Reverence? Tubs
We can mimic the pros in many ways; kit, bikes, shaving our legs. Even if we’ll never ride like them, we can try (mostly in vain) to look like them. We’ll buy a piece of equipment because our favourite pro endorses it, or even adopt trends that the peloton have, such as alloy classic bend bars, slamming a 140mm stem, or putting those plastic sticky things across the bridge of our noses (yep, I actually did this in the mid 90’s when Tinker Juarez was rocking them on the mtb World Cup circuit. It didnt help a bit, and I looked like a twat). There are many pro traits that are certainly frowned upon and should never be attempted, like wearing the rainbow bands or maillot jaune. Then there are things we would love to be able to do, like snort cocaine with 18 yo models, but there’s as much chance of that as Cav finishing the Vuelta. And finally, there’s things that we can do, but are probably too cautious or conservative to do.
Like running tubs.
We know that every pro bike has the tyres glued to the rims, but how many of us actually own a set of tubs? How many would like to own a set? How many get the fear of Merckx put up them at the mere thought of getting caught miles from home with a flat? Ok, I hear you say, they’re only for racing, but how many of us are good enough to benefit from the reduced chance of a pinch flat on the cobbles, or the decreased rolling resistance from a 100 gram weight saving? I’m not seeing many hands… anyone, anyone? But still, I want some!
I’ve been on a mission to find a light set of wheels for Il Profetta, and scouring eBay and TradeMe has coughed up quite a few sets of tubs. Some going pretty cheap too. Several times I’ve been poised to push the ‘buy now’ button, but like a kid too scared to jump into the river from the highest bridge in town, I keep pulling back from the edge. It’s like, I might hit the water wrong and break my neck, but probably won’t. At worst, my shorts might fall down while scrabbling back up the bank to dry land, with the other kids pointing and laughing. It’s a risk I’m not willing to take. Clinchers are like having extra-strong elastic in the trunks, plus a drawstring for back up. Tubs on a punter’s bike are like a pair of Speedos on a fat bastard.
Just as I was ready to give up the idea of tubs altogether, we received an impassioned email out of the blue from an enthusiastic sew-up fan going by the moniker of “Tubolari”. He suggested in no uncertain terms that it was less than hardcore to ride clinchers or even to use tyre levers to remove them. The most surprising thing was, he wasn’t a grizzled old Italian mechanic or former Belgian domestique, but has only been riding for a year. Is it merely a case of wet-behind-the-ears zeal, or is he onto something? Should we all be digging out under the house and storing a stash of tubulars in there to age them? Let’s see…
Tubolari’s reasons for riding tubulars:
- You get to say you ride tubulars with a smug grin.
- It is an appropriate procedure to simply ask for tubulars in determining whether or not a bike shop is a REAL bike shop even if you don’t plan on buying tubulars.
- Tubulars are generally relegated to the lightly used sections of a store thus making you more hardcore because you need to blow dust off of the packaging just to read the specs that you’ve already read online.
- Personally, I use tape (Velox Jantex 76 Competition tubular tape) and that pretty much takes the hassle out of it. I think though, it makes me less hardcore than those who use glue.
- I love it when a machine breaks (tubbie flats), it shows that a machine is just as vulnerable as a human. I love to bring my machine back to working order like a doctor. It also gives me a reason to don my Campy cap and sing Italian tunes like in Breaking Away.
- Subjective qualities:
- I take a corner at speed with tubs (Gommitalia Challenge $30 a pop) and feel the bump (I begin to panic) but the tubbies have already deflected around the rock and I’m safe, I grin and press on.
- I take a corner at speed with clinchers (Continental Grand Prix 3000, $75 a pop) and feel the the bump (I begin to panic) and jump about what feels like half a foot sideways (I check my shorts, they are dry), I press on.
- I joined a charity ride as a volunteer (ride guide), I am the official tubular tire repair/changer mechanic and get my own car, walky talky and office. The office I use will be for participants to drop off their tires and wheels for spares so I can SAG them on the ride. Not bad for starting road biking last year right?
- Piling spare tubs in your jersey gives others a conversation piece when on tours with your local club.
- Merckx rode tubulars so it seems only fitting ;).
- Tubulars are like wine, you like some, you don’t like others. Some go well with Steel and some go well with Carbon Fiber.
