Campagnolo launches Bora 35 and 50mm clincher wheels

Nick T wrote:

It's a shame to see the less practical tubular myth being perpetuated.

Please explain why it is a myth?

Scenario, riding home from work, windy, wet, pick up some glass and get a puncture. How would tubs be less hassle than clinchers?

Are you thinking of buying a pair of Campag Bora for the winter commute mrmo? Will you buy me some?

Please explain why it is a myth?

I hope Nick T doesn't mind me butting in.

The top clincher/tube/wheel combinations are faster now, but only the very, very best. There are good reasons riders still choose to own tubulars wheels;

- There is no 'team car' even for amateur racers. You put your spare wheels in the service van if you're road racing. The time taken to get you back on the road is critical, but it's down to fitting a wheel, not a repair.

- If you're TTing you don't need to climb into a ditch to sort a flat, you can roll-on slowly on a flat tub. The time taken to get back on the road isn't critical – your race is over, unless it's a long course in which case see above.

- you might just need a top-up of air if you've put some sealant in.

- you can train on them if you must. Sealant and gas will sort you out and a spare tyre if you're planning an epic.

- you don't need to spend a long time (at home or beside the road) with glue, tufo tape works.

- It's relatively easy and cheap to make a carbon tubular rim. It's expensive to make good carbon clincher. This matters to most riders because rims are consumable items.

- Modern tubular wheels (like above) are for going fast, if you're going fast you will certainly want latex tubes. Latex and carbon clinchers don't play nicely together. The times they decide to not play nicely tend to be on long, fast descents.

- Carbon clinchers delaminate sometimes. Those times tend to be on long, fast descents.

I hope this is useful. I'm not advocating one system over another. Both have limitations and are suited to different uses.

mrmo wrote:

Nick T wrote:

It's a shame to see the less practical tubular myth being perpetuated.

Please explain why it is a myth?

Scenario, riding home from work, windy, wet, pick up some glass and get a puncture. How would tubs be less hassle than clinchers?

Take the valve core out, squirt a bit of sealant in, give it a spin and pump it up before continuing your journey. No removing a tyre, no looking for a puncture, no trying to put glue in the right place in the rain with wet fingers, no hassle. Then if you're unlucky enough to ride over another bit of glass, you probably won't even notice that the sealant has fixed it for you.

230548 wrote:

I really can't get my head round "the bigger the tyre the less the drag idea"

Not sure what you mean here - are you talking about aerodynamic drag or the rolling resistance ?

How far are manufactures going to take the big tyre = less aero drag, at what point does the rolling resistance become greater than the aero gain, just at the point where you have to purchase new wheels, or am i being cynical

230548 wrote:

How far are manufactures going to take the big tyre = less aero drag, at what point does the rolling resistance become greater than the aero gain,

The aero performance and rolling resistance depends on a whole bunch of stuff - including, for a given tyre line, the size of the tyre and the rim. Match the rim size to the tyre size and you might end up with a more aerodynamic shape - or not. What larger tyres volumes can provide is the potential for more comfort, higher grip and lower rolling resistance - but whether they do or not obviously depends in turn on a bunch of other stuff (e.g. pressure, compliance, compound).

None of that even considers the wheel dynamics, road surface or wind conditions. How big is too big ? Who knows - it's all so inter-twined with other stuff i'm not even sure it's answerable.

230548 wrote:

just at the point where you have to purchase new wheels, or am i being cynical

The latter.

I totally agree.

I agree with you, I understand getting rid of the "light bulb effect" with using the wide tire wide rim combo. But it can't be better than a thin rim and thin tire combo, when the treads you're ride on are almost points. I think the consideration was that being that you're going wider, the two together was better aero. But going wider is a compromise of aero for comfort. Yeah it has to be a line somewhere.