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Rollin' a Phatty
 

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greglepore
Joined: 10 Jan 2004
Posts: 1724
Location: SE Pa, USA

6/8/13 11:18 AM

Rollin' a Phatty

Well, I've got several hundred miles on the Parigi-Roubaix, and I must say I don't think they cost me any speed, at least in a group or looking at my averages. They do ride much better than 23's, especially at 85-90 psi (I'm under 130 lbs at the moment).

Next up-some 24mm wide carbon clinchers...being built now with a powertap rear hub, and a set of A23's, which I'll likely resell at some point after I establish that the carbon rims are reliable.

I'm thinking I"ll run Vittoria Evo's on these, with latex tubes and sealant. I love the 28's, they ride (and corner) so well, but they just look awkward.

What says the braintrust here? Latex or no? 25's or stick with the 28's?

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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19068
Location: PDX

6/8/13 11:39 AM

"25's or stick with the 28's?"

I guess I will address this. @ 130lb it seems to me the 25 would be plenty big. I am now leaning to the 25s now that I am getting some time on the bike. I am 215 now, and run 85/95 with the GP4Ks 25s which sit @ 27 on my A23s. Light butyl tubes

So for me the 28c GP4AllSeasons are I guess done until it gets cold again. I have been doing Clement Tubular on the paramount odd days, they are like 22mm inflated 110+.

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Andy M-S
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 3377
Location: Hamden (greater New Haven) CT

6/8/13 3:00 PM

200# here

I have gradually been moving to wider tires, though not wider rims. I'm running Panaracer Pasela (not the TG version) 28mm tires on Velo Orange PBP rims (19 mm outside) and they feel very nice at 90psi, and they're also very reasonably priced. I especially like the fact that I don't have to worry quite as much about the many and varied holes in the roads in Connecticut.

OTOH, I'm a good deal slower and cheaper than most of the folks on here, so...take this all with a substantial grain of NaCl.

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dan emery
Joined: 11 Jan 2004
Posts: 6884
Location: Maine

6/8/13 5:32 PM

Brain trust says

Duh....

Greg, ride whatever you like best. You're not in the TdF this year, right? My favorite road tires are Grand Bois 26s, though I also use 29s early in the season. For commuting I love Compass 26x1.75". But I weigh about half again as much as you. I haven't used 23s or sewups in awhile, though I may try them for comparison purposes, as I'm riding a bit better than in the recent past.

I have 23 rims on my Cross bike, whether they make a difference I dunno.

I wouldn't use latex tubes, but I'm no expert.

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Nick Payne
Joined: 10 Jan 2004
Posts: 2625
Location: Canberra, Australia

6/8/13 5:39 PM

I actually rode a few road races some years back using Panaracer Roly-Poly 27mm tyres. I didn't notice that they were any slower than the Conti GP4 23mm that I had been previously using, and they were much more comfortable over the normal chip-seal rural road surfaces that we race over. However, I eventually went away from the Roly-Poly because they were only giving me cigarette paper clearances between the chainstays and under the fork crown, and I standardised on GP4 25mm at ~90psi (I weigh about 145).

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Brian Nystrom
Joined: 26 Jan 2004
Posts: 5096
Location: Nashua, NH

6/9/13 12:05 PM

End of an era...for me

After nearly 40 years of riding tubulars pretty much exclusively, all of the bikes I ride regularly are now equipped with clinchers. Frankly, I never thought Id' see the day...

I recently built a pair of wheels based on Kinlin XR-200 rims, Taiwanese hubs and Sapim spokes from bikehubstore,com. They're lighter than the "old school", 36 spoke tubulars I've been riding for years and at least slightly more aero. I liked them enough to want a set for my other road bike and Linda decided that she needed a pair, too. I just finished coaching her through the process of building a set (her first wheel building experience) and she'll be taking them for a spin shortly. I can't wait to see the proud look on her face!

The main driving factor for the switch was the pathetic selection of lightweight aluminum tubular rims these days and the fact that (relatively) affordable carbon tubular rims still seem to be underdeveloped and lacking in quality (I refuse to pay thousands of dollars for wheels). The Kinlin clincher rims are actually lighter than their tubulars and pretty much every other current aluminum tubular and the quality is far better than the NOS tubular rims I have kicking around. Now the only question is whether to sell off my stock of NOS of Mavic GP40s and GEL280s, some wheels and some of my tire stock.

I'm also quite pleased with the ride quality of the Conti GP4000S 25c tires with Vittoria tubes. I don't have any fat tubulars and new ones are too expensive to consider seriously.

I'm going to leave the tubies on my '80 Klein, since it was my last race bike and it seems fitting. Someday I'll replace the tubies on my fixie, but I don't ride it enough to make it worth the investment at the moment.

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greglepore
Joined: 10 Jan 2004
Posts: 1724
Location: SE Pa, USA

6/9/13 1:14 PM

Yeah, I was pretty much a tubie guy exclusively, but the dearth of decent inexpensive tires (and my inability to learn to repair tubies) was the death knell. I still have tubie wheels on two of my bikes, and my "event" wheels are still carbon tubies, but for everyday use its mostly clinchers.

The best clinchers still only "approach" the ride of a good tubie, but its close enough that I can't say that I really miss it.

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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19068
Location: PDX

6/9/13 1:48 PM

"The best clinchers still only "approach" the ride of a good tubie, but its close enough that I can't say that I really miss it."

Even when you pop off the 23s and pop on the 28 clinchers and run 80 lbs? The popping off part with the tubulars, let's face it...