Some compelling points for sure, and it’s hard to argue with his passion. Or is it? Keeper Gianni loves an argument, and can refute the strongest of opinions with a sneer, or just by hitting the reply button;
Yeah, yeah, senor Tubolari, talk to me in a year when you have peeled off, opened up, patched, re-sewn, re-glued, and re-glued more a bunch of tubolaris. Sure you may get laid more often riding tubulars, but trying to get a girl’s bra off with all that tubasti glue on your mitts is tough.
I’ve done my time with them and moved on, tubless road clinchers is where I’m heading, the great beyond. Come with me.
Cheers, Gianni
Think I’m gonna sit on the fence on this one for a while longer, and leave my pro tyre-emulation to these or these for now…
Cyclops – did you put a State Champ decal on the 586 yet? Might look pretty slick. Maybe a potato wearing the rainbow rings?
Question sparked by the properly folded tubular photos – should seat post collars be turned opposite the frame gap on a carbon frame? I’ve heard both yes and no. Does it depend on the manufacturers suggestion?
@Ron
Do it.
Oh, dear Merckx, no. Nalini faux denim bibs are an abomination.
@Jeff in PetroMetro
But then again, I still can’t get my head around colored bibs. I’m all in for black with colored side panels, though.
@Nate
Be nice… These jerseys demand respect! And besides, most of us had big mouths long before donning said insignia.
@mcsqueak
For the win!!!
Speaking of jerseys and bibs. The Idaho State Champion jersey is going to be predominantly red. I’m hoping that it will be the same shade of red that is on the bottom of my Eagle Rock Cycling bibs (see photo)…
…because that would look pretty pimp in that my team bibs matched the jersey and still kept me 100% RC (rules compliant)!
@Jeff in PetroMetro
Personally I’m with you on black bibs, but it’s Ron. I think he has the sack to pull it off and who are we to stand in his way?
I’ll add that there is a guy in my neighborhood who has a vintage pair of Carrera bibs in good condition; he brings them out on occassion. I am compelled to compliment his style on the special occassions they appear.
@sgt
Said with respect and based entirely on my brief experience in the rainbow, which caused my post rate to trippel, at least.
@Ron
For Merckx sake, those always were, and are now, an atrocity. Am I mistaken or is the sublimated fly pre-bulged?
I joined a charity ride as a volunteer (ride guide), I am the official tubular tire repair/changer mechanic and get my own car, walky talky and office. The office I use will be for participants to drop off their tires and wheels for spares so I can SAG them on the ride. Not bad for starting road biking last year right?
Sorry mate, but that is too lame. I would never opt to SAG on a charity ride unless 1 leg was in a cast or I had just undergone a triple by-pass the week before. The point is to lay down the V not drive behind them and change their flats. I think if you ride Tubs, you had better be able to change them yourself.
Back in the day (70’s) I rode with a semi-serious racer who rode “sew-ups” on his Campy-equiped Pugeot. Me, I was on my 2nd hand Schwinn LeTour w/ a suntour upgrade and some brand of alloy clinchers. Whenever he flatted (which was not all that often) we always tried to find a tree to rest under while changed and glued his spare tube back on. I always wanted a nice bike like his, but cannot say I ever wanted to ride on his sew-ups.
The fake zipper is slightly askew, as if steering around a “road bump,” making the bibs, indeed, pre-bulged!
I haven’t worn denim in well over a decade, but hey, denim on the bike? Too good to resist. I’ll get a photo up as soon as I can source them. I too carry my spare tubes down the front of my bibs. Gonna look ultra hot in those pre-bulged Dungareeibs!
@mauibike
@Minion
Maui – Minion, I hear you and realize the chance of a bad reaction to some base tape can happen over time. I never had a problem back in the day and found that the race and training tires I bought then never suffered this problem. I did see it with other peoples tires and other glues, especially if they had them on for more than a year, something I never did, perhaps because I was riding a pant load of miles in them days. Part of the deal especially with “aged” tubs was that the latex side walls would dry out as well as the base tape glue. Re latexing as well as reglueing the base tape was always wise. I never used old tires and always used Fast Tack with only good results… many fun fast descents!
@Ron
I believe these shorts come with a tatty straw hat and a single strand of straw to chew on. Not right then, not right now.
@Ron
Leave it to the Italians to think of that. Just make sure the orientation of your tube corresponds to the printing on the shorts lest you look wee bit deformed.
