I’ve been thinking about trying Tufo tubular clinchers for racing…they look like they would a lot faster to change out in the event of a flat. Does anybody have any experience with these? Thanks in advance–
Spot
Read this thread: “I did the Tufo test today…drum roll…”. It will have all the info you want and more. Also, Ashburn has a thread about Tufos so you might want to check that one out as well.
greg
There are lots of posts on this if you give it a search.
They take some practice to get quick, however, once mastered, it is lightning fast to change them. In my experiences, they don’t really go flat to the point where you have to change them anyway. Especially if you use the sealant.
I saw that post, but I thought they were mainly talking about Tufo tubulars, not the Tufos that mount on a clincher rim.
Spot
Ive used the tufo tubular clincher tires since 2000 when I got a pinch flat in a duathlon with 5k to go on the bike, went from 2nd to 15th into the transition b/c of it. Since I have been using them, I have not had any pinch flats, or any flats for that matter and I go just as fast(avearge between 24&26mph) with them as I did with regular tires/ tubes (I used Conti GPs before the Tufos) they are very easy to change once they have been stretched out.
Despite the hype Conti GPs have relatively poor rolling resistance. Amazingly, Supersonics aren’t much better. Amazing how all the tire mfgrs claim low rolling resistance but no one substantiates it.
–jens
I bought a set to try out, and had a bitch of a time mounting them on my Zipp 404’s. Here are some lessons I learned the hard way.
Lesson #1 - pre-stretch the tire. Let them lie in the sun for a while, so they get nice and warm, and then stretch them out before mounting. Makes it a LOT easier. First try, I spen an hour trying to mount them before I gave up. After stretching, it took 10 minutes to mount both tires.
Lesson # 2 - Use the Tufo sealant as a preventative. Finally go mine mounted, went on a ride and promptly got a flat 50 minutes in when I ran over some glass. If I’d used the sealant, it probably would have at least gotten me home.
Lesson # 3 - DO NOT mount the Tufos on your deep rims before putting in the sealant, 'cause you can’t (maybe you can, but it seems to be a lot more difficult) put in the sealant once you’ve mounted the tires on your deep rims and used the valve extenders. So… mount them on your training wheels first. Use the sealant and then take 'em off your trainers and mount them on your deep rims.
Lesson # 4 - pre-stretch your spare if you plan to carry one in a race. You don’t want to spend 30 minutes trying to mount your spare in a race.
As for whether they’re faster or slower? I have no idea.
I’ve read some reviews on the Tufos that indicated the sealant didn’t work all that hot. What’s your experience with it…does it work as advertised? Thanks–
Spot
I haven’t flatted on mine with sealant. so… yes? Or I could just be really luck with my tufo’s.
"Jason, how did you get a pinch flat with tubie-clinchers? There are no inner tubes moving around under the tire. "
Nevermind, I just re-read your post!
My Conti GP 3000s roll so much better than my Tufos its almost comical…
GP3000s may be better than Tufos. But you can do a lot better. I would give Veloflex or Pro Race Lights a try. A possible dark horse is Kenda Kalientes. Kenda’s MTB tires were the fastest I tested. I made it up Old Honda road <18minutes on my MTB, riding Kendas.
Last year I used GP3000s for training (got them for $20 on sale), but stopped after 3 sidewall punctures.
–Jens
No experience yet other than that I haven’t flatted since.
I’m currently using them but so far I’m not impressed, here’s why: Very difficult to mount on the first try, I stretched the hell out of them but still needed a second pair of hands to get the suckers on. Very messy dealing with the sealant. My pump head gets all guey each time I add air. So far two of the four tires I purchased had leaks in them (near the stem), the sealant seems to have fixed this problem but still…not good!
This weekend will be my first race on them so we will see how it goes.
Dave in VA