[1rjr]

Have acquired a new '05 Poprad and am keen to spend more money on it. So...
Option 1: Steel fork. Investment crown (love that old school look with curved blades, etc.) or Unicrown? Any reason to favor one over the other?

Option 2: Wheels. Relegate the Bontrager Selects to the back-up pile and get either Ksyrium Elite's or Easton Circuits.

Whudda y'all think?

 

[wunlap togo]

Wheels, but not those wheels.

Are you racing? Cause if you are, you should get some solid tubular wheels with either a challenge or tufo tire, depending on where you live. Ultegra hubs/ Mavic Reflex rims, or some such. Look on ebay, there's great deals on tubular wheels there all the time.Save the rest of your money for a second bike. It could even be another Poprad, if you like the way it fits/rides.

 

[Gripped]

Are you racing? Cause if you are, you should get some solid tubular wheels with either a challenge or tufo tire, depending on where you live. Ultegra hubs/ Mavic Reflex rims, or some such.

Often you can find DA hubs on tubular wheels for the same price or cheaper than Ultegra hubed wheels. The DA hubs have better seals, IMHO. But wunlap is spot-on about wheel choice. Get one that is rebuildable immediately. Tubies will also be the single most beneficial upgrade for racing you can make.

About forks ... If you like the "old school" steel fork look, check out the Wound Up. It's got straight legs but it looks pretty cool. If performance is what floats your boat, get an Easton carbon fork. You will notice a difference hefting the bike by replacing your Al fork with a carbon.

 

[1rjr]

I'll be racing next fall (newbie division). I've heard tubies are the ticket. Why are they "the norm"?

 

[euro-trash]

Tubbies are the norm because they are simply better. They are lighter, and allow you to run lower pressure.

Now, I am not trying to disagree with wunlap or gripped, both of their suggestions are spot on. I'd get tubbies before I changed my fork. I'd add, are your contact points to your liking? Do you like your saddle? Your pedals? handlebars? I'd change any of these things first, then get tubbies, then a carbon fork.

 

[atpjunkie]

agree.a good tubular set just sold on ebay for $157

and for the price of K's you could get 2 Tubie wheelsets online. in fact here ya go. 275 with Tufo cross tires. NOW SPEND

http://classifieds.mtbr.com/cgi-bin...sults_format=long&db_id=58276&query=retrieval

and these

http://classifieds.mtbr.com/cgi-bin...sults_format=long&db_id=58173&query=retrieval

 

[Gripped]

I'd get tubbies before I changed my fork. I'd add, are your contact points to your liking? Do you like your saddle? Your pedals? handlebars? I'd change any of these things first, then get tubbies, then a carbon fork.

Pedals are a big deal. ATAC's or Eggs/Candies (I prefer Eggs). I'd think bars would have to be way narrow for me to want to swap but then I like the bars I've got and might be singing a different toon if they didn't suit me. I've been running an ancient Flite on my race bike for a while. The seat needs to be sturdy but not necessarily comfy for long rides. Still, stock saddles are often crap ...

Carbon fork should be the final upgrade for sure.

 

[1rjr]

Great stuff. Thanks, Y'all.

I've been working on contact points...Candies for the feet (have had eggs on the mtb and thought the little extra platform might be nice when I miss my remounts); an old flite saddle (love the aliante on the road bike, but durability is a concern); will probably replace stock bars (deda 215 or ritchey biomax).

How 'bout that carbon post? I'm not huge (160-165lbs) but the thought of a catastrophic carbon failure in that spot freaks me out.

Okay, another tubulars question: How long does the glue typically hold? I'm putting a lot of gravel/dirt road miles on...in fact, my road bike's been lonely. I've been inclined toward clinchers mainly from a mechanical stand point. That is to say, I have no mechanical ability. I have neither the time nor inclination to learn the dark arts of gluing. I suppose I save the tubulars for racing and ride the clinchers at other times, eh?

 

[jeremyb]

yeah tubulars are race only. some guys have said they get 2 seasons out of a glued pair of wheels but id suggest regluing every year (it depends a great deal i think how they were glued and what conditions you put your tubies into--mud etc).

ive used a carbon post in the past, but i often thought as i jumped on my bike, "yeah it didnt break" and thats not really something you want to be thinking during a race. aluminum is better, the thomson never fails.

jeremyb

 

[euro-trash]

How 'bout that carbon post? I'm not huge (160-165lbs) but the thought of a catastrophic carbon failure in that spot freaks me out.

Stick with Al for 'cross. I've seen too many cf posts break, all brands. Remounting is a stress they were never designed to take. Sure some pros run them, but I bet they get a new post every couple of weeks.

Since you've got most of your contact points covered, go with wheels as your next upgrade.
What's your budget for wheels? New or used? Atp showed, there are great deals on used tubbie wheels on ebay and in the classifieds.
We can recommend a tire if you let us know where you live.

 

[trumpetman]

Clincher Tubulars

(quote) I have neither the time nor inclination to learn the dark arts of gluing. I suppose I save the tubulars for racing and ride the clinchers at other times, eh?[/QUOTE]

I race on tubulars and train on Tufo Cincher Tubulars - most of the advantaves of tubies with the convenience of clinchers. I have used clinchers in training but flats were all too frequent. I went all this past season's training on a single pair of Tufo Challenge clincher-tubulars without ever flatting. The tread design is a little archaic, and the rubber can get a little hard after a while, but that just pumps up the skill level, right?

John

 

[atpjunkie]

oohhh the dark art

I feel all wizardry all of a sudden.
here, I'll demystify it, Belgian method.
mount tubs on rims with no glue to let them stretch for a couple days.
Buy Mastik Glue and Tape.
put a thin layer of glue on the rim and a thin layer on the tire.set tire off to dry. as rim glue gets tacky mount Mastik tape to it (don't peel other side) set it off to dry.
after all is dry ( this depends on your local climate and humidity) if it'scoolI l'll let them sit overnight, but I live in San Diego which means usually half an hour to an hour.)
put another thin layer on tire, set asideuntil tacky.
peel mastik tape toss a couple dabs of glue on top of it (around the rim) and mount tire.
start at stem, stretch it onto rim working away from yourself. as it dries you can lift move tire to align it. get it as close as possible, no need to be absolutely perfect. when it is on straight as can be (don't kill yourself) inflate to a high (for that tire) psi and put away overnight.
I've gotten 2 plus seasons on this method with no failure and I'm over 200 lbs riding 34's.
I changed a set about a month or 2into their 3rd season and blistered my hands removing them from the rim.they were still WAY on.

 

[1rjr]

My eyes glazed over just reading the gluing instructions. I appreciate the advice...really. My life leaves me no time for that sort of thing. I may yet buy some tubies and have my LBS glue them...save 'em for race day.

I am intruiged by the "tubular clinchers."

I start racing next year here in Nebraska. Weather is highly variable. 60 degrees and sunny one day; snowing, slushy and mud the next. Seriously. Changing the tires to match the conditions seems like the best bet. Multiple glued-up wheelsets are not an option. Any specific tire recommendations?

 

[atpjunkie]

well if ya get desperate

to spend some $ and get semi swank I have a set of Mavic K's (I never used them for cx and had the rear rebuilt last summer) that I could mount some barely used 32 Tufo Prestige Tub-Clinchers to.