Musing on wheelsets... ratio of tubulars to clinchers

[christian]

So....

My wife and I have four "sporting" bicycles between the two of us (I decline to include things like her 1983 Trek 620 with full Suntour Sprint, the Bianchi Milano, etc.). All four of them share a defining characteristic - they're Campagnolo 10-speed equipped. This is great, as it means we have full interchangeability in all components except cranks.

At present, we have four wheelsets, two clinchers, two tubulars:

Tubulars:
- Record 10 (black) with Ambrosio Nemesis tubulars (primary on my Colnago)
- Record 10 (black) with Mavic Reflex tubulars (primary on my Zanc and presently pushed into service on my Allez)

Clinchers:
- Record 10 (black) with Velocity Aerohead/Aerohead OC clinchers (primary on Ivy's Parlee)
- Chorus 10 (silver) with Mavic Open Pro (sort of go between my Colnago as a winter wheelset and sometimes go on the trainer and as spares)

It turns out I have a spare set of silver Chorus 10 hubs that I need to build up. But, pray tell, how shall I build them?

Initially, I had thought I would build another clincher wheelset, as I could then have a dedicated trainer wheelset and to have as a spare for Ivy's bike. But then I bought those Nemeses that CC had on sale, so I could just lace them to those cheaply. My next purchase is a fender bike, which should probably be shod with clinchers.

Oh, and I prefer to race on tubulars and Ivy doesn't like to ride tubulars (I think... we've never discussed it).

This should be a poll...

Anyway, paceline brethren, help a guy out. (BTW, First World problems, I know...)

[FlashUNC]

Tubulars, especially if you've got the rims handy.

[crownjewelwl]

you're a renaissance man....tubulars!

[EDS]

Tubular as dedicated cross wheelset for Zanc?

[christian]

Tubular as dedicated cross wheelset for Zanc?

The Record/Reflex wheelset is my dedicated cross wheelset from September to January. From January to September, the Zanconato gets clinchers for winter training/sitting on the trainer and those tubulars go on a road bike.

It's complicated... :)

[Gummee]

I'll still say tubulars 'cause you just never know what's gonna happen when you're riding off-road.

First ride on a wheel I'd just built. WHAM! Don't even know what I hit, but I put a HUGE divot in that rim. (clincher)

I've evidently hit rocks hard enough to do the same thing on my tubulars before too.

If ya go off-road, ya gotta pay to play. :nod

M

[AngryScientist]

what you're missing in your line-up, which i suspect, if you give them a shot will become a go-to wheelset:

lace them to some wide clinchers. i like my new h+son archetypes, or if you're into the box section thing, the tb14's.

i'm telling you - throw some veloflex tires on a wide set of clinchers with some latex tubes, and you may forget you're not riding tubies. seriously, truth.

if you want to borrow mine for a weekend or whatever to test them out, you're welcome to.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2vVw5Q90oqc/UPxeztOlPZI/AAAAAAAABEU/izY5eaANZnk/s640/IMG_1245.JPG

[EDS]

The Record/Reflex wheelset is my dedicated cross wheelset from September to January. From January to September, the Zanconato gets clinchers for winter training/sitting on the trainer and those tubulars go on a road bike.

It's complicated... :)

I guess that forces you to reglue for each season, which makes sense. That said, if you get into cross racing you will want two sets with different tread patterns depending on conditions.

Realistically, all you need is a dirt cheap rear trainer wheel and hold the hubs/rims in reserve as eventually something will die via wear or crash.

[cmg]

what AngryS says makes sense "lace them to some wide clinchers". Velocity makes a 23mm wide rim that's around a 425 grams. pretty good in terms of rotating weight. or you could build a set using Velocity's Escape rims not as wide but certainly lighter.

[christian]

No, no wide clinchers. They're all too heavy and if I want wheels that ride like tubulars, I will ride tubulars. Any more suggestions like that, I'll just sell these hubs on ebay and roll the profits into some Boras. :mad:














(Ok, no not really. Even though Boras on my Colnago would look siiiiiiick!)

[terry]

Personally I hate dealing with clinchers, I only have them on my rain bike. It would be a damn shame to ride anything but tubulars on a colnago or a zank.

[Louis]

Personally I hate dealing with clinchers

:confused:

You must be in a minority. As best I can tell, most folks agree that clinchers are less hassle. I've never heard tubulars justified by saying "they're less trouble than clinchers." It's always tubulars provide a "magic carpet ride" or "no snake-bite flats." Not a convenience issue.

[AngryScientist]

They're all too heavy

ambrosio nemesis rim weight = 460g
archetype rim weight = 450g

just sayin...

[mtechnica]

I would go with kinlin xr-270 or xr-300's and use them as beater wheels. I think they would be a better set of wheels than with open pros if you use light spokes. I'm hard on wheels and I've always had better luck with v profile rims. Plus (imo) they're silver and will look nice with silver hubs and on steel bikes.

[Tim Porter]

I voted for tubulars. I think you have the alloy wheel realm pretty well covered. Keep those Chorus hubs and Nemesis rims around for backups, or sell them. Get some fun wheels like some Hyperon tubulars or Zipp 303s. I know a couple of guys who would let you ride theirs to see what they're like . . . . HTH, Tim

[thwart]

ambrosio nemesis rim weight = 475g
archetype rim weight = 450g
Hed Belgium weight = 455g
Velocity A23 weight = 440g

just sayin...

Fixed it for ya.