Mmmmmm... My turn!
First tires in the mid '70s were huge silk tubulars with a dreamy ride!!! Then tried Clement Criterium (silk and cotton versions) and Clement 66 Stradas. Then the early Specialized Turbos and other hi performance clinchers because I was doing 75 to 100 mile rides and didn't want to get stranded in the middle of nowhere with two flat tubulars and one spare! Then Vittoria CXs and CGs. Then the "open" tubulars (clinchers). Then the Michelin Pro clinchers. Then Clement P-R and del Mundos. And now a days CHEAP TUBULARS! The $15 to $20 ones on the internet. They are true with no bumps at the stem (unlike most of the expensive tubulars I've had) stay pumped for weeks because of the butyl tubes and when they flat (almost never) they cost so little I toss them with no guilt or remorse. So no more dried out dirty side walls and no more unsightly base tape coming unglued at the edges.
THE IMPORTANT PART TO READ FOLLOWS: Today's cheap tubulars have nothing, repeat NOTHING, in common with the cheap tubulars of old!!!
(psssssss! Keep them pumped between 90-95 psi)
Chuck Schmidt South Pasadena, Southern California
.