Tubular tire reccomendations?

[DerekB]

I have been using Zipp Tangentes for two years. I seem to go through rear tires pretty quickly due to flats or even just cuts.
I am looking at Mavic Yksions (50% off at the moment).
Any recommendations about these and other brands?
And while I am here, how about tire pressures? I have been running higher (120-130) pressures lately. Can higher pressures cause flats sooner?
Thanks.

[christian]

I find Conti Competitions a good every day tire. Butyl tubes, but a nice ride and fairly puncture-free.

Veloflex ride lovely, but you need to top them off every rode obviously.

I ordered a pair of the Mavics. At that price they're worth trying.

[oldpotatoe]

I have been using Zipp Tangentes for two years. I seem to go through rear tires pretty quickly due to flats or even just cuts.
I am looking at Mavic Yksions (50% off at the moment).
Any recommendations about these and other brands?
And while I am here, how about tire pressures? I have been running higher (120-130) pressures lately. Can higher pressures cause flats sooner?
Thanks.

Conti Sprinters. BTW-NO need to run that kind of PSI inna tubie. Defeats the purpose of tubulars..suppleness.

[reggiebaseball]

It depends on your road conditions.
IF you are currently suffering lots of cuts, or ride in wet conditions (where I find little gravel bits really go after my tires), I am really fond of Vittoria Paves. I run them 92psi front 95psi rear.

They are really really durable in my experience.

If you dont mind a little more fragile, I hear Veloflex are the most supple rolling tires.

If you are already getting too many cuts, I would stay away from the uber-supple cotton casing FMB type tires.

[ultraman6970]

If you arent racing you cant get better deal than 3x50 bucks ones. If you are racing then look somewhere else because the 3x50 wont take the type of riding you do at all, maybe training but not racing. Recreational riding are ok.

[oldguy00]

I've used the Zipp tires and found them very rough feeling. They have a thicker tread on them compared to Vittoria's high end tubies.
Veloflex Carbons are great, as are Vittoria's. Conti competitions are great too, probably more flat resistant than the others, but don't ride quite as nice.
If you can afford veloflex carbons, go for it.

[scrubadub]

I hate those Yellow Jersey 3 for $50 tires. I use them as spares but the few times I've ridden on them they felt like bad clinchers. Maybe it was my batch?

I've mostly been riding Veloflex but also like the Vittoria CXs as well. I have a set of Vittoria 25s that need to be glued up soon. But my current favorites are FMB P-Rs. Cushy and fast!

As for tire pressure, I say go low and enjoy the tubular ride. I'm 150 lbs and I run my 23s around 90-100 psi and the PRs at 70-80 (depending on how much dirt). Could probably go even lower on the P-Rs.

[elcolombiano]

The conti sprinters are a good value for the money, last a long time and hold up well against debris on the road. In the 1970s I used Clement Del Mondos silk tires. Nothing like that exists now days to my knowledge. They never flatted and lasted thousands and thousands of miles and had a dream ride. The only thing was the latex tubes lost 2 psi per hour. I remember having to pump some air in them 1/2 way through a double century. Later I got Clement criteriums but they were no comparison to the del mondos.

[forrestw]

Schwalbe ultremo ht tubular offer an amazing ride and have the best flat protection out there imx.

[Jason E]

Schwalbe ultremo ht tubular offer an amazing ride and have the best flat protection out there imx.

Plus 1 on this ^. Love Schwalbe. I'm on Ultremo HT's as well and they are fantastic. I rode their Dursno for a long yikes too. Very reliable tires. Good road feel, never flatted.

[Jason E]

Do a forum search too, this conversation has been had before and there is good info in older threads.

[JonB]

for the Schwalbe Ultremo HT. Its a terrific tire. I'm using both the 22mm an 25mm versions. Both are great.

[redir]

I hate those Yellow Jersey 3 for $50 tires. I use them as spares but the few times I've ridden on them they felt like bad clinchers. Maybe it was my batch?

I've mostly been riding Veloflex but also like the Vittoria CXs as well. I have a set of Vittoria 25s that need to be glued up soon. But my current favorites are FMB P-Rs. Cushy and fast!

As for tire pressure, I say go low and enjoy the tubular ride. I'm 150 lbs and I run my 23s around 90-100 psi and the PRs at 70-80 (depending on how much dirt). Could probably go even lower on the P-Rs.

No it was not just your batch. Those tires are awful IMO and not worth it to say the least.

+1 to the rest of what you said.

[hambonep1]

I wouldn't recommend the Mavic's. My experience with both the Yksion Griplink (softer center compound supposedly for the front) and Powerlink (harder center/Rear) is that although supple riding the rear breaks lose unpredictably when pushed hard or wet. I even switched to a Griplink on the rear and saw no improvement.

I went with Continental 4000's and they corner and brake great. The only knock on the Cont's is that they are a bitch to stretch and my rear suffered a cut last week after 1000 miles. No fun to replace a $100+ tire with plenty of tread but it may have been luck of the draw.