On Friday, March 5, 2004, at 03:25 PM, Dennis Young wrote:
> Jer,
>
> Why ride cheap tubulars? They are heavier and thicker (thicker as in
> road
> insensitive) to ride on then decent clinchers, and you only have to
> repair
> or replace the tube when there is a flat. There may be exceptions,
> but I
> think that if a tubular isn't at least fifty dollars, it is not worth
> riding
> on. A hundred dollar tubular is a wonderful thing to behold.
>
> Dennis Young
> Hotaka, Japan
I am riding Rallys right now. Here's my take:
Downsides They are heavy (for a tubular), about 320 - 340 grams. They didn't mount dead straight, although the fact that I hadn't glued up a tire in almost 15 years may have something to do with that. They were a bit lumpy at first, but after 100 miles, that went away.
Upsides They're cheap, about 20 bucks. I got mine on closeout for $5. They're way better than I remember cheap sew-ups being 15 years ago. I was riding Wolber Neo-Pros and Invulnerables, and Vittoria Mondiales back then. The Rallys are better. At 23 mm wide and 90 - 90 psi, they ride better than any 25 mm clincher I've tried, and they just kill the 23s. They're kevlar-belted, and pretty darn tough.
When I can afford better tires, I'll ride them, but for now, the ride and handling of even the lowly Rallys has put me off skinny clinchers forever. I'll keep using them on the commuter, but for my road bike, it's tubulars.
I am looking forward to trying the 27 (some say 29) mm Dugasts when my Rivendell arrives, but they're pretty damned pricey, even when you work at a bike shop.
--Shannon Menkveld, happily riding cheap sewups in
San Diego, CA