Folks, we have debated this endlessly every since I've been on the
list...let me as a die hard clincher user acknowledge that when a
knowledgeable guy like Charles Andrews tells us that a Clement Silk Tubular
rides better , he is almost certainly right.
Now that being said, just where does Mr. Andrews and the rest of the tubular
crowd buy their silk tubulars? I have had any number of experienced tubular
users caution me about riding on them and counsel me to just use them on
show bikes as tires of the age nearly all silk tubular tires are are likely
to be unsafe.
For those willing to go through the ritual and for those who enjoy this
ritual tubulars are certainly all right and, frankly I don't care if any of
these folk convert to clinchers or not. We all have aspects of cycling that
add to our enjoyment of the sport.
Some of us have found some things that are such a pain in the tail that they
take away from the sport. In my cast, the work and ritual of tubulars was a
diversion away from my enjoyment of them.
Perhaps clinchers do feel dead to some riders. They don't to me. I do
enjoy light weight fast tires on my bikes that call for something like a
racing tire. My answer is the 180 gram Veloflex Pave. I at first worried
about their long term reliability, I am on my 3rd season now on a pair on my
high mileage Richard Sachs and I suppose I should be looking for a new set
for it. I use heavier tires like the Panaracer Paselas or the Vittoria
"Open Tubular" tires on my other bikes. The joy of riding is in no way
diminished by being on them.
It is in no way a case of those who ride one kind or another being wrong or
somehow lesser appreciative of the joys of cycling or lacking in character
in any way being indicated by the tires they ride. What I would love to see
is that when a list member has something that he or she thinks is new or
interesting about any kind of tire or any subject that is deemed on topic
that they feel free to express themselves on this list. If, however you
know darn well that you are just repeating the same old things on any given
subject that we have beaten to death and dealt on ad nauseum that you would
think twice about about presenting it to 1300 folks again who do you the
courtesy of reading what you write.
Now I've said it. Dale will no doubt wish to express that chiding members
is his unique prerogative (which it really is) but folks, the longer term
members, especially, know when we've beaten a subject to death. I sure am
hoping to hear some new slants on such things or perhaps a little less
repetition. This is really a thing that has driven away some members and I
really hate to see anyone leave for such a reason.
Tom Sanders
Lansing, Mi