Which Tyres?

someone will be along shortly to refute your claims...

People claim a lot. They also claim that clinchers are faster than tubular which again is wrong-- tubular tyre systems are lighter, handle better, provide superior comfort and even provide when using a performance optimal gluing technique a similar if not lower rolling resistance-- depends again on the tyre design (and its quality such as roundness etc). Aerodynamics is a difficult thing to talk about since it is not just the tyre but wheel and the whole bicycle-- fork etc. According to the studies I've seen narrow tubulars on narrow tubular wheels do tend to provide, in general, lower drag than any of these wide rimed wheels with clincher tyres. On something like the Mavic iO a narrow tubular tyre outperforms any clincher combination I've seen. To this aim I'm also familiar with a number of bicycle designs to try to optimize the use of said wheels. A few years a good friend developed a rear disc wheel with a national sports body that was not just spooky light but also so spooky narrow-- exploiting all kinds of carbon tricks-- that it seemed to vanish behind the seat-tube--- unfortunately due to "national interests" it did not get used at the Olympics (political pressure to opt for the visibility of a national vendor and "stickers" were not going to help).