Tubies, once again-

Continental supplies new tubulars for the Tour
The magenta train Click for larger image

At the Tour de France, teams such as T-Mobile, Phonak, Crédit Agricole
and Saunier Duval teams were rolling on new Continental racing tyres
that contain new compound materials.

Copy to Jobst....www.cyclingnews.com

Peter Chisholm writes:

Continental supplies new tubulars for the Tour The magenta train
Click for larger image

At the Tour de France, teams such as T-Mobile, Phonak, Cr?dit
Agricole and Saunier Duval teams were rolling on new Continental
racing tyres that contain new compound materials.

www.cyclingnews.com

This is no different from the hype put out by every new reincarnation
of someone's tires. What sort of flats did they expect on their
famous "Parcours"? Vectran is supposed to prevent penetration by
sharp objects, so they rode around on cobbles and dirt roads.
Meanwhile there is plenty of reference to the brutal Paris-Roubaix
race that punishes tires.

http://www.vectranfiber.com/

Wow, space aged stuff no doubt with myriad uses.

# Conti rolled out Vectran-layered tubulars at Paris-Roubaix earlier
# this year and it was that confident of its new product, it even
# invited a group of cycling journalists (and cobbles novices) onto
# the famous parcours to test them. Nobody flatted, or fell off, for
# that matter, and the next day, the company reported a 75 percent
# reduction in flats recorded by its sponsored teams (see technical
# report).

The technical report doesn't seem to make much sense. Just the
diagram they offer is so insulting in its "let them eat cake" attitude
of presenting a vague tire cross section that has nothing to do with
reality, the rim is not shown while rim tape, tire bead, casing plies,
Vectran layer, and tread are in schematic form. It is unclear what
the sew-up seam is.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/tech/?id=...res/conti_tech

Jobst Brandt

wrote:
Peter Chisholm writes:

Continental supplies new tubulars for the Tour The magenta train
Click for larger image

At the Tour de France, teams such as T-Mobile, Phonak, Cr?dit
Agricole and Saunier Duval teams were rolling on new Continental
racing tyres that contain new compound materials.

www.cyclingnews.com


http://www.cyclingnews.com/tech/?id=...res/conti_tech

Jobst Brandt

Not about the 'technology', about the teams that use tubies, like most
of them, something you continue to dispute in spite of never being
there to observe, as others have.

The technical report doesn't seem to make much sense...

It was probably written by the marketing dept.

Yeah, the schematic does have some issues. For one, tubies don't have
'beads'. I suspect the 'seam' is depicting the stitching. And what's up
with the casing that overlaps just below the 'breaker'?

Jobst, why is it necessary to show the rim?

Greg Hall

wrote in message
oups.com...
The technical report doesn't seem to make much sense...

It was probably written by the marketing dept.

Yeah, the schematic does have some issues. For one, tubies don't have
'beads'. I suspect the 'seam' is depicting the stitching. And what's up
with the casing that overlaps just below the 'breaker'?

Jobst, why is it necessary to show the rim?

Greg Hall


Thought Tufo tubulars has beads:
http://www.bikyle.com/TufoRoad.asp
-tom

Tom Nakashima wrote:

Thought Tufo tubulars has beads:
http://www.bikyle.com/TufoRoad.asp

It has an attached bead because it's made to be used on a clincher rim.
We all know that tubular tires, by definition, do not have "beads". I
don't know what Continental means in using that term on the diagram,
except as some sort of anchor point that the fabric plies are folded
over to construct the tire casing.

wrote in message
oups.com...

Tom Nakashima wrote:

Thought Tufo tubulars has beads:
http://www.bikyle.com/TufoRoad.asp

It has an attached bead because it's made to be used on a clincher rim.
We all know that tubular tires, by definition, do not have "beads". I
don't know what Continental means in using that term on the diagram,
except as some sort of anchor point that the fabric plies are folded
over to construct the tire casing.


