Re: [CR] Are tubulars obsolete on off-topic race bikes?

> From: FujiFish1@aol.com <FujiFish1@aol.com>

\r?\n> Subject: Re: [CR] Are tubulars obsolete on off-topic race bikes?

\r?\n> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org

\r?\n> Date: Wednesday, July 7, 2010, 7:34 PM

\r?\n> It was reported on Versus that Fabian

\r?\n> Cancellara rode specially hand  made

\r?\n> tubulars for that race ... which he won (whether with or

\r?\n> without a bottom 

\r?\n> bracket motor hidden in his seat tube).  A few years

\r?\n> ago while Lance  was

\r?\n> still on top, it was reported on OLN (now Versus) that all

\r?\n> of the team's 

\r?\n> tubulars were stored for something like months or even two

\r?\n> years  IIRC, partially

\r?\n> inflated in stacks, in a dark, cool basement, and

\r?\n> they  showed footage of

\r?\n> it ... probably on "The Lance Chronicles" or the

\r?\n> like.   I'd say that our

\r?\n> beloved tubulars are still very much a part of modern 

\r?\n> professional racing,

\r?\n> even at the highest level.

\r?\n>

\r?\n> Ciao,

\r?\n> Mark Agree

\r?\n> Southfield, Michigan, USA

\r?\n> ~ ~ ~

\r?\n>

\r?\n> Date:  Wed, 07 Jul 2010 15:50:00 -0400

\r?\n> From: John Betmanis  <johnb@oxford.net>

\r?\n> Subject: [CR] Are tubulars obsolete on off-topic  race

\r?\n> bikes?

\r?\n> To: CR List _ClassicRendezvous@bikelist.org_

\r?\n>

\r?\n> (mailto:ClassicRendezvous@bikelist.org)

\r?\n>

\r?\n>

\r?\n> Here's  something that I wonder about regarding the

\r?\n> kind of tires used in

\r?\n> road  racing in the classic era compared to the

\r?\n> present. From what I

\r?\n> recall, in  the early 1980s racers always used

\r?\n> tubulars unless they were

\r?\n> just starting  out and couldn't afford them or were

\r?\n> overwhelmed by the

\r?\n> maintenance  required. However, in that decade fast,

\r?\n> lightweight

\r?\n> clinchers were  starting to appear. From that time

\r?\n> onwards, more and more

\r?\n> serious road  riders switched to the new clinchers and

\r?\n> more racers used

\r?\n> them. Something  I've always heard about tubulars is

\r?\n> that with all other

\r?\n> things being  equal, such as weight, section,

\r?\n> materials, tread and rim

\r?\n> weight, they were  still faster and felt livelier than

\r?\n> clinchers. So,

\r?\n> what I want to know is,  do pro racers today still

\r?\n> mostly use tubulars?

\r?\n> Certainly, they wouldn't  have to worry about changing

\r?\n> them or fixing

\r?\n> them themselves. In today's  stage of the Tour, George

\r?\n> Hincapie said he

\r?\n> had to ride one kilometre on a  flat tire before he

\r?\n> got a new wheel. One

\r?\n> of the advantages of tubulars  I've heard is that

\r?\n> they're not as

\r?\n> dangerous and squirrelly to ride when  flat. Would the

\r?\n> teams in the Tour

\r?\n> be using tubulars on clinchers? This may  sound

\r?\n> off-topic, but it's the

\r?\n> tires I want to know about. I know that many  classic

\r?\n> bike owners have

\r?\n> switched to clinchers for ease of maintenance,  even

\r?\n> though the bikes

\r?\n> originally came with tubulars.

\r?\n>

\r?\n> --

\r?\n> John  Betmanis

\r?\n> Woodstock,  Ontario

\r?\n> Canada