W

[Roger Longbottom]

W

 

[Racing roadkill]

“Tubs“ and tubeless are not the same system, and need totally different rims. Tubeless clincher running on a road bike is more hassle than it’s worth in my experience. “Tubs” ( tubular ) rims and tyres are great, but you need to be aware that unless you’re very handy with tub tape or pre glued spare tubs, or you have a support car with an assembled spare wheel, punctures can make life interesting.

 

[Cycleops]

You’ll also need to swat up on your sewing skills when it comes to punctures

 

[rogerzilla]

Tubs are super, super light (the main weight saving is from the rim, which can be a simple box section). You can ride on a flat one to get home or to a convenient place to replace the tyre. Nice ride and handling due to having no stiff sidewalls and a true round profile. Can take really outrageous pressures for the track, over 200psi.

Disadvantages: all other things being equal (they aren't) rolling resistance should be higher. Punctures are a bit of a nightmare. Puncture in the rain, or for the second time in a day, and you are stuffed. Sticking them on the rim with tub glue is a nasty job.

To see an advantage over wired-on tyres you have to buy decent tubs (£50+) and stick them on. The flipside of this is that they will need repairing if they puncture as the price means they're not disposable unless really worn out. Repairs are about £15 plus postage.

They are great on the track where punctures are almost unheard of. I have one set of tub wheels for this purpose.

 

[monkers]

You’ll also need to swat up on your sewing skills when it comes to punctures

Indeed. 😄
I remember my time riding tubs very well. I covered big mileage in those days but only remember getting one or two puctures.

They were fast though. I had various brands of tubs, but one pair had a raised rib around the circumference. When riding from damp patches onto dry, they used to leave a wet stripe no more than about 3mm wide on the road, they could just roll and roll.

 

[monkers]

Tubs are super, super light (the main weight saving is from the rim, which can be a simple box section). You can ride on a flat one to get home or to a convenient place to replace the tyre. Nice ride and handling due to having no stiff sidewalls and a true round profile. Can take really outrageous pressures for the track, over 200psi.

Disadvantages: all other things being equal (they aren't) rolling resistance should be higher. Punctures are a bit of a nightmare. Puncture in the rain, or for the second time in a day, and you are stuffed. Sticking them on the rim with tub glue is a nasty job.

To see an advantage over wired-on tyres you have to buy decent tubs (£50+) and stick them on. The flipside of this is that they will need repairing if they puncture as the price means they're not disposable unless really worn out. Repairs are about £15 plus postage.

They are great on the track where punctures are almost unheard of. I have one set of tub wheels for this purpose.

It never used to bother me to repair them. I used to do them for friends and club members quite happily. I learnt to sew at school, not knowing how useful it would later be for mending punctures. In those days, we didn't call them 'wheels' but 'sprints'.

 

[monkers]

I've just remembered another trick that we used to do. We would swap the rear tubs without removing the sprint, mostly for TT rather than everyday road use. We would have the spare tub in the frame clipped up to the back of the saddle ready for the occasion. We'd just pull the punctured tub from the rim, clip it up, unclip the repacement and quickly stick with one quick lick of quick drying contact adhesive. On a TT cornering speed was much less important so they would stay on OK.

 

[rogerzilla]

Generally you rely on the tackiness of the existing glue when fixing a puncture on the road and don't carry any glue with you (the spare tyre should be a used one, with residual glue on it). The pressure also helps keep the tyre on to some extent but you have to be cautious when braking hard or cornering. Then, when you get home, you add some fresh glue and do it properly.

 

[monkers]

Generally you rely on the tackiness of the existing glue when fixing a puncture on the road and don't carry any glue with you (the spare tyre should be a used one, with residual glue on it). The pressure also helps keep the tyre on to some extent but you have to be cautious when braking hard or cornering. Then, when you get home, you add some fresh glue and do it properly.

Exactly so, though I did use to carry a very small tube of glue with me. It was just a quick thin stripe was added around the circumference of the sprint prior to sticking, certainly not done full width or with any precision. I only remember doing this once myself. Contact with the road was so marginal that I only remember having one or two punctures. This was all nearly 50 years ago for me; happy days

 

[rogerzilla]

Probability (and my own experience) says that narrower tyres will puncture less, simply because they see so much less of the road. Imagine a road strewn with tacks: let's say it's Little Waldingfield on the Dunwich Dynamo, and the NIMBYs have been out again. A 23mm tyre has more than twice as good a chance of making it through without picking one up than a 47mm tyre, assuming the tacks are evenly distributed and the tyres are being run at the optimum pressures.

(Of course, the first car along the road will pick up most of the tacks with its wide tyres, so ride where a car's wheels would go and you improve the odds immeasurably)

 

[Sharky]

It never used to bother me to repair them. I used to do them for friends and club members quite happily. I learnt to sew at school, not knowing how useful it would later be for mending punctures. In those days, we didn't call them 'wheels' but 'sprints'.

I used to carry a needle, wax thread, a razor blade and a thimble as a back stop in case I had more punctures than spare tubs and on more then one occasion, repaired a tub at the roadside.

 

[Racing roadkill]

Firstly an apology to everyone who has replied. I was reading the book that came with the wheels and must have turned two pages and gone straight from the clincher set up to three pages of "glue related exercise"

The wheels are in fact tubeless ready ( the supplied tubeless tape and valves should have been the giveaway to me and the fact they are called TLR!!!

I presume the book just covers many wheels.

So after wasting all your precious time on Tubs, is there any performance advantage to tubeless?

They are lighter, they do tend to roll better. However, if you get a significant cut or hole on a ride, nothing will help, except an inner tube ( which will normally go in without too much argument, and renders the tubeless set up pointless ) but it’s a messy nightmare involving removing the tubeless valve, and putting the inner tube in. You’ll end up looking like you’ve been to a dodgy party before you get going again.

 

[ColinJ]

Thanks RR, am I right in thinking if it is just a small prick (pun intended) the sealant sorts that?

See what YOU think...

 

[ColinJ]

PS That is a REALLY dodgy way to go about breaking a bottle!

 

[rogerzilla]

Tubeless, then: harder to fit (you need a pump that gives a rush of stored air to seat the bead). Lower rolling resistance, all other things being equal. Should be a little lighter. Puncture resistant BUT that is really a function of the sealant most people use and you could just use an inner tube with Slime in it if you were on wired-on tyres.