lose. Plus, with deeper wheels tubulars tend to be more aero, especially with a cross wind. That said, I only went with the one tubular (after promising myself I was done with them) because I got a nice deal on it.

For reference I have Zipp 303's in both Tubular and Clincher. Same year, same hub, same spokes and comperable tires (although I suppose I could try the same version of tire in both clincher and tubie) so I suppose the comparison is about as fair as it gets. I greatly prefer riding the tubular version to the clincher. Some if it is due to the fact that the tubie is almost a pound lighter than the clincher, but I'm sure some has to do with the feel of the tire itself.
Honestly though on my tri bike it makes little difference since what I like about the tubulars is their responsiveness -or 'Jump' when accelerating. This plays a factor while road racing and in my enjoyment sprinting to and from stop signs on training rides, for the long steady grind of a Tri the clinchers are just as nice.

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This is your life, and it's ending one minute at a time. - Fight Club
Industry Brat.

Oh, and by the way, in 10+ years of road racing on clinchers I've only suffered a pinch flat once: a pothole at full speed (in a pack) pinch flatted the front wheel and broke both rims (without flatting the rear tire!). So while the "tubies don't pinch flat" argument is true, I really don't see it as much of an issue.

When I bought my wheels in 2006 (Blackwell Disc and 100 front), there were not many clincher disc choices. No Zipp, No Hed, the Renn had the 575 and Maderia, but they never returned my phone calls.

okay sorry didn't mean to offend the guy who has been here for 2 weeks...

oh please - douchebaggedness [not that this is an example of it really] is a time honored tradition, especially when it comes to clincher v tubbies.

thanks for the support of my non-douchebaggedness...

and just for my own personal support of my non-douchebaggedness. no one has mentioned that you can ride on tubulars when they are flat but you cant ride on clinchers...

that said

SEARCH lol

And to help out the OP - here is a similar question asked by some FNG back in 2006 ;-)

http://forum.slowtwitch.com/...t_reply;so=ASC;mh=25;

BS...that depends on the tire and the rim, and in both cases (tubular or clincher) continuing on a flat all depends on whether or not you care about damaging your rims.

If there's ONE thing that really bugs me about the tubular vs. clincher angst is the absolutism that some apply to their opinions...i.e. tubulars pinch flat less, clinchers don't "ride" as well, tubulars are "rounder", etc, etc....

Actually...if it weren't for the development of the deep carbon tubular rim, tubular tires would have probably died out long ago...

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http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/

Which only means that it would have higher rolling resistance than an equivalent clincher tire/tube setup...so yeah, the tubie won't slow down your flat change as compared to a clincher, but you'll be slower all the time you ride it. I'm not sure if I'd go with that tradeoff...

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http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/

Make it same tire AND tube type...and then have someone randomly put them on your bike and somehow prevent you from knowing which wheelset is on there...then get back to us ;-)

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http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/

You can read all of the pros and cons but I would never buy another tubular again. Too much hassle compared to clinchers.

Thank you all for the information and opinions, I appreciate it.

I fixed your post for you ;-)

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http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/

I think that you are underestimating the great role that tradition plays in the sport of cycling.*

*Ironically, triathletes like to lay claim to being innovators, but I see just as much emotional support for tubulars on this forum as on any purely cycling one.

So...what you're saying is my "probably" should have been a "possibly"? :-)

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http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/