Your experience/opinion of Tufo clincher tubulars

[bladerunner]

I'm interested in trying the Tufo tubular tyres for clincher rims for training & racing [track & road]. Worth a try? [as they seem to be fairly expensive]

 

[RDV4ROUBAIX]

Tufo tubular clinchers are junk. You could get a better ride from a garden hose.

 

[Bustedknuckle]

I'm interested in trying the Tufo tubular tyres for clincher rims for training & racing [track & road]. Worth a try? [as they seem to be fairly expensive]

Hard to mount, generally ride poorly. For the $, you better off with a normal clincher/tube combo.

 

[Anonymous]

keep looking

I'm interested in trying the Tufo tubular tyres for clincher rims for training & racing [track & road]. Worth a try? [as they seem to be fairly expensive]

I thought I'd try them because I was sick of pinch flats. Cured the pinch flats, BUT, everyone of the 5 or 6 I bought punctured. I used the Tufo sealant which worked sometimes. Even when it worked I didn't feel confident riding more than 10 miles from home on a tire I knew had a hole sealed with white stuff. The lit says you can continue to ride when they flat. That is true, except that the valve stem may rip as the tire shifts on the rim. No fixing that one. Last, they only had short valve stems which means you need extenders. Besides looking ugly, they are made from a soft alloy and yes, I managed to break them off where they connect to the tire's brass valve stem. The tread also seemed to wear quickly. My recommendation would be to try anything else.

 

[RDV4ROUBAIX]

I thought I'd try them because I was sick of pinch flats. Cured the pinch flats, BUT, everyone of the 5 or 6 I bought punctured. I used the Tufo sealant which worked sometimes. Even when it worked I didn't feel confident riding more than 10 miles from home on a tire I knew had a hole sealed with white stuff. The lit says you can continue to ride when they flat. That is true, except that the valve stem may rip as the tire shifts on the rim. No fixing that one. Last, they only had short valve stems which means you need extenders. Besides looking ugly, they are made from a soft alloy and yes, I managed to break them off where they connect to the tire's brass valve stem. The tread also seemed to wear quickly. My recommendation would be to try anything else.

Brewerjeff, please help me understand how you got so many pinch flats on the road. I hear this every so often form other roadies, and to be honest I can't get my head around it.

Are you riding with too low pressure? When you see a pot hole are you drawn to it like a magnet, or do you try to avoid it? Do you have cobblestones? I know you're in Wisconsin, and from my experience of the Western Coulée region from Durand to Madison is that the pavement there is smooth as glass, especially in the more rural areas where you're at. Heck, even the gravel roads there, what few there are, are pristine.

So, pinch flats on the road... What gives?

 

[Anonymous]

shame

Brewerjeff, please help me understand how you got so many pinch flats on the road. I hear this every so often form other roadies, and to be honest I can't get my head around it.

Are you riding with too low pressure? When you see a pot hole are you drawn to it like a magnet, or do you try to avoid it? Do you have cobblestones? I know you're in Wisconsin, and from my experience of the Western Coulée region from Durand to Madison is that the pavement there is smooth as glass, especially in the more rural areas where you're at. Heck, even the gravel roads there, what few there are, are pristine.

So, pinch flats on the road... What gives?

I am ashamed to admit it, but most of my problems were self made. I know this now. 1) Bad / sloppy practices mounting the tires that damaged the tubes enough to blow after a short time, 2) ignoring problems with rims and rim tape / not replacing it when I should 3) being inattentive and hitting BIG potholes at high speed, 4) other things? Same goes for the valve extenders. Some I wasn't careful enough with, others just broke off despite being as gentile as possible.

Anyway, the Tufos made the flat problems go away.

Now that I have seen the errors of my ways, and I approach tire changes with gentleness and respect tube issues have gone away (mostly).

Also, I have one of these

best invention on the planet. I can easily mount any tire on any rim. No sore fingers, no swearing. Have a small-ish snow tire with wire bead you want to put on a rim that's big-ish? Here is your answer.