# Gatorskin Tubulars for Everyday Riding



## Honda Guy (Jan 20, 2016)

If I was to use a set of tubular wheels for everday riding, would it make sense to run Gatorskin tubulars for extra puncture protection? By going with a heavy, puncture resistant tire, am I nullifying the advantages of tubulars?


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## cxwrench (Nov 9, 2004)

Honda Guy said:


> If I was to use a set of tubular wheels for everday riding, would it make sense to run Gatorskin tubulars for extra puncture protection? By going with a heavy, puncture resistant tire, am I *nullifying the advantages of tubulars?*


Pretty much.


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## Jay Strongbow (May 8, 2010)

What advantage to you think tubulars have?

And are you asking if Gatorskins nullify that as compared to what clinchers?


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## blackfrancois (Jul 6, 2016)

the term, oxymoron, comes to mind.


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## ngl (Jan 22, 2002)

Honda Guy said:


> If I was to use a set of tubular wheels for everday riding, would it make sense to run Gatorskin tubulars for extra puncture protection? By going with a heavy, puncture resistant tire, am I nullifying the advantages of tubulars?


A tubular Gatorskin weighs about 300 grams each. A 4000S clincher with a quality tube weighs about the same and will give you a better ride. Net result is you will be save about 200 grams in a pair of tubular rims vs clincher rims. I have a few questions. Are you going to carry a spare 300 gram tubular tire (instead of an 80 gram tube if you were to run clinchers)? Are you going to carry slime and hope the hole is not too big? Are you going to purchase a new tubular every time you flat? Have you ever changed a tubular along the road side before?


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## Honda Guy (Jan 20, 2016)

Jay Strongbow said:


> What advantage to you think tubulars have?
> 
> And are you asking if Gatorskins nullify that as compared to what clinchers?


Mostly superior ride quality.


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## ngl (Jan 22, 2002)

Honda Guy said:


> Mostly superior ride quality.


The answer is "no"


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## Kerry Irons (Feb 25, 2002)

Honda Guy said:


> If I was to use a set of tubular wheels for everday riding,


Don't. Not in any way, shape, or form worth the hassle, especially if you're going with a garden hose tire.


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## cdhbrad (Feb 18, 2003)

The puncture resistance of Gatorskins is a bit overhyped, at least in my experience. I was in your shoes a few years ago....I had a set of Zipp 303 Tubulars I was wanting to get more use from, instead of just racing, so I mounted a set of Gatorskins. Took them out for the Saturday group ride and I had a flat within the first 15 miles I rode them.....a staple in the rear tire. Luckily, I had a spare and fixed it but, by then, my riding group was long gone. 

If the "Flat Gods" have decided its your time......a Gatorskin isn't going to keep them away.


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## aclinjury (Sep 12, 2011)

Gatorskin is too expensive for daily use. I'd use something a little less and often on sale on Probikekit. For example, I like the new Vittoria Rubino Graphene for daily use, these are often on sale on PBK for under $50 each and rides much nicer than the more expensive gatorskin. Besides, a staple is gonna punch through ANY road tire, so gatorskin ain't all that much better in terms of flat protection.

as for nullifying any advantage, well this question is sort of like asking does riding at 10 mph nullify any advantage of buying an aero bike. Of course not. Granted it makes not much sense using an aero bike if you're only intending to ride it at 10 mph, but... aero advantage still holds true. Same with tubular, it'll always ride nicer than an equivalent clincher.

Regarding flats, this is your call. If you get more than 3-4 flats per year, then you'd better off with clinchers. Me, I get like 1-2 flats/year, so I don't mind riding tubulars and carrying a spare and light 21mm tub in my back pocket to get me home. Changing a tub on the road isn't that difficult for me. But the nice thing about tubs is that they seal much better than clinchers with applying sealant! I've sealed at least 2 tubs on the road by simply putting in sealant when a flat happens, and each time the seals did hold until the tires wore out its lifespan!

The other pain with tubs is gluing. I use tape now. I'm a flyweight and have found that gluing is just an overkill for me. Honestly, the biggest pain in using tubs for me is removing the old glue! By switching to tape, I get rid of the hassle of gluing. Tape isn't as firm as glue, but I'm a lightweight and I'll go with tape just fine. However, if I were to use glue, then when I need to remove the old glue, I'd go straight to the gasoline as remover! Yep, gasoline remove a lot of stuff, just gotta be careful because it may remove decals too lol and/or any graphics printing on the wheel!