@Nate
My eyes!!!!! My eyes!!!!!!! Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
Well, if the bibs do in fact have functional pockets that’ll be awesome. I’ll just stuff my gear into those pockets & ride jersey-less, with my straw hat & straw…straw. I can put the money saved into handkerchiefs and a new pig.
It doesn’t have to be exotic. My first foray was to build aluminum rims to loose ball hubs and revolution spokes. Total weight sans tyre and skewer: 1560. I’m pretty pleased to say the least.
Veloflex carbon tubs are the way to go on Carbonsports Lightweight Obermayers been riding them for years, they flat much less than high quality clinchers. Glue them on, don’t be tempted with the sticky tape. I fold up a pre-glued spare quite small, tie it up and place it into a baggie, then it rides low in my rear middle pocket. I also carry a spare clincher tube in my extra biddon. Real classy to be able to fix a clincher rider’s flat while on tubs.
@Kenomac
Thumbs up, nice! I can’t help but think that the fear of punctures is overstated but then I’ve never had to make a roadside repair with one. Had one blow up at the track once, (overinflated and left sitting in the sun.)
One of the rippers is from track nats: when it was run in Invercargill on an outdoor track, the bikes were stored in shipping containers. A rider went to inflate his tires with a compressor before a race, and confused the bar readings with PSI. He tried putting 16 bar in thinking it was 160 psi, I can only imagine how loud that must have been.
@Ron
I think you have found your kit for cross season, then. Go forth and be awesome.
Excellent demonstration of how to tie the tub to the saddle, thanks to our friend @BIGRINGRIDING.
@mcsqueak @Cyclops
Don’t judge a book by it’s cover. I’ve bought both R3’s there, two sets of Zipps, and have gotten the most amazing service ever in the history of my cycling life. Saul and Garick are so awesomely cool and skilled mechanics that it defies explanation. Brook and Reed (the owners) have put together an amazing team over there – each and every one of the employees is fantastic.
Not to mention all top-end gear. I was originally put off by the Tri-shop thing myself, but found myself coming back over and over. I think Brook is about to start charging me a Cover Charge to go in because Saul and Garick productivity drops to 50% the second I wander into the workshop.
Nate – Wow! Racing cross in the Denim Wonder Bibs with no jersey?! Now there is a great idea. It’s warm down here south of the Mason-Dixon line so I should be fine to go topless. Maybe I’ll screw some cleats onto Sidi Moto boots to really give the outfit an edge…
@Ron
Better be a single speed cross event. FTW!
@Ron
++1
Awesome
All I can add is that as soon the clinchers made their appearance, tubes disappeared. Now “palmers” as we call them in Italy looks like a special things for special purpouses.
@Cyclops
I present to you the official UCI approved Idaho State Championship Logo
*TM
Wear it with pride tiger.
@Cyclops
Oh, and last year’s winner…
@mouse
A top tuber?
@Cyclops
So now that you’re state champ and all, can I expect to see you lined up next to me at Masters Nationals next weekend in Bend OR? Be nice to have a fellow VM to work with given that the field is totally stacked. And I’m going to get my ass handed to me.
@Pedale.Forchetta
Very well said. Though tubs do, in every way, appear to have been established as the preferred tool of the Velominatus.
@frank
And that’s just great!
@scaler911
“wrenching” since 88 hey? congratulations junior, I had retired from “racing” by then…stick around you may learn something….lol
@xyxax
A remarkable russet?
@cam
Sorry. I call bullshit.
@cam
I’ll tell you why. Let’s say you ‘retired’ at 35 (from senior (and I’m guessing amateur
racing). That would make you 59-60. Given that I’ve been around this sport for roughly the same amount of time as you, I still say bullshit.
AND, as Oli previously stated, Merckx never called ’em singles.
Johnny pissed you off didn’t he?
@cam
Mostly about manners I might suggest as you clearly have some difficulty with alternative viewpoints.
@cam
A fucker as old as you must be using “lol”? Embarrassing.
Kind of paradoxical that you are telling someone to “stick around and learn something” when your first foray here was to tell Brett that he is still in nappies. This is Brett’s website… But maybe you were referring to the incontinence nappies you now wear?
So how about you go to your bathroom, take some more Viagra and go fuck yourself.
