There’s a thread going on about racing with tubular tires and a lot of great tips have been posted. I’ve been following it everyday since it was posted.
I got stuck with tubular wheels because I can’t afford clincher disc wheel. Zipp tubular disc and Zipp 808 tubular wheel were cheaper than clinchers so that’s what I have. Luckily, I’ve been racing with them for 3 years without getting any flats. I’ve been using Continental Gatorskin because of their puncture resistance. I average 22-23 mph in Sprint and Olympic Tris and am always in the lead pack when I ride with groups. Problem is I can really tell tires are heavy when I go for a long ride or do half IM race. Tires are wearing out, so it’s time to get new tires and move on from Gatorskin as many people suggested in above thread. I searched Slowtwitch, did my homework and narrowed down to these tires. What I want is fast with low rolling resistance and good puncture resistance. I know they don’t go together, but I want to buy the best possible ones this time around. Money is not an issue. I live in the U.S., so some tires in European market are not easy to find here. Tubular gurus, please help me out. I have two 70,3 races coming up in Sep and Oct, so I want to get the tires, mounted and train as much as I can. Thanks in advance!!!
Vittoria Corsa Speed G+ Tubular 700x25mm $75.99
Continental Podium TT Tubular 700x25mm $67.77
Zipp Tangente SL Speed Tubular 700x24mm $78
Continental Sprinter Tubular 700x25mm $44.99
CONTINENTAL Competition Tubular 700x25mm $65.21
Continental Attack+Force Comp Black Chili tubular $130.50 (two tires front and back, so $65 each)
P.S.: Price is the lowest I could find when I googled. I have 2015 Cervelo P2(white frame with blue logo) and Gatorskin 700x25mm tires fit well.
I would honestly skip Conti, no latex tube unless you go to their track tires (tempo or saunderklass)
I have actually rode a tempo in racing, it is a beautiful tire, but look at it the wrong way and it flats.
Basically I (we) have been racing the G+ tubular for about 3 years, before A race every year I swap them out and use the old ones for training.
For a narrow rim I have used the Schwalbe IM, it appears to sit tall and skinny compared to others and have found it the best (least bad) tire for something like older tri-spoke or Shamal. They switched to butyl about 3 years ago though.
IMO your choices are getting limited, attack/force look good and maybe with conti’s thin butyl tube maybe you are only losing 3-4 watts total?
I have the Attack/Force combo on a wheelset and they’re great tires. Durable, and reasonably fast. I do a lot of training with the front wheel. The rear disc has approx. 150 km’s and still mint.
Corsa speed, only for race day IMO. These tires wear way too fast for a training/racing pair only. Same goes for Continental Podium IMO.
NOTE: I put my Continental combo in reverse order. I have the 24 mm in front, with a wide “U” shaped 56 mm carbon rim, and the 22 mm on the rear, on a Zipp 900 disc. I figured it was the best way to match rim surface that way.
Maurice,
Thanks for your input. I will consider your recommendations. They do test some tubular tires. Go to below website and you will see total 5 tubular tires tested.
Vittoria Corsa Speed G+ Tubular
→ Many people say it’s not durable.
Continental Podium TT Tubular
→ I’m leaning toward this one.
Zipp Tangente SL Speed Tubular
→ Not many reviews are out there. I use Zipp Turbo for my road bike, so I have good experience with Zipp tires, but don’t know about their tubular.
Continental Sprinter Tubular
→ I can find many good reviews because they are cheap and good, but I don’t know how they are compared to Podium TT.
CONTINENTAL Competition Tubular
→ I’ve seen some decent reviews on this.
Continental Attack+Force Comp Black Chili
→ Reviews are good, but again are they better than above Conti tires?
I would consider the new Veloflex Service Course 25 mm in there ( or Servizio Corse if you prefer tan sidewalls). https://www.veloflex.it/ww/tubular-tire-service-course
NOt as fast as their dedicated TT tubs ( Record 22 mm), but very high quality tubs !! Despite having latex tubes they hold air for days ( I was very surprised when I checked mine after 2 days without using them) !! Vittoria Corsa G+ lose lots of air.
I don’t know how long you have to let your bike sit in the transition area without touching it, but for me personnally, Vittoria is out.
I would consider the new Veloflex Service Course 25 mm in there ( or Servizio Corse if you prefer tan sidewalls). https://www.veloflex.it/…-tire-service-course
NOt as fast as their dedicated TT tubs ( Record 22 mm), but very high quality tubs !! Despite having latex tubes they hold air for days ( I was very surprised when I checked mine after 2 days without using them) !! Vittoria Corsa G+ lose lots of air.
I don’t know how long you have to let your bike sit in the transition area without touching it, but for me personnally, Vittoria is out.
Louis
I searched and the company is in Italy and not easy to buy this tire online.
Where did you get yours from? This is only store I’ve found so far.
Track tubular tires are fast, but most of them don’t even have a calicot (basically a cotton or fabric ( Continental has Vectran wich is a polyester) strip) layer to prevent punctures.
I wouldn’t use it on anything but wooden tracks.
Podium TT would be a better choice IMO . At $67. it’s a very good price IMO !!
Vittoria Corsa Speed G+ Tubular
→ Many people say it’s not durable.
Continental Podium TT Tubular
→ I’m leaning toward this one.
Zipp Tangente SL Speed Tubular
→ Not many reviews are out there. I use Zipp Turbo for my road bike, so I have good experience with Zipp tires, but don’t know about their tubular.
Continental Sprinter Tubular
→ I can find many good reviews because they are cheap and good, but I don’t know how they are compared to Podium TT.
CONTINENTAL Competition Tubular
→ I’ve seen some decent reviews on this.
Continental Attack+Force Comp Black Chili
→ Reviews are good, but again are they better than above Conti tires?
The 27 tests near the top clincher while the 24 gives up a few watts on it. You can probably compare how the BRR tubular tests compare by cross referencing the clinchers tested by both (though BRR uses butyl tubes in clinchers while TA uses latex).
Track tubular tires are fast, but most of them don’t even have a calicot (basically a cotton or fabric ( Continental has Vectran wich is a polyester) strip) layer to prevent punctures.
I wouldn’t use it on anything but wooden tracks.
Podium TT would be a better choice IMO . At $67. it’s a very good price IMO !!
The latex tube is what you want though. And the Supersonic doesn’t have any anti-puncture strip either. I run track tires on chipseal roads, FWIW… so long as I can stay off the shoulder. I’ve never gotten a flat.