My experience with using tubs on a daily has been better than most though.


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## No Time Toulouse (Sep 7, 2016)

Another good choice would be the Tufo S3 Pro. Just about bulletproof, light-ish, always completely round, with a pretty sticky rubber compound. Reasonably cheap, too, if you look around.


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## ngl (Jan 22, 2002)

I've run tubulars for a short time and will agree that a nice tubular will ride (a little) nicer than a nice clincher. 

But the OP question is about using tubular Gatorskins (I assume he is hoping he won't have any flats) vs a nice clincher. I haven't run Gatorskin tubulars but I've run cheap tubulars and the ride quality of a cheap tubular just plain sucked.

I found sealant worked fine sealing a staple size hole, but it wouldn't seal a larger hole unless you reduced tire pressure accordingly (otherwise it would just spurt out the hole). I always hated it when I had to purchase a new $70 tubular instead of a $4 tube.


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## Oxtox (Aug 16, 2006)

Kerry Irons said:


> Don't. Not in any way, shape, or form worth the hassle, especially if you're going with a garden hose tire.


I believe you meant 'frozen garden hose tire'...


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## cxwrench (Nov 9, 2004)

No Time Toulouse said:


> Another good choice would be the Tufo S3 Pro. Just about bulletproof, light-ish, always completely round, with a pretty sticky rubber compound. Reasonably cheap, too, if you look around.


It's amazing how perfectly straight and round those damn things are. Every one is perfect.


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## Bee-an-key (May 5, 2007)

I run them. Campy Shamal tubular with Sprinter Gatorskins. Actually gluing one today. Rode the Vittoria Paris Roubaix for years but as great as they feel they do not last long. Not many flats but had to routinely change. The Sprinter I pulled off tonight had about 1500 miles on crappy roads and dirt, no cuts, just starting to get thin. The ritual of gluing is no big deal to me, been doing it for 35 years. Takes longer than a clincher but don't care. Flat on the road, yeah it sucks but just takes some time. Improved performance, probably not, but I am not racing and don't get hung up on the marginal stuff, just ride what I like.


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## Kerry Irons (Feb 25, 2002)

Bee-an-key said:


> The ritual of gluing is no big deal to me, been doing it for 35 years. Takes longer than a clincher but don't care. Flat on the road, yeah it sucks but just takes some time. Improved performance, probably not, but I am not racing and don't get hung up on the marginal stuff, just ride what I like.


So what exactly is the upside you see for tubulars? I rode them for 30 years when the clincher alternative was not a good one, but I switched to clinchers 20 years ago and have never looked back. The ride is essentially the same, and the hassle is a lot less.


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## blackfrancois (Jul 6, 2016)

Bee-an-key said:


> ... just ride what I like.


can't do that here. will get shouted down.


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## cxwrench (Nov 9, 2004)

Bee-an-key said:


> I run them. Campy Shamal tubular with Sprinter Gatorskins. Actually gluing one today. Rode the Vittoria Paris Roubaix for years but as great as they feel they do not last long. Not many flats but had to routinely change. The Sprinter I pulled off tonight had about 1500 miles on crappy roads and dirt, no cuts, just starting to get thin. The ritual of gluing is no big deal to me, been doing it for 35 years. Takes longer than a clincher but don't care. Flat on the road, yeah it sucks but just takes some time. Improved performance, probably not, but I am not racing and don't get hung up on the marginal stuff, just ride what I like.


If you like them and you're able to mount them and deal w/ flats on the road, go for it. I trained and raced on them for years and years...I don't flat very often so it was fine for me.


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## scott967 (Apr 26, 2012)

Been riding Veloflex Arenberg tubs daily for a year and a half. Had a couple flats fixed with sealant (Bontrager TLR and Orange Seal). Had a sidewall tearout from road trash that resulted in premature death on a rear. It's hard to get glue in Hawaii so went with Carogna tape which is very nice, but quite expensive.

scott s.
.


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## No Time Toulouse (Sep 7, 2016)

ngl said:


> ....
> 
> I found sealant worked fine sealing a staple size hole, but it wouldn't seal a larger hole unless you reduced tire pressure accordingly (otherwise it would just spurt out the hole). I always hated it when I had to purchase a new $70 tubular instead of a $4 tube.


Ummm.....you know, you can REPAIR them, don't you? Unless you prefer to flush a Franklin and a Jackson down the toilet every time you flat.....