We need a hall of fame. Slash is a favourite, I think Cam is a bit misguided, (new modes of communication and all that, I was hoping he’d come back because there is the possibility he could add something to the conversation, and after the reception to his first post well fuck me he’d have a pair) but nothing on Adrian.
@minion
Well that’s kinda the point of all of the blowback he’s getting, I’d suggest.
To come in on your introductory post claiming seniority/superiority because you’ve been doing this longer than the rest of us, with a rant that is really nothing more than a meditation on semantics is, well, just piss weak.
if @cam thinks he can teach us something, i’m sure we would all be happy to listen if he wasn’t shouting, and if he actually had something useful to contribute.
Tell us about racing in the 70’s or 80’s, or even watching racing if that’s what stoked the fires.
Just don’t try to suggest that we are all try hard wankers who have jumped on the bandwagon ’cause we saw Lance win his 7th Tour and we needed a new hero to worship, because that’s the bit that’s most likely to incite the sort of response that ensued.
And claiming something as fact that’s just plain wrong didn’t help Cam’s cause either.
@mouse
It’d been nice if he said hi before going off on the community. I’m totally fine with opposing viewpoints (hell, a couple of my really good friends are republican), that’s what makes this kinda thing fun. But show a modicum of respect. ‘Sides, as Oli stated, he’s just wrong.
No doubt about it Cam has jumped in like the Twatwaffle he is. As a Yank who is probably as old as him and was “racing” back in the day and spent my formative early adult pre-racing years in London I have never heard the term “singles” or “high pressures”. A quick and ineffectual G-search led to an Australian reference to “singles”. But if nappie wearing Bretto, who hails from that fair continent and works in the trade as well as has a keen interest in all things Merckxian also has not heard these terms then well Old Camy needs to jump in here and edjumactate us wet behind the ears novices.
Back to the point of the article…
DROOL: I want these for Christmas or Hanukkah, anyone, please??
Hand made Schwalbe tubs!
Ultremo HT
700 x 22 RaceGuard Black-Skin 260g PSI 115-205(!!) Latex innertube (ONLY) $156.55
@frank
Ah just giving you a hard time Frankie boy, I purchased my ride from a tri shop as well. There are approximately 100 shops in the area (it seems), but many are for commuters/bike path/vacation bike folks, and it was one of three shops that carried the brand selection I was looking for.
@scaler911
did you mix your own shellak back in the day or did you get the “shop” to do it for you?
@cam
Shellac was for trackies, no self-respecting roadie would use it. Stop talking bullshit.
@mouse
Yep you’re right. I was wanting to give someone the benefit of the doubt, now we’re into BS territory.
Here’s my chemistry degree can I use my tubs now please? (I don’t have a chemistry degree)
@cam
Lucky you have stuck around old timer. Oli just helped u learn something
@cam
No you ass-hat. I have always used 3M for my equipment, ’cause as Oli stated, I race on the road. But to answer your question, yes, I do know how to mix shellac for track tubulars. Boy, Johnny really got to you didn’t he? Try this one:
@cam
In all seriousness, if you pause for a moment and don’t jump to the conclusion that you’re the only one here with experience and a love for the history of the sport, you’ll find that the community is very welcoming and in fact would be very interested in the contribution that riders such as yourself who have been at it for a longer time than they have can offer. In fact, that seems to be one of the elements of the communities’ strength: sharing of experiences to further understand the sport and continue to grow our love for it. Because no matter how long we’ve been at it and how much we know, there is always more to learn. Sometimes we agree, sometimes we disagree, usually we’re pedantic, and always have a laugh. This sport is too great to be so serious about it all the time.
I suggest you stop trying to assert your superiority through testing our most highly-regarded community members and join the conversation in a productive way. Either that, or just leave, because the way you’re presenting yourself (a) gives us zero incentive to give a shit and (b) makes you come across as a complete asshat.
I’ll lead with an example.
What you said:
First mistake: you’re leading with an insult to our founding contributor, BrettOK.
Second mistake: you accuse him of being a new wave hipster twit without spending any time whatsoever trying to figure out what we’re about. I quote from the first paragraph on The Keepers:
Third mistake: You are myopically focused on some micro-community wherein you apparently used a term that no one else in the sport has ever used.
Forth mistake: You assert that The Prophet rode “singles”. Whatever the legitimacy of your claim that Singles is an actual term, Merckx, as a Belgian, most certainly did not use an English word to describe his tires.
Proposed alternative approach:
What you could have said: