Tubular Tyres and the P word....

[l4dva]

I am thinking of getting a pair of planet X carbon areo wheels for a few triathlons next summer.

I've never used tubulars before and was just thinking how on earth would you repair a puncture??

If I did buy them id most likely put them on for my first triathlon and then keep them on untill id finished the last one, so theyed by on my bike for about 2 ish months maybe during that time I plan to commute on the bike so id need some puncture resistance on them.

Could anyone recomend a decent set of tubs that would be fine for a summer commuting and triathlons, I have about £500 to spend in total and the wheels are £400 so £100s to spend on the tyres obviously id like to keep cost as low as possible but I don't want to be walking home with punctures that I can't repair on road side

Thanks

 

[Smokin Joe]

You don't repair punctured tubs by the roadside, you carry a ready glued spare and change the tyre (and pray you don't get a second puncture). To repair a tub you need to peel off the base tape, unstitch the bottom of the tyre, pull the punctured section of tube out, patch and go through the whole process in reverse to get it all together again. Most people send theirs away for repair at around a tenner a time.

TBH, unless you are racing at a high level the difference between tubs and good quality clinchers doesn't make them worth the bother. We all used them for racing back when clinchers were slow and heavy, but few outside the top riders do now.

 

[l4dva]

Ahhh that sounds like a very long winded process of repairing a flat, and carrying a complete tyre as a spare is putting me off the idea even more!
I think I'll stick with clinchers in that case im definatly no pro I just wanted to try a pair of areo wheels to be honest. I don't think the planet x ones are availble in a clincher format and the areo wheels that do come clincher ready are too expensive for me. Back to the drawing board with my wheel upgrade then!

Thanks for your help Joe!