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## ngl (Jan 22, 2002)

No Time Toulouse said:


> Ummm.....you know, you can REPAIR them, don't you? Unless you prefer to flush a Franklin and a Jackson down the toilet every time you flat.....


The sew-ups (I raced with) could be repaired but the TUFO training tires I had weren't sew-ups so no, I couldn't repair them. Either way quality clinchers w/ latex tubes provide me with a great ride with less hassles.


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## Bee-an-key (May 5, 2007)

I can't say there is any upside, just my choice the same as people switching to tubeless or any other technology. Never tried to convert anyone to riding tubular, that would be silly. Electronic, Disc, Carbon, Aero all have performance advantages that none of us really need unless you are world class. But we all buy it to gain speed even though very few of us race. I have had two flats on the road in the last 10,000 miles that I had to use the spare tubular, so I can't say it has been a burden to me. Hope that answers your question.


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## Jay Strongbow (May 8, 2010)

I wonder how many who think "tubulars ride nicer" have used latex tubes with the clincher version of the same thing so they are comparing apples to apples with everything but construction?

I know that's probably N/A for Gatorskins but most good tubulars use latex.

When I went from butyl to latex with the same clinchers I felt it was a slight improvement. So I can't help but think if someone feels a tubular rides nicer than the same clincher they may actually just be feeling the difference between butyl and latex.


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## Trek_5200 (Apr 21, 2013)

you can't totally avoid flats. i agree that gatorskins do not have a great ride quality. i use a puncture resistant clincher tire not as bullet proof as gatorskins and i get very few flats. there's something known as diminishing returns. at some point you're gaining relatively little in flat protection and giving up a great deal in terms of a supple ride.


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## Mapei (Feb 3, 2004)

Do what you want. Enjoy your life. I gave up tubulars, several years ago, but my wife still loves them. And she uses the Gatorskins, as well.


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## woodys737 (Dec 31, 2005)

Jay Strongbow said:


> I wonder how many who think "tubulars ride nicer" have used latex tubes with the clincher version of the same thing so they are comparing apples to apples with everything but construction?
> 
> I know that's probably N/A for Gatorskins but most good tubulars use latex.
> 
> When I went from butyl to latex with the same clinchers I felt it was a slight improvement. So I can't help but think if someone feels a tubular rides nicer than the same clincher they may actually just be feeling the difference between butyl and latex.


I've used everything. Tubulars corner better. Tubulars with latex v. butyl feel a touch different. Maybe more supple but it's hard to tell. Much like clinchers with latex v. butyl. 

Anyways, now with wider rims the clinchers are feeling and rolling much better imo. So much so I got rid of the tubulars and just roll clinchers for everything.


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## aclinjury (Sep 12, 2011)

woodys737 said:


> I've used everything. Tubulars corner better. Tubulars with latex v. butyl feel a touch different. Maybe more supple but it's hard to tell. Much like clinchers with latex v. butyl.
> 
> Anyways, now with wider rims the clinchers are feeling and rolling much better imo. So much so I got rid of the tubulars and just roll clinchers for everything.


I have the HED Belgium Plus 25mm wide rim, using 25mm tires, and they don't ride and feel as nice as my Vittoria Rubino 25mm tubs. But "feel" is mainly a personal taste IMO, just the way tubs roll is different than a clincher


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## Miles Behind (Jun 18, 2018)

The gatorskin tubs are an excellent training tyre IME, very good puncture resistance and handle reasonably well [they are nothing like gatorskin clinchers - there seems to be confusion on that point in some posts above]. I have one on the front of my commuter at the moment as it goes.
For everyday, though, I think the tufos are hard to beat just on how they behave with sealant. Their construction is different to other tubs, with the tube being annealed to the tyre, and it will seal a puncture very reliably IME [either running with sealant as standard or adding tufo extreme when you do flat].


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## No Time Toulouse (Sep 7, 2016)

I love tubulars, but there is no single tire that will satisfy all. On 3 wheelsets I have, I'm using the following:

Tufo S3 Pro: Incredibly durable, rides a bit hard
Vittoria Rubino: Rides really nice, 23mm width, wouldn't expect much flat protection, hold air nice because it uses a butyl tube.
Challenge Paris-Roubaix: Extremely nice riding tire, 28mm width.

The last 2, I have extra protection from using Orange Seal in them. So far, no punctures.


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