Mr Haematocrit
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- Out of the saddle
So far the only thing that we have had on this thread in favour of carbon clinchers is that they are used by some pro teams - I guess we have heard of sponsorship pressures? - and @Mr Haematocrit prefers his to his tubs but cannot explain why.
The fact is that some choose to sacrifice the advantages of tubs for the perceived greater convenience of clinchers. Others do not. Get over it.
I can most certainly explain why I prefer my clinchers to my tubs and this is the convenience of them and the fact I do not believe I get a advantage from not using them, no matter if this is perceived or not.
I have been running both tubs and clinchers for the past 4 years and while in the past I favored tubs I'm uncertain why and currently am not so certain that the performance advantage I perceived from using tubs actually exists for the type of riding/skill set/competitiveness I have.
I'm not so certain that we have heard the last of clinchers in the pro peleton, and I am equally not convinced that the use is due to sponsorship pressures. I think that clinchers do offer advantages in certain situations and will continue to increase in use. In the same way that shallow rim wheels will be used for specific situations such as climbing, I believe clinchers will be used in certain situations.
One of the teams which have used clinchers in the past season have no wheel / tyre sponsor as such you can only speculate if they made this choice based around cost, performance, convenience, or some other reason. I simply do not claim to know, but remain interested in anything which changes..
Realistically, my view is that I will use what I believe the best wheel available to me. The choice is based on nothing but my own perception at the time.
But as im lucky enough to own a nice selection of tubs and clinchers from Zipp and ENVE with ceramic bearings im quite happy with whatever I choose.
Shame the thread seems to have brought up a bit of tension, could be a really interesting discussion/debate.