Chas:
Gotta jump in and strongly but politely disagree here. Sewups get a bad rap because of cheap ones. I've always used "the best" (Clement Criteriums/Paris Roubaix/CDM Setas, then Italian Vittoria CX/CG when Clement ran downhill, then, well, it's been tougher in recent years, never mind). Between my wife and I, in twenty-five years of running skinny tubs almost exclusively, we've experienced maybe a half dozen flats. Most of those were due to running over unavoidable debris. We regularly get 10-20,000 miles out of quality tubulars, and in fact have some bikes that are running twenty-year-old tubies!!! (Admittedly, those bikes haven't been ridden tons of miles per year, and we're on borrowed time with the tires in some cases). In my experience, quality sewups always, always outlast those lightweight skinny wired-ons.
FWIW, we also run Campy freewheels on our everyday bikes, but we obviously don't log the kind of miles we did twenty years ago (we both did 5-7K per summer in our younger days).
Lastly, I've done loaded touring in Maine on CDM Setas (not the best idea due to how much silk will stretch when it gets wet, but hey, I was like, real, like, young, OK?)
Just my $.03 (w/inflation...).
Thanks for indulging me on this (I feel better already),
Greg Parker going to bed so I can do the old-farts' flat 20-miler tomorrow, A2 Michigan
In a message dated 7/8/01 12:14:49 AM Eastern Daylight Time, chasds@mindspring.com writes:
> It's worth remembering that sew ups, like alloy freewheels,
> were meant to be used up and thrown away, and over fairly
> short distances/time-periods. They're racing products,
> every one, even the CdM's, imho. Of course, things like the
> PR and the CdM are great for touring, but one has to have a
> few on hand, or a good repair kit, if on a long jaunt.