Tubeless Tyres

I recently picked up a road bike cheap on ebay (item 7152431772) for
training and to occasionally commute to work on as on my mountain bike I
found it far to slow as it's a 25 mile round trip but fairly flat.

The bike currently has tubeless tyres on and I'm worried about the
possibility of punctures. The easiest way would be to just carry a spare
tyre but after searching on wiggle I can't find the same size. The
current tyres have Vittoria competition formula uno 21 28" marked on
them. I presume this equates to a 28" diameter and a 21 mm width. Anyone
know anywhere online I could get tyres in this size, or would 700c tyres
fit as it's almost an identical size?

My other option would be get new wheels or rebuild the existing hub with
a rim to accept normal tyres so I'd just need to carry an inner tube.
The current hubs are Campagnolo Record which appear to be high spec so
rebuilding might be worth while. If this is the best option could you
recommended rims bearing in mind I'm about 16.5 stone and cycling on
mainly decent b roads but with a few miles of country lanes.

James

James Grabowski wrote:
I recently picked up a road bike cheap on ebay (item 7152431772) for
training and to occasionally commute to work on as on my mountain bike I
found it far to slow as it's a 25 mile round trip but fairly flat.

The bike currently has tubeless tyres on and I'm worried about the
possibility of punctures. The easiest way would be to just carry a spare
tyre but after searching on wiggle I can't find the same size. The
current tyres have Vittoria competition formula uno 21 28" marked on
them. I presume this equates to a 28" diameter and a 21 mm width. Anyone
know anywhere online I could get tyres in this size, or would 700c tyres
fit as it's almost an identical size?

My other option would be get new wheels or rebuild the existing hub with
a rim to accept normal tyres so I'd just need to carry an inner tube.
The current hubs are Campagnolo Record which appear to be high spec so
rebuilding might be worth while. If this is the best option could you
recommended rims bearing in mind I'm about 16.5 stone and cycling on
mainly decent b roads but with a few miles of country lanes.

James

Unless tubs are advertised as another size e.g. 650 or 600 diameter,
then they will be correct for your rim. Repairing tubs after a puncture
is not particularly easy, and not something to do at the roadside, or
even the cafe or office.

They will give you a good comfy ride and lessen the possibility of a
pinch flat.

For commuting, I'd be inclined to rebuild the wheel using the existing
hubs with wire-on rims

James Grabowski wrote:

I recently picked up a road bike cheap on ebay (item 7152431772) for
training and to occasionally commute to work on as on my mountain bike I
found it far to slow as it's a 25 mile round trip but fairly flat.

The bike currently has tubeless tyres

Tubular, presumably - there's no such thing as a tubeless road tyre (yet)

on and I'm worried about the
possibility of punctures. The easiest way would be to just carry a spare
tyre but after searching on wiggle I can't find the same size. The
current tyres have Vittoria competition formula uno 21 28" marked on
them. I presume this equates to a 28" diameter and a 21 mm width. Anyone
know anywhere online I could get tyres in this size, or would 700c tyres
fit as it's almost an identical size?

28" is an old name for 700c. Find the proper ETRTO marking (may be
small and embossed) and if it has the figure 622 in it, you have a 700c
tyre.

James Grabowski wrote:
I recently picked up a road bike cheap on ebay (item 7152431772) for
training and to occasionally commute to work on as on my mountain
bike I found it far to slow as it's a 25 mile round trip but fairly
flat.

The bike currently has tubeless tyres

I guess you mean tubular tyres, which do contain inner tubes, by the way
(not that you can get at them easily!).

/snip
My other option would be get new wheels or rebuild the existing hub
with a rim to accept normal tyres so I'd just need to carry an inner
tube. The current hubs are Campagnolo Record which appear to be high
spec so rebuilding might be worth while.

Current type Record? See Campag website pics if not sure.

If this is the best option
could you recommended rims bearing in mind I'm about 16.5 stone and
cycling on mainly decent b roads but with a few miles of country
lanes.

You /could/ just carry a spare tub, but I would sell the wheels and get
new clincher ones if the hubs are old. Rebuilding might be worth it
otherwise, particularly if budget is limited. New Record hubs are very
nice.

Mavic Open Pro rims should be ok for you, although CXP33 would be a bit
stronger. 36 spokes for the rear would be most sensible if you have the
choice.

~PB

Pete Biggs wrote:

James Grabowski wrote:
I recently picked up a road bike cheap on ebay (item 7152431772) for
training and to occasionally commute to work on as on my mountain
bike I found it far to slow as it's a 25 mile round trip but fairly
flat.

The bike currently has tubeless tyres

I guess you mean tubular tyres, which do contain inner tubes, by the way
(not that you can get at them easily!).

Yeah, tubular tyres. I didn't know they contained inner tubes so I'll
hack one apart when it punctures.

/snip
My other option would be get new wheels or rebuild the existing hub
with a rim to accept normal tyres so I'd just need to carry an inner
tube. The current hubs are Campagnolo Record which appear to be high
spec so rebuilding might be worth while.

Current type Record? See Campag website pics if not sure.

Unlikely as the bike appears to be from the late 80's / early 90's and
it's only a 5 speed, but they do look the same as the ones on wiggle.

If this is the best option
could you recommended rims bearing in mind I'm about 16.5 stone and
cycling on mainly decent b roads but with a few miles of country
lanes.

You /could/ just carry a spare tub, but I would sell the wheels and get
new clincher ones if the hubs are old. Rebuilding might be worth it
otherwise, particularly if budget is limited. New Record hubs are very
nice.

