Ok - most are using clinchers but what are the options for tubulars for tri and TT. Best combination of aero and low rolling. Wheels - flat Zipp disc rear and He’d Stinger 6 front on a Cervelo NP3.
Contenders?
Conti Podium 2 - sound good but latex tube? I know BMC uses but teams often have specials with latex.
Swalbe Ironman - rolling seems good - heard aero is very good but not in Swalbe catalog anymore - still NOS available
Conti GP 4000 tubular - as good as clincher? Latex tube?
Vittoria Graphene Speed - latex - chquick - marketing - check - glued on tread so aero???
Others? What would be the fastest for race day TTing?
Conti uses special butyl tubes in their higher end tubular, I would suspect they use the Supersonic tubes, even if I never confirmed that. The rolling resistance on these tubes is probably close to latex ones, as typical “light” butyl tubes have already been reported to close half the gap with latex ones, and Supersonic ones are another 20g lighter, therefore thinner, providing less Rolling resistance.
For pure TT, I would probably go Vittoria Corsa/Graphene. They do not last long and puncture after a few hundreds km (never managed to put more than 1200km on any of them), but they roll great, which is consitent with their ranking in Crr test results. I would only try the Corsa Crono in perfectly clean road condition.
My second choice might be Veloflex: a set of Carbon as a safe (&efficient) bet for long distance event, or Veloflex Record if the road is known to be perfectly clean.
Then I would consider a Conti. Podium for pure TT, and probably Competition for longer stuff.
You will find some info on older Tubulars in this table.
Choice will mainly depend on road condition and distance, it is almost a probability exercise… As for diameter, 22-24 is probably where you will find the best compromise between RR and Cda at TT speed with current rims, I would love to have data on that, but I don’t !
Lastly, make sure to glue them really well, at least 2x2(or3) layers of Vittoria Mastik. It has a dramatic impact on rolling resistance, and if it is a TT, you don’t care that you can’t get it out of the rim if you have a flat.
Aren’t Veloflex Carbons highly rated? I always used them for road racing, loved them. I seem to remember Lance Armstrong used to TT on them as well (yes, I know, we hate him, blah blah).
I’m using the Zipp Tangente SL 27 for my rear tire choice this season. Haven’t ridden it yet but going by Tom A’s data it should be fast. Up front I have one of the original Schwalbe Ironmans with the latex tube.
Yes, Veloflex Carbon are excellent Tubulars. They do not puncture easily, they last, they roll fast (enough). Probably the best tubular overall from a lot of guys’ perspective.
Nevertheless, from a pure performance standpoint, Vittoria Corsa are better, so are TT specific tubulars, but it comes at a cost : low durability and low puncture protection…
Yes, Veloflex Carbon are excellent Tubulars. They do not puncture easily, they last, they roll fast (enough). Probably the best tubular overall from a lot of guys’ perspective.
Nevertheless, from a pure performance standpoint, Vittoria Corsa are better, so are TT specific tubulars, but it comes at a cost : low durability and low puncture protection…
Whoops, sorry, I see now you mentioned them in your post!
Your comment about gluing them really well though…what about the folks doing 70.3 and full IM distance, that need to get them off the rim in the event of a flat!
Bring a large tire lever, sharpen a part of it (like a plastic knife) and use it to ‘cut’ the glue and get the tubular out of place.
Also, some guys leave about 2 inches unglued or lightly glued at the opposite of the valve, not a best practice from a safety standpoint, but it can help get it out.
I’ve been using the Chrono CS and Veloflex Record on my disk for the past few years and tend to wear them out before flatting. Since I just race on those wheels it’s usually a season and a half. Ok by me. I those are both around 20 mm plus or minus - I think the record was a little narrower, so that works well with the disk. On the front I think those are a little narrow for the newer rims and I think the glued on tread messes the aero up . I seem to remember some aero data on the record that wasn’t great.
Glue - Vittoria Mastik is the one - three layers rim, two on the base tape. Be really sure to get the first layer on a clean rim. A light sand with 120 then clean with acetone until no carbon dust on the cloth. I have first hand experience with others poor glue jobs ie - snap tire roll off while avoiding a crash - the resulting high side ( Beloki style ) was ugly.
Do the new Vittorias still have the latex coating on the base tape ?