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Re: sprinters
1) are they fast?
2) how do they handle?
3) are they as hard as other continentals tubs to get on the rim?Asking because they seem reasonably priced
dan-
) are they fast?
What does fast mean? The new ones use Black Chili and have great grip and roll nicely. The older ones were not bad either..
2) how do they handle?
They handle OK.. They are not as consistent as the Competitions.. and perhaps not as robust but still quite robust.
3) are they as hard as other continentals tubs to get on the rim?
Yup. They have nylon cords. The main difference between the Sprinters and Competitions are they they are a bit less consistent, a bit heavier and provide less puncture protection... The new competions have not just Black Chili but also a Vectran belt--- like the GP4000s clinchers. The older Competitions had a Poly breaker but were also "hard as nails"..
Asking because they seem reasonably priced
Yes. In my opinion the absolute cheapest tubular tyre worth buying. For under 35 EUROs they are great deal.
EdwardZ
You can't really test them. Most of the tests remind of bicycle testing in consumer reports. How often have bicycles with identical brakes and rims gotten different results in their braking power?
Tubular tyres are too difficult to test. There are just too many variation in roundness of tubular tyres and the state of their rubber. The best ones are, afterall, handmade. Relevant to their rolling resistance is not just how round they are but how well they are mounted and with what adhesive. Some tyres just mount better-- straighter-- on some rims. And even in the hand of an experienced mechanic things are never really consistant enough to set a baseline. And the glue? Using tape-- as some tests have done-- results in significantly higher rolling resistance. The difference in rolling resistance between using a stricky road mastic and a strong adhesive such as Terokal 2444 or even old-school shellac is highly significant. And what inflation? Again different tyre constructions are better at different inflations.
To test tubular tyres one would need to have a number of random samples of each model, a number of different rims and use a strong adhesive. One would need to also plot inflation, weight and rolling resistance. One would probably have to repeat the testing over time to see the influence of age and wear on rolling resistance-- older somewhat worn tyres are known to have lower rolling resistance. One could then throw out the singular samples and talk about "typical".. Frankly why?
But to the question about the Sprinter? They are OK.. Current ones are even much better than old ones.. Just don't get the Gatorskin..