I am probably doing my last run with the tubies. I have 10 tires, had.. lost one the other day. Two more are probably too old for me to feel safe on. Conti Sprinters, boy they ride like you are on air, without the tire part it seems like.

I am left with a new Tufo S33? pair and 5 of the yellowjersey.com Taiwan Clements. Was 6 until one with 60 miles on it ate too big a piece of glass and all the goo hemorrhaged out. ;) I think I paid $111.00 shipped for the 1/2 dozen. So that cost is low enough, I pay twice that for the GrandPrix GP4-ASeas. I think I paid 38.00 shipped for the 25C GP4Ks Chilis blacks which ride really nice for sure. And on the A23 rims, a bit calmer to steering input perhaps.


Last edited by Sparky on 6/9/13 1:52 PM; edited 1 time in total

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sanrensho
Joined: 20 Feb 2004
Posts: 835
Location: North Vancouver

6/9/13 1:49 PM

"Yes" on latex, I did notice a difference when I switched from lightweight butyl tubes. However, you might think twice about latex on carbon rims, due to reported blowouts from carbon rim heat buildup.

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greglepore
Joined: 10 Jan 2004
Posts: 1724
Location: SE Pa, USA

6/9/13 3:42 PM

Right, agree with that, altho I don't have any killer alpine style descents here.

Sparky-I'm on my next to last pair of Vit Pro-team CX's I got slightly used for 30 bucks apiece at Ttown from Beamon when he used to sell off all of the Navigator's stuff at season end. Think I paid 30 bucks a pop and bought like 10...

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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19068
Location: PDX

6/9/13 6:40 PM

"Vit Pro-team CX's"

Are those silk ?

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April
Joined: 13 Dec 2003
Posts: 6593
Location: Westchester/NYC

6/9/13 8:35 PM

Another data point

I weight 120# now, and had been riding 25mm (Conti 2000) for as long as I can remember. As far as I'm concern, I've NEVER EVER had a pinch flat during normal riding on the crappy roads of New York City, even at as low as 60psi. That's plenty comfy at that pressure.

I've tried 23 and 28. I can't say any of them roll any faster or slower at the same pressure. At above 90 psi, they all roll about as fast and "feels" equally comfy. At above 100psi, the 23 starts to feel harsh. The 25 don't like to be above 120 comfort-wise. I also don't find them any faster above 100psi.

The only difference I can "feel" is the lightness of the wheel. The narrower tires obviously are a bit lighter, and "feel" fast, even though they really aren't.

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Brian Nystrom
Joined: 26 Jan 2004
Posts: 5096
Location: Nashua, NH

6/10/13 4:45 AM

At your weight...

...you shouldn't need to go anywhere near 100 psi. I'm 175 and have no problems with bottoming or pinch flats running 25s at 72/82 front rear. I've run them lower, but they start to feel squishy when I get out of the saddle on climbs.

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greglepore
Joined: 10 Jan 2004
Posts: 1724
Location: SE Pa, USA

6/10/13 7:20 AM

No, not silk, just the standard high thread count cotton casing of the era (early 2000's)

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April
Joined: 13 Dec 2003
Posts: 6593
Location: Westchester/NYC

6/10/13 8:15 AM


quote:
...you shouldn't need to go anywhere near 100 psi. I'm

I don't.

Usually about 80psi. There had been days when I was in a hurry to join a group and didn't have time to add air. So I end up running lower than that. That's when I "felt" it's rolling resistance seems a bit high at say, 60 psi. Other than that, there's no problem with bottoming out, even when I drop down from curbs.

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ErikS
Joined: 19 May 2005
Posts: 8337
Location: Slowing boiling over in the steamy south, Global Warming is real

6/10/13 3:57 PM

With tires this wide and heavy you may as well be on a MTB.

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Brian Nystrom
Joined: 26 Jan 2004
Posts: 5096
Location: Nashua, NH

6/11/13 5:40 AM

Have you checked the weight of these?

The actual weight of a Conti GP4000S 25mm tire is 224 grams, which is less than some MTB tubes .

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greglepore
Joined: 10 Jan 2004
Posts: 1724
Location: SE Pa, USA

6/11/13 6:10 AM

Yeah, even my Parigi roubaix at 28c are only 250g. Not a light racing tire, but I don't notice the weight.

Who's riding with tubes on their MTB these days? :)

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henoch
Joined: 12 Jan 2004
Posts: 1690

6/11/13 7:27 AM

Who's riding with tubes on their MTB these days? :)

I am...

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Brian Nystrom
Joined: 26 Jan 2004
Posts: 5096
Location: Nashua, NH

6/12/13 5:24 AM

Good point, Greg

I only carry MTB tubes as an emergency backup for a cut tire, though I've never needed to use one. Tubeless is the way to go! When road tubeless technology is more mature, I'll go with that, too.

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April
Joined: 13 Dec 2003
Posts: 6593
Location: Westchester/NYC

6/13/13 8:08 PM

snake bite mark!

Just when I was gloating about jumping curbs while running only 60psi...

I had a flat yesterday. The cause was a cut from some sharp object. Pop a spare in and finished the ride.

But back at home looking for the hole to patch, I was distracted by quite a few marks. Looks to me I've had other sharp object penetration before. Even though they didn't result in flats, they all left their mark on the tube!

And there it was, a pair of symmetrical marks looking just like a snake bite! Clearly, I've at least once landed hard enough to have left such marks. Talk about living on the edge, looks like I've gotten near the edge in more than one occasions!

Maybe I should just toss the tube rather than bother patching it...

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