Video Review of my favorite cyclocross wheels.

My team has a weekly training ride that incorporates a 3 mile section of dirt. Here is a video of one of the last road rides I will do on my Easton EC90 SL wheels. This weekend I will be peeling of the road tires and mounting the cyclocross tires. These wheels have been awesome on the road and I can’t wait to get into cyclocross again on them. I will be posting a video review of these wheels in the next week that you don’t want to miss.

Hey cyclocross riders check it out. Real Cyclist is having it’s annual Sag Wagon Sale. If you have not shopped RealCyclist befor you need to check them out. Free shipping on orders over $50, huge selection, online real time gear heads to answer your questions. Plus, they are totally gearing up for cyclocross, wheels(Easton, Reynolds, Zipp, Mavic), tires, frames by Stevens, Santa Cruz, Pinarello and more. Get some!

The great debate amongst cyclocross racers is to run tubulars or clinchers on their cyclocross wheels. Lets break it down.

Tubulars:The Good
At the elite level of racing there really is no debate. Virtually none of the top Euro dogs are running clinchers. That should tell you something. The main advantage of tubulars is that you can run crazy low pressure and not worry about pinch flats. Most people think low pressure is only for the mud but that is not exactly true. Last year at the USGP in Wisconsin I was talking to Erwin Verveckan and i asked him if I could check his tire pressure. Erwin is about as cool as they come and he said sure, check it out. I was shocked when my thumb easily touched the rim when I pushed on the top of his Dugast. Since the Wisco course was dry and fast I told Erwin he must have a leak. He just laughed and said “Americans are always running way to much air in your cyclocross tires”. Erwin is not a super small guy, like 175 or so yet he was running 28psi on a fast dry course. I guess it worked because he won later that day. The low pressure helps the tire conform to the terrain and give you maximum traction. It also takes the edge off a bumpy course.

The mega pricey tires like Dugast use silk in the sidewalls which makes the casing super supple. Again this causes the tire to conform to the terrain and stick like velcro. The ride quality of a tubular is really extraordinary and everyone should experience it at some point in their cycling career.

Tubulars: The Bad
Tubulars are not for the racer on a budget. On the low end $60-$80 per wheel, on the high end $140-$160. If you flat your choices are try and find the hole and fix it (something I have never been able to do) or toss it and get a new one. Ouch. A good sealant like Stans will help keep you running but still a sliced sidewall is the end of your tubular. Another thing that makes tubulars expensive is if you want to have tires for a variety of conditions that means you also need complete wheel sets for mud, snow, , etc.. It ads up quick.

Clinchers: The Good
Variety, there are tons of manufacturers and tire patterns to choose from. While the tubular guy has to haul around $3k worth of wheels that take up the entire back of a pick up to match the conditions, the clincher guy (or gal) can pack tires for every condition on a messenger bag. Oh, and at a fraction of the cost.

A flat on a clinchers is as easy as replacing a $3 tube and takes less than 5 minutes. Also clinchers tend to be a little more durable than tubular since they usually have rubber sidewalls as opposed to a poly/cotton sidewall. So for durability clinchers win.

Clinchers: The Bad
OK we know the dangers of pinch flatting so no need to go into that. The biggest downside of clinchers is a bit esoteric. Clinchers just do not have the “feel” of a tubular. Some of it is due to the higher pressure required to ride them and some is due to the materials used but the end result is real. Clinchers just don’t have the feel. Clinchers tend to rely more on the tread design to create traction and there are some very aggressive tread patterns out there especially when compared to the treads offered on tubulars. It is a more brute force answer to the traction question that the finesse and suppleness of a tubular. In this case though my opinion is finesse is the winner.

Conclusion
So which is best for you? For Elite racers there is no debate, tubulars are the only choice. Fr the rest of us it is not as clear. the best analogy I can use is this. Two fisherman of equal skill and experience go out for a day on the river. Fisherman 1 bought his gear at Cabelas and spent a couple hundred dollars. Fisherman 2 went to a guide shop and got top of the line all the way around and spent $5k. At the end of the day they both caught about the same amount of fish and they both have ear to ear grins on their face. Fisherman 1 think Fisherman 2 is a good guy but a bit foolish, all that gear and he didn’t do any better than me. Fisheman 2 thinks Fisherman1 is a good guy but feels sorry for him as he does not appreciate the finer points of the sport and therefore his experience is diminished. Who is right?

Let me just say I love Easton wheels. I have been racing cyclocross on the EC90 SL and EC90 Aero’s (tubulars of course) for 2 season now. I am a big guy (195 or so) and I have yet to knock these wheels out of true. I don’t even know how many miles I have ridden these since i race them in the summer as well, but it is a ton.

I will post a more detailed review of these amazing wheels later. The reason for todays post is to let you know of a sweet deal I found on Easton EC90 SLX tubulars. At 1175 grams for the set these are some super light wheels. Like all Easton EC90 wheels it is hand built and features ceramic bearings, R4 SL Hubs and axles.. A nice touch is that Easton also includes Swiss Stop pads with all of their new wheel purchases. Don’t even waste your time with other pads, Swiss Stop is all you will ever need. Anyway RealCyclist.com is blowing these out for $1199.37, that is 40% off which is as close to wholesale as you are gonna get. These are some kick ass cyclocross wheels! While Easton does not have a weight restriction keep in mind these are very light weight wheels so if you are a big guy then you may want to look at something a bit beefier for cyclocross. Better to err on the side of safety.

Sweet Wheels!

Over in Granby Colorado this weekend Todd Wells added to his collection of Stars and Stripes cyclocross jerseys with a pair of MTB titles. On Saturday Todd took his first ever MTB National title (seems hard to believe he hasn’t won before) over JHK with Ryan Trebon in third spot. Cyclocrossers Adam Craig (4th) and Barry Wicks (9th) also showed that a winter racing ‘cross doesn’t hurt your summer season at all. Todd made it a clean sweep by taking the Short Track on Sunday

On the women’s side Georgia Gould beat Mary McConneloug for the women’s XC title and Katie Compton came away with 5th. Katie turned it around on Sunday powering her Stevens away from Georgia for the title in Short Track.

I heard from some of my sources that a few of the pro’s were running tubulars at Nationals. Gotta dig into that one a little more and report back. Tubulars in MTB races and this season we will see disc brakes on pro ‘cross bikes. Awesome

We borrowed this video from our friends at The Church of The Big Ring. Here USGP Masters Champ Ali Goulet shows us how to properly glue tubulars on your cyclocross wheels.

How to Tubular from The Church of the Big Ring on Vimeo.

I know it is hard to think about glueing up cyclocross wheels when it is in the 90′s but cyclocross season is less than 3 months away. I have been using my race wheels on the road all summer and will probably keep the road skins on til about 2 weeks before my first race. I know a lot of people say tubulars are expensive and a pain in the ass. This is pretty much true and if I raced only on the road I am not sure I would bother with the hassle. Cross on the other hand there really is no substitute for tubulars. There is no way you can run the low pressure that cross requires with clinchers.

For me the cyclocross season really begins when I glue up my first set of race wheels. There is something about the ritual and process that really connects me to the sport. The act of working on your own bike is a statement of ownership. I want to know that all bolts have been tourqed, I want to know what my tire pressure is, I want to feel connected to my machine.

We are cyclocross fanatics. Stay tuned for reviews and news of all things related to cyclocross wheels, tires, and parts.