Singles for general riding?

[notwal]

Singles are nice to ride but a pain when punctured.
Is there a puncture proof/resistant setup for them that makes them viable for general purpose riding?
If they can be as reliable as say tubeless tyres with Stans goo that's good enough for me.

[trailgumby]

Weeeeell... you've set the bar pretty high there. Mtb tubeless with Stan's goop is pretty hard to puncture. Generally only taken out by a major sidewall cut from a sharp rock.

There's a guy at work who commutes on old classic bikes that are almost exclusively tyred with singles. He carries a spare tyre tied under the seat with a leather toe strap.

He's no uber-cool fixie-riding hipster... he's about 60 and there is no way I can keep up with him. Built like a whippet and about as fast.

[foo on patrol]

Short answer noooooooo but generally the heavier (300grms or more) are more durable from my previous experience from 35yrs ago.

[aeroslave]

No. Tubulars should be reserved for racing or tune up rides pre race. Its a hassle to replace them and costs $ too compared to clinchers.

Stans no flats only works well with mtb tyres. There is something about the latex inside tubular road tyres that makes them not as reliable as in mtb tubeless.

[Cruiserman]

No. Tubulars should be reserved for racing or tune up rides pre race. Its a hassle to replace them and costs $ too compared to clinchers.

Stans no flats only works well with mtb tyres. There is something about the latex inside tubular road tyres that makes them not as reliable as in mtb tubeless.

Stans no flats works very well in my road tyres - Hutchinson Road Tubeless. The problem with it sealing up tubes and particularly the very thin latex type tubes often found in the tubular singles is that there is really no thickness for the sealant to work with. That is why Stan goes to length to puncture the side wall of the tyres as they are much thinner than the tread area. I was commuting on a set of zipps with zipp tangents on them, every flat basically meant a call to the sagwagon to get a lift as the time to pull a well glued tyre off and fit another meant late for work - which in my job means problems and owing too many favours to others who cover you. For a very similar ride feel convert to Tubeless and see how you find that.

[aeroslave]

My point exactly. Leave the Tubulars for racing and pre-racing "tuning" rides on relatively clean roads. Tubulars and training rides don't mix. Ever.

Unless you have a sagwagon everytime.

[bomber]

Tubulars and training rides don't mix. Ever.

How often do you puncture? For me it's certainly not that often so I don't see why tubulars would be that different. If you like the ride and or feel of singles then I say go for it. Plenty of guys I ride with choose singles exclusively. Hell they ride their best kit everyday too...

[ValleyForge]

Unless you have a sagwagon everytime.

I reckon I can put a spare tubular on faster than patch or replace a tube. If it's a front, I'll ride straight home, but if it's the rear, I'll keep riding...

M2CW: It's just a cost & convenience issue. Good tubulars are anything but free; on carbon rims the turn around is 48hrs before you can ride them properly. I pump my tubulars up each time I ride them (160psi), my clinchers once a week if I remember (120psi).

[toppity]

Unless you have a sagwagon everytime.

I reckon I can put a spare tubular on faster than patch or replace a tube. If it's a front, I'll ride straight home, but if it's the rear, I'll keep riding...

I just realised I've haven't changed a tubular for over 20 years. With my race wheels now tubulars again I better practice. Valley Forge, how do you get them off? Just start pulling them away opposite the valve?

[ValleyForge]

Wheel off, shoes off and toes either side of the valve stem. Pulll & roll at the same time on the opposite side and it's off before you know it. I use Continental glue - the standard brew is OK, but the one for carbon rims is tenacious! I did use Clement glue back when but it's a lot harder to get off the rim when re-gluing.

[foo on patrol]

^^ X what he said! ^^