A battle continuously rages between tub and clincher users on most forums these days, although many people use a mixture of both. Clinchers for training and tubs for racing seems to be the usual trend.

Tubs have been the lighter option for many years. On some rims they can provide a more aerodynamic profile, and they can take more pressure than a standard tyre and tube. There’s also less chance of having a ‘blow out’, so puncturing is less of an potential issue.

Many people think that a standard tube tyre is fairly similar in weight to a clincher tyre and tube, which is essentially true. But that’s forgetting the weight-loss in the rim as tubs don’t need the excess material that a clincher rim needs to grip the tyre which therefore makes them a lot lighter.

The main problem with a tub is that you can’t really fix it mid-race, so you have to take a spare, which is a bulky object to carry compare to a skinny inner tube. Then there’s the whole nightmare of changing a tub, which can be a daunting task in itself.

In the end it’s personal choice, depending on your experience and the event. Whatever you decide just make sure that you know how to fix any problems that may come about.

Happy Training!!

If you liked this article, why not subscribe to Trispace RSS Feed .

Alternatively subscribe here to receive new articles by email.

Tags: Bike Maintenance

This entry was posted on Monday, August 10th, 2009 at 2:00 am and is filed under Bike Maintenance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.