Joe Young will not try to sell anyone on riding tubular tires and rims. It is an age old debate but most of the information and comments on the web and in the cycling press about tubular wheels is just wrong. Someone needs to be an advocate. Most see them as a relic from the past, but the pros don’t think so you still see tubulars on bikes of people who ride a lot of miles…
For some sports like cyclocross, the pros and serious riders are almost all on tubular wheels. This interest means, there are more tire choices available now. One of the superior attributes of the tubular design is that the air pressure energy in the tires goes down into the rim toward the center of the wheel, holding the tire on the rim. In the clincher, the energy goes into the rim side walls trying to pull the rim apart. This is an especially big concern if you are considering carbon clinchers, heat and pressure can cause carbon clincher rims to fail. Tubular tires will tolerate more air pressure. Track tires use 160 to 180 psi. On reason clinchers are still not allowed on the track. No one needs that much pressure unless the paved surface is very smooth.