one thing that i do know from experience is that the latex tubes for clinchers are easily pinched/punctured during mounting. they are too delicate for clincher mounting, in my opinion. no matter how careful i was, i couldn't avoid pinching them a little, and that was enough to puncture them. after ruining 2 or 3 in a row during mounting attempts, i gave up forever. it just didn't seem that the ride benefits were worth the extra care and skill during mounting that they required.
ray dobbins
miami florida
> I know that the thread count on silk tubular tires is often cited as
\r?\n> the
\r?\n> major source of their vaunted riding qualities. It occurs to me that
\r?\n> these
\r?\n> tires all had latex tubes in them. Michelin makes some fairly
\r?\n> expensive
\r?\n> latex tubes that weigh in at only 65 grams each.
\r?\n> I am one who religiously pumps up his tires before riding every time
\r?\n> anyhow
\r?\n> and I am wondering... could some of the ride qualities of these silk
\r?\n> tubulars be due to the latex tubes and could I recapture some of that
\r?\n> by
\r?\n> springing the extra few dollars for latex tubes with my high quality
\r?\n> clinchers and get an improved ride? Would the savings in rotating
\r?\n> weight be
\r?\n> significant?
\r?\n> I think I will try it and see, but I am curious if similar thoughts
\r?\n> had
\r?\n> inspired any list members to try this same thing and if they might
\r?\n> report
\r?\n> their experiences and wither a conclusion could be drawn on whether
\r?\n> it might
\r?\n> be worthwhile to shell out for some latex tubes. I have also been
\r?\n> told they
\r?\n> are somewhat less prone to flatting, too, but that seems questionable
\r?\n> to me.
\r?\n> Can anyone say with reasonable certainty?
\r?\n> If this could result in nearly any ride quality improvement for the
\r?\n> few
\r?\n> dollars involved, it would really not be much of an expense after all
\r?\n> the
\r?\n> money already invested in stuff for many of my bikes. Ya, I know
\r?\n> someone
\r?\n> will say "Why not just get the silk tubulars, then?" My answer
\r?\n> would be
\r?\n> "Cost, and not needing the dreaded and evil glue or the adhesive rim
\r?\n> tapes."
\r?\n> Thanks,
\r?\n> Tom Sanders
\r?\n> Lansing, Mi