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sandranian · Site Admin

OK...so I don't like sew ups. I love riding them...hate servicing them.

So for all of you who do ride sew ups, a few questions:

(1) What, in your opinion, is the best "everyday" rider sew up? I am looking for durability here, not "high performance". I need them for 700c wheels.

(2) What is the best source for your favorite sew ups? Hint: Cheapest!

greyhundguy

Stephan,
I really like these folks: www.worldclasscycles.com
Fast service and friendly people from NY. I bought TUFO S-22's. They had the best price at the time and I had them in 2 days. PANARACER 'Practice' is also a good budget tire. Plenty of other options though. You get a slightly better deal buying 2 tires, you get free glue and shipping.

Jay

scozim

Stephan,
Could it be that you and I, the clincher stalwarts, are changing? Actually, the TdF has tubular wheels so I figured I'd give them a try and see if what the supporters are saying makes it worth staying with them.

Scott

smilingroadrunner

Stephan:

Some day I may purchase a higher dollar sew-up. However my "frugal" side has been satisfied for years with the Vittoria competition 'Rally' series tubulars. Well, 'satisfied' may be open to debate.

However, approx $30 general training type tire that occasionally will go on sale at Performance or Bike Nashbar for as little as $21-$26 range.

They have improved ??? the tire approx 2-3 yrs ago with the "Kevlar 3D" tread compound. These Vittoria products are the only tubular that I've ridden for probably the last 12-15 years. Occasionally there is somewhat of a 'lumpy' ride typically around the valve stem area after first mounting a new tire. Seems like that resolves---also care in mounting makes a difference. I typically have 6-8 new sew-ups (try to purchase when they are on sale) 'maturing' in the cool -dark of the basement shop. Usually 2 mounted & pumped up to pressure on spare rims to facilitate mounting when that time comes.

If I ever popped $150-200 for a set of hand made casings I may wonder what the H*** I've been missing the last 35-40 years. Seems like a roll of the dice as far as longevity. I do try to be careful where I ride. But I've lost brand new tubulars in 1-2 days , and have had others last more than 1 -2 years.

Generally on these less expensive tubulars, I notice the rim tape tends to separate from the casing sidewall as time passes. Chas pointed out a link to a Liquid Latex product a week or two ago when I brought up this separation issue. I've ordered some and plan to try to "dress" my sew-up casing sidewall-rim strip interface in the future to see if it improves that issue.

Sorry Chas for the 'wet' weekend on the Califonia coast Razz

---It's been sunny 70's and calm weekend here in Ks. Laughing

Great ride yesterday and looking forward to getting out early this afternoon now that I've lost that hour of extra evening daylight. Twisted Evil

I Like Steel !!!
____________________
C.A. Salina, Ks.

verktyg

Stephan, et al.

The Yellow Jersey Ltd. in Madison WI sells some cheap 700c x 21mm sewups for $19.95 each, 3 for $50.00. Wink

http://www.yellowjersey.org/tt.html

They're not the greatest but hey, for the money they can't be beat. I bought 6 of them last year: 4 where straight and true but 2 looked like snakes digesting a small mouse! Embarassed

They're available with either natural tan or (YUK!) black sidewalls.

Andrew Muzi the proprietor has an exchange policy on these tires because you can't tell about sewups until you mount them.

Most of the Italianized tubulars are coming from several factories in Thailand. Apparently the they were originally set up by some of the well known Italian tire makers and have survived their parent companies demise.

I also have a set of the Panaracer Practice Dual Tread black/yellow tires that I'm going to mount on a new set of wheels. I've never ridden them before so I'll report back.

BTW, I bought a pair of the now discontinued Challenge Paris Roubaix tubulars. They're HUGE, about a 32mm cross section! They DO make me look fat! Shocked

I used to ride Clement cotton Paris-Roubaix tires with a 28mm cross section or the 26mm silk Clement Campionato del Mundos. They sold for ~$18-$19 retail when I first started riding sewups. That was a small fortune then. By the late 70s they had gotten up to ~$30 each. I was fortunate because I could buy them at 10% over cost at the shop I managed. We imported them through France so they cost us about half of what we would have paid through the Italian suppliers. Cool

I'd like to find some reasonably priced sewups with a 25mm to 28mm cross section again.

On the issue of aging tubulars, we received them in bundles of 10 and let them hang loose in our warehouse for a while. The notion that they got better with aging is only partially true. The latex rubber compound that tubular tire casings are coated with during manufacturing is not vulcanized so it remains soft and tacky for up to a year (depending on heat and humidity).

After "aging" for a while the latex hardens up a little and becomes more durable. In time it will dry completely and harden so you don't want to age them for too long.

Enjoy the arcane anachronistic experience. Cool

Chas.

Gtane

Stephan,

Continental Giros or Sprinters work well for me. The Gatorskins are amazing in the wet but more expensive. The Giros have the canvas sidwewalls if you want the older look. The other good thing is that none of these tubs need pumping up everyday.

As for other makes that I have experience of, Wolber are sadly no longer going but made some terrific tyres, Vittoria CX (in various guises now) is a brilliant all rounder but expensive and requires air every day.

I don't have any knowledge regards US outlets and prices, other than a search engine trawl and recommendations throughout the forum.

Tim

greyhundguy

I have a pair of the Panaracer "Practice Dual 270" as Chas. shows above. I like them, though the Black/Yellow may not be your thing. I think they come in Black/Red. The Panaracer "Practice" from my above mentioned .com are the traditional Black/Gum.

Using a Silca on occasion,
Jay

verktyg

Yellow & black goes great with a Blue Gitane with yellow trim. Cool

Chas.

greyhundguy

...and they're gonna look HOT on my Metallic Black Interclub, with yellow cable, pump, toe straps and decals, when I finish.

Jay

smilingroadrunner

How Ironic.

Just as I was dozing off to sleep at 12:10 Monday morning, I heard an explosion Surprised

and my spouse screamed. Shocked

I thought she had dropped and broken a light bulb or something---turns out the rear sew up on my 70 TdeF blew out. It was setting in the living room not 10 feet from her computer work station so no wonder it suprised her. Laughing

Tufo sealant ain't gonna fix it this time. Crying or Very sad

Funny thing too, I had not pumped the front or rear tires since Friday, so the rear tp was probably about 90-95 psi, VS the typical 100-105 psi that I normally ride on.

Just glad it didn't do it during yesterdays ride. No evidence of sidewall damage or casing tear. I guess I'll have to perform an autopsy to discover why the innertube blew up.

Back on the '71 Interclub for a few days while the TdeF gets some new rubber.

I Like Steel !!!
___________________
C.A. Salina, Ks.

verktyg

C.A.

Sorry to hear that.

Here's a place in Florida that does sewup tube replacements.

http://www.tirealert.com/

Haven't tried them myself but the reports I've seen were OK.

Chas.

scozim

Time to re-read this thread. I took the TdF out with a friend today and was having a little trouble with the tire losing some air. I got 18 miles into the ride I realized I needed to put some air in the tire (only had 3 miles to go). It was then I realized the sew up was separating from the rim - old glue it appears.

So, I'm not going to take a chance and will order some new sew ups, based on the recommendations above, so I'll be ready to go in the spring.

Scott