So I was a bit bored and had a new ExcelSports bike catalogue on my desk…I wanted to compare a complete set of clincher wheels against a complete set of tubular wheels and their difference in total weight.
Clincher’s-
ZIPP 404’s- 1615g
Conti GP 4000 tires- 450g
Tube’s- 236g
1 spare tube- 118g
Total Clincher race set w/ spare tube- 2419g
Tubular’s-
ZIPP 404’s- 1136g
Conti GP 4000 tires- 540g
1 Spare Conti Tire- 270g
Total Tubular race set w/spare tire- 1946g
So you save 473g with tubulars vs. a comparable set of clinchers including the spare. That’s just a tad over 1lb. Am I missing anything additional? I found it interesting.
What are the odds of flatting when you’ve got tubulars versus clinchers? In the case you do flat, how much time will it take to change the clincher and how much time for the tubular?
What are the odds of flatting when you’ve got tubulars versus clinchers? In the case you do flat, how much time will it take to change the clincher and how much time for the tubular?
~Mitch
I’m not trying to advocate one over the other, I’m just playing with the numbers. I can say that I have flatted a tubular in a race and had it changed as fast if not a bit faster than my clincher training wheels, and that was on a rear ZIPP disc.
You’ve got it covered Bryan. Difference between a nice set of carbon aero wheels will be in the 1 lb. range total for everything on the wheels and spares.
It is less for regular box rims, but still well in favor of tubulars if you are just looking at the weight aspect.
What does a tube of glue weigh? Multiply times 4 for a wheelset. Voila. Well, voila as in close enough. I guess you could weigh an empty tube of glue if you really wanted to get precise…
You’ve got it covered Bryan. Difference between a nice set of carbon aero wheels will be in the 1 lb. range total for everything on the wheels and spares.
It is less for regular box rims, but still well in favor of tubulars if you are just looking at the weight aspect.
Hey Rick! I posted this on BT and commented you would love this thread.
What does a tube of glue weigh? Multiply times 4 for a wheelset. Voila. Well, voila as in close enough. I guess you could weigh an empty tube of glue if you really wanted to get precise…
The packaging for the glue weighs the most, probably. And when glue dries, it losses all it’s moisture which accounts for the bulk of it’s weight. Yes?
Hey Rick! I posted this on BT and commented you would love this thread.
Well, even if I could still post there I would have said something about “glue” and it would have been misconstrued as me being racist against adhesively-challenged-people and I would end upping getting banned …
tubies are probably preferable anywhere assuming that
you can glue it for the super low CRR
your strategy is quit if you flat or to just use sealant
total weight is lower, crr is lower, aerodynamics may be significantly better (if HED’s data can be believed, and depending on how awesome the aerowing TT is )
I like the Rappstar approach. Plan A is a can of sealant, Plan B involves a razor blade,a Tufo S3 lite and 15+ minutes of swearing.
Weight plus aerodynamic advantages make tubulars hard to overlook if your goal is to go for a podium or Kona slot. I have raced on tubulars a lot in over 20 years of Tri’s and road racing and have never (cross fingers) flatted in a race yet.
Try 65g tubes (or even less). That will save 159g.
Also, the Zipp clinchers are very heavy. If you’d looked at wheels with Edge 65 rims the difference is only 220g in the wheels, for a 259g savings. Now we are down to a 55g difference… not 473g.
Try 65g tubes (or even less). That will save 159g.
Also, the Zipp clinchers are very heavy. If you’d looked at wheels with Edge 65 rims the difference is only 220g in the wheels, for a 259g savings. Now we are down to a 55g difference… not 473g.
Try 65g tubes (or even less). That will save 159g.
Also, the Zipp clinchers are very heavy. If you’d looked at wheels with Edge 65 rims the difference is only 220g in the wheels, for a 259g savings. Now we are down to a 55g difference… not 473g.
1.65 rim - 350
Zipp - 410
2.65 rim - 435
65 clincher rim - 495
Zipp 505 (404 clincher) rim - 599
For whatever reason, they don’t scale with the different builds. You get 290g & 160g between tubular and clincher wheelsets on DT190 and 260g and 135g between wheelsets on the DT240. However, in neither case is the lightest wheelset as light as the Zipp 404 tubulars. So it’s really that the Zipps just have a larger differential. Zipp tubulars are lighter - as a wheelset - than EDGE (even the lighter hoop model) and Zipp clinchers are heavier.
However, that also doesn’t consider aerodynamics between Zipp vs. Edge either.
Yeah, and I wasn’t cherry picking the lightest options for either set, I choose the GP4000 because that’s what i have and the 404’s just because they are common.