The hubs are very smooth and I've one spare tub so I think I'll carry
this as a spare and replace the rims as the tyres puncture. I'll be
happy enough doing the front one myself but could anyone recommend a
wheel builder near York for the rear who'd be happy to use an existing
hub. If this doesn't happen how much would a reasonable wheelset be? The
bike was way under what I intended to spend as I'd looked at new bike
around £400 - £500 but didn't want an aluminium frame, so another
£100-£150 on new wheels would be ok (prices guestimated based on a
decent Mt. wheelset).

Mavic Open Pro rims should be ok for you, although CXP33 would be a bit
stronger. 36 spokes for the rear would be most sensible if you have the
choice.

Thanks for the recommendations.

James

James Grabowski wrote:
My other option would be get new wheels or rebuild the existing hub
with a rim to accept normal tyres so I'd just need to carry an inner
tube. The current hubs are Campagnolo Record which appear to be high
spec so rebuilding might be worth while.

Current type Record? See Campag website pics if not sure.

Unlikely as the bike appears to be from the late 80's / early 90's and
it's only a 5 speed, but they do look the same as the ones on wiggle.

I didn't think about that -- that it might be less than 7-speed. Perhaps
this is another reason to keep them afterall, as a new modern rear hub
wouldn't be directly suitable for your bike.

The hubs are very smooth and I've one spare tub so I think I'll carry
this as a spare and replace the rims as the tyres puncture. I'll be
happy enough doing the front one myself but could anyone recommend a
wheel builder near York for the rear who'd be happy to use an existing
hub.

Rear wheels are only slightly more difficult to build/rebuild than fronts.
Yes the left & right tension is different but the different spoke lengths
help a lot, and you can simply keep checking the centering with
gauge/frame as you go -- and you need to do this for fronts as well
anyway. I was amazed at how easy this aspect was when I built my first
rear wheel, so don't let this one point hold you back. Nothing special
needs doing to the spokes to achieve the dish. It is all down to spoke
length & tension.

Note. New (different) rims probably will need different length spokes.

~PB

in message , James Grabowski
') wrote:

Pete Biggs wrote:

James Grabowski wrote:
My other option would be get new wheels or rebuild the existing hub
with a rim to accept normal tyres so I'd just need to carry an
inner tube. The current hubs are Campagnolo Record which appear to
be high spec so rebuilding might be worth while.

Current type Record? See Campag website pics if not sure.

Unlikely as the bike appears to be from the late 80's / early 90's and
it's only a 5 speed, but they do look the same as the ones on wiggle.

Campag hubs of this age can get premium prices on eBay, and probably
worth even more in period tub rims, for people building themselves
'classic' bikes. They're also exceedingly good hubs.

--
(Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

[ This .sig subject to change without notice ]

Pete Biggs wrote:

James Grabowski wrote:
My other option would be get new wheels or rebuild the existing hub
with a rim to accept normal tyres so I'd just need to carry an inner
tube. The current hubs are Campagnolo Record which appear to be high
spec so rebuilding might be worth while.

Current type Record? See Campag website pics if not sure.

Unlikely as the bike appears to be from the late 80's / early 90's and
it's only a 5 speed, but they do look the same as the ones on wiggle.

I didn't think about that -- that it might be less than 7-speed. Perhaps
this is another reason to keep them afterall, as a new modern rear hub
wouldn't be directly suitable for your bike.

I got 2 rear wheels with the bike, a 5 and a 7 speed, I've tried both
but I'm currently using the 7 as the tyre is in better condition.

The hubs are very smooth and I've one spare tub so I think I'll carry
this as a spare and replace the rims as the tyres puncture. I'll be
happy enough doing the front one myself but could anyone recommend a
wheel builder near York for the rear who'd be happy to use an existing
hub.

Rear wheels are only slightly more difficult to build/rebuild than fronts.
Yes the left & right tension is different but the different spoke lengths
help a lot, and you can simply keep checking the centering with
gauge/frame as you go -- and you need to do this for fronts as well
anyway. I was amazed at how easy this aspect was when I built my first
rear wheel, so don't let this one point hold you back. Nothing special
needs doing to the spokes to achieve the dish. It is all down to spoke
length & tension.

Note. New (different) rims probably will need different length spokes.

I've rebuilt a front mtb rim before, but I bought the new rim from chain
reaction cycles and let them know which hub I was using and they
supplied the correct spokes. Do any of the road oriented websites do
this or is there an online reference on which I could find the correct
spoke length.

James

James Grabowski wrote:
I've rebuilt a front mtb rim before, but I bought the new rim from
chain reaction cycles and let them know which hub I was using and they
supplied the correct spokes. Do any of the road oriented websites do
this or is there an online reference on which I could find the correct
spoke length.

Parker International might.

Spoke calculators:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/rinard/spocalc.htm

http://www.dtswiss.com/index.asp?fuseaction=spokes.bike

~PB

James Grabowski wrote:

The bike currently has tubeless tyres on and I'm worried about the
possibility of punctures. The easiest way would be to just carry a spare
tyre but after searching on wiggle I can't find the same size. The
current tyres have Vittoria competition formula uno 21 28" marked on
them. I presume this equates to a 28" diameter and a 21 mm width. Anyone
know anywhere online I could get tyres in this size, or would 700c tyres
fit as it's almost an identical size?

I've been using Tufo tubular clinchers for some time both road & MTB. I
don't think I've had any punctures because if I have the anti-puncture
stuff stops them leaking air. I think you can pt it in ordinary tubular
tyres too.
All the best
Dan Gregory