tubular vs clincher

[proudCAAD12]

Hello fellow WW's,

So this has probably been posted before but I couldn't find anything specific to my question in search.

Noob WW here, after doing some research i've narrowed my wheel choice to either tubular or clincher for my CAAD12.
I do mainly group rides with the occasional sprint triathlon mixed in and I am wondering about wheel choice. I'd obviously love to go for the tubular route due to the weight savings/performance value but I am worried about the maintenance/repair aspect of tubulars vs clinchers. Having only had clinchers my whole riding career I'm wondering how reliable the tubular setup is. I have a few questions...

1. How reliable are the tubular setups and what is your favorite longevity/lightweight/reliable tire?
2. How hard are they to fix on the road if something were to break down?
3. Am I better off to go with a latex tube and clincher setup given my riding styles?

I really am clueless so thank you in advance for any help you can provide!

[spdntrxi]

I use both... but if I mainly did group rides and sprint tri's.... Clinchers all the way.

1. I used my tubs all winter on semi crap roads with a fair amount of debris.. Tires were Veloflex arenburgs on Enve 2.2s
2. I run tubs with sealant and do not carry a spare... cell phone to call my better half if the failure was bad enough... knock on wood.. no issues
3. As I mentioned already, given what you said I would chose clinchers.

[hatsunagi]

1. Longevity for Veloflex Carbon, Lightweight and performance for Vittoria Corsa Speed. I use both for my zipp202tu.

2. Two kinds of sealant;one for misc punctute and the other for serious one. Approx 90% of flats are covered...

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[proudCAAD12]

Thanks for the replies guys. So it sounds like if I go with the veloflex with sealent in the tubular format I'll have a pretty reliable ride?

[sungod]

don't put sealant in veloflex unless there's a puncture, it'll dry out relatively quickly, leaving you with a heavier and less supple tub

if you get a puncture, use tufo extreme to seal it, it's very effective

on dry roads, veloflex tyres are very reliable

on wet roads they cut much more easily, that's where the greater risk is

[tomycs]

1. Continental and Veloflex good experiences, but Continental too similar to clincher feel(downside for me). Vittoria Corsa G+ and Pave, nice rides but too fragile. Tufo S33 24mm good cheap spare but like the Contis, too harsh.
2. Never managed to fix one on the road, when I have spare tub I don't puncture, when I did puncture: either call the wife or slowly pedal to car on mostly deflated tub.
3. I use latex tubes in carbon clinchers but I wouldn't take them on lots of climbing in group riding. I also don't think latex tubes matters much, you don't get the same confort or light weight as you do w. tubs and I'd argue that I'm not quicker vs butyl tubes, there is a slight confort improvement but not comparable to tubs.

[beatle]

I run sealant in veloflex tubs. It actually got me home today after puncturing both front and rear!

[shineplus]

For many reasons, clincher would be beneficial.
Maintenance cost is superior to tubular.

But the ride is definitely good tubular.
I will choose according to your riding road circumstances