I really hate being passionate about anything that Charles Andrews is. But he's so...so...convincing sometimes, Darn it!
However, I will make an exception here and while I have never been accused of being a stoggy ol fart, (and he hasn't either!), Charles is 100% correct about sew-ups.
Put me on a high speed turn on a gravelly road surface with sew-ups any day of the week before you put me on clinchers. even the cheapest of sew-ups will pull you better than ANY clincher ever made. I have only ridden clinchers about 15% of my entire biking life and if they were better, I would riding them a lot more.
Maybe I have been lucky in not having an inordinate amount of flats with sew-ups, but the whole rim gluing ritual, etc., has become a total non-issue when you've ridden 70 miles on bumpy back roads and you don't have to worry about how your bike handles, let alone the jarring your butt gets when you try to ride clinchers at the same psi as sew-ups.
Sorry Charles, I agree with you on this one a gazillion times over. The facts simply speak for themselves. I should also add that I grew up riding the back roads of Colo. anyone who has ridden them knows what goat-heads are.....and I still rode sew-ups. Best Regards- Nels Cone Seattle WA
P.S. The fact that Campy, Zipp, etc. STILL make Pro Sew-up wheels clearly speaks for itself as well....and those aren't 40+ y/o geezers like me buying them.
> From: chasds@mindspring.com
> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
> Date: Fri, 29 May 2009 08:25:51 -0700
> Subject: Re: [CR] tubular tires and leather saddles
>
> quoth Jerry Moos, in part:
>
> "If we are honest, I think we must admit that part of the continued niche interest in leather saddles and tubular tires is exactly their inconvenience, or to put it more kindly, the ritual connected with them."
>
> *********
>
> Uh. If I am honest I don't admit any such thing. Tubular tires STILL ride better, and make for lighter wheels, than any current clinchers. Period. And a Brooks B-17 is more comfortable than any modern saddle I've tried. And the titanium version is lighter than most saddles. If I could have a Titanium B-17 on every bike I own, I'd do it in a heartbeat.
>
> Jerry, we still ride sew-ups because they're BETTER. Not because of the inconvenience. You can't possible be serious when you suggest that any of us enjoy gluing up tubulars. You can't.
>
> Charles Andrews
> Los Angeles
>
>
> "everyone has elites; the important thing is
> to change them from time to time."
>
> --Joseph Schumpeter, via Simon Johnson