Yes, the Tufo are made for clincher rims and will never purchase them.
Here's another view: http://www.bikyle.com/images/TufoTubClincher.jpg

I used to ride the Clement Seta tubulars, when sew-ups were the only tire of
choice years ago, until Specialized came out with the Turbo clincher (1978).
I believe they advertised them as high pressure and you can mount them
"straight" on the rim as a selling point.
I do missing riding on tubulars, just didn't enjoy fixing flats and gluing
them on the rim.
-tom

when sew-ups were the only tire of choice

Still the only choice for me. I'm currently riding a Vittoria Seta CX.
I have to say that this is the best tire I've ever ridden. Too bad
they're all long gone.

didn't enjoy fixing flats

My most recent sewup surgery was on 19 tires. Five were DOA (didn't
make it out of tire triage), three held air (I couldn't find a leak),
one died on the operating table, one needed a valve core replacement.
The remaining nine are now awaiting their place in a spare bag. Once
the assembly line gets going the process goes pretty quickly. Good
music and refreshements also help out.

gluing them on the rim.

A truing stand and can of Conti cement (the one with the brush in the
lid) make this job less messy than my previous method of spreading
Clement cement with a plastic bag covered finger.

Greg Hall

wrote in message
ups.com...
when sew-ups were the only tire of choice

Still the only choice for me. I'm currently riding a Vittoria Seta CX.
I have to say that this is the best tire I've ever ridden. Too bad
they're all long gone.

didn't enjoy fixing flats

My most recent sewup surgery was on 19 tires. Five were DOA (didn't
make it out of tire triage), three held air (I couldn't find a leak),
one died on the operating table, one needed a valve core replacement.
The remaining nine are now awaiting their place in a spare bag. Once
the assembly line gets going the process goes pretty quickly. Good
music and refreshements also help out.

gluing them on the rim.

A truing stand and can of Conti cement (the one with the brush in the
lid) make this job less messy than my previous method of spreading
Clement cement with a plastic bag covered finger.

Greg Hall

I actually got pretty good at installing tubulars....stretching them out for
a few days on a blank rims "without" glue before final installation. Yes,
the Vittoria Seta CX silks were my 2nd choice. I once had a Clement Seta
front that was pretty well worn, but I kept putting off changing it because
I loved the way it rode. I don't think I have to tell you about a new
tubular on the front, just takes awhile to break-in before they start to
feel decent. Thinking I could squeeze in one more ride, I had a blow-out on
a descent and ended up crashing. Downtube friction shifting at the time,
and bent the brake lever pretty bad . The funny thing is that even with a
bent lever I could still brake and the shifters were undamaged...for all you
ergo/sti lovers. That Clement tire hung in the garage for the longest time
to remind me that you're only riding on two tires so pay the small price for
safety.

More horror tubular stories;
1. two flats on one ride with only one spare sew-up and no repair kit. Ever
try to look cool riding a 3/4 filled bus on the East Side carrying a bike in
cycling attire, cycling cap, and those thin black cycling shoes with
shoelaces and no socks?
2. The very first time I glued on a tubular, I used Clement "Red"
cement...let's just say it was artistic.
3. Taking 45 min. to carefully fix a flat with my needle kit, only to find
that I patched one of two pin-hole leaks.
-tom

I flirted with Tufo Tubular Clinchers- HI-Carbon. The front tire got a
1 centimeter cut, and that was the end of that tire. A few weeks later,
the rear tire got punctured by a tiny piece of limestone screening. It
was a three mm puncture. The sealant didn't take, so I rode home on the
flat. When I got home, I ordered a set of the new Vittoria EVO CXs. I'm
planning on replacing the Tufo S33 tubies with Vittoria Extreme Pave
tires. I have always had good luck with Vittoria tires in general -
picking pieces of flint, cinders, and glass out of them that had
flatted Contis and Michelins. The S33 tubies do have more rolling
resistance - compared to the Vittoria clinchers, the Tufos feel as if
I'm riding in sand.
Tom P.