Clincher vs. Tubular



pistole said:
- high end tubulars and high end clinchers , are comparable for performance.

.
From experience, the sweetest clincher there is nearest to tubular tire ride is the Schwalbe Ultremo. Kinda expensive tho.
 
hd reynolds said:
From experience, the sweetest clincher there is nearest to tubular tire ride is the Schwalbe Ultremo. Kinda expensive tho.
Why do you like the Schwalbe Ultremo ?
 
mikesbytes said:
Why do you like the Schwalbe Ultremo ?
Gives a nice supple ride. Can be pumped to 160psi tho I fill them to 120psi. Very light at 180grams. Grippy.

Other tires concurrently used as comparison are conti GP4000 (very very harsh but durable), Michelin Lithion (good grip but ride is a little heavy and slow, good only up to 110psi), Mich Pro Race 2 (not enuf puncture protection and thread wears easily).

Another good tire but hard to source is Vredestein Fortessa Comp. Almost as good as the Ultremo.

 
hd reynolds said:
Another good tire but hard to source is Vredestein Fortessa Comp. Almost as good as the Ultremo.[/QUOTE]

Agreed. I highly recommend them.

I've been on them (Fortezza SL, Fortezza and Fortezza Tri-Comp) for two years.

Good grip in the dry, corner well.
Good road feel (not a lively a a good sew-up at IMO, but rim construction/spoking must be taken into consideration).
GREAT cut/puncture resistence.
Light, but wheel/tire combo still is sluggish compared to sew-ups.
The fronts seem to run forever, but I can't get a rear to wear longer than 1300 miles before carcass threads are showing.

175 PSI casing rating. I run them at 100 to 115 PSI.

Note that Vredstein manufactures two casings. The one with the higher thread count is used for the better Fortezza models. the Fortezza SE is a lower end training version.

http://www.vredesteinusa.com/road.html