Comments on: Tufo Heron Wheels & XC 5 29″er Tubulars: On Test

By: Andy

Andy — Fri, 24 May 2013 12:37:55 +0000

Did you guys ever measure how wide the Heron rims are?

The only MTB tubular rim measurements I can find are the ENVE tubulars at 24mm, and the FRM 309T at 24.6mm.

By: nige

nige — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 19:41:34 +0000

Bring on the tubular, I’ve been riding my Tufo XC2′sfor sometime now and I’m no racer and I just love them. Definitely the way to go and I haven’t even gone to carbon rims yet, which is next.

The feel and ability of these tubs is like no other tyre I’ve tried. Yes I am a roadie with lots of experience with tubs on the road and I do or see and more disadvantages to tubs over tyres, in fact I so much prefer tubs I use them all year round on all surfaces. So I will be trying the XC 4 or 5 for next winter, as well as some of the more exotic tubs this summer.

By: Scott

Scott — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 02:12:50 +0000

I’m very excited to read your thoughts and opinions on these wheels and tires! Apparently, unlike most of your readers, I race my mountain bike on a regular basis (recreational, not pro). And even my local training rides are done on a 17 mile “clover leaf” trail system that never takes me further than 4 miles from the car. So being stranded from a flat tire isn’t my biggest concern (even though it has happened on occasion). I currently ride a Spearfish and like the stiff ride of the short travel bike. I’d like to know if I could go back to a hard tail with the added cushion of the tubular tires without suffering from the fatigue normally associated with race bikes. One added bonus is that my current race wheels are the AM Classic Race wheels, so that comparison will be perfect for me Thanks for the great reviews!

By: c_g

c_g — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 08:06:24 +0000

@ Simenf & Kevin: Thanks for your insight and thoughts. I never meant to hide any of these facts you stated (I think I did, too, in my intro ) – especially the trailside repair and simplicity of tire changes will always be a thing – these are systematic issues tubulars will always have.
Only thing is we heard and potentially said the same things (selection of tires, volume … among others) about 29er tires/wheels when they came out – and look where we are now .

@ Yogi: What do you mean by stating the TUFO Alca´s weight? The Heron are the higher end carbon tubulars and are lighter.
Good idea with more volume on tubulars, I am all for it, too. Currently the widest tubular MTB tire I know of is the TUFO XC4 with a true 2.2. Anything wider may need another, wider rim design to provide enough support.

@ Motivated: Sure I will, even with avery similar wheel and tire weight, the tubeless will always come out 120 to 250 g more, depending of how much sealant or what tube is being used.

@ Kevin: Rolling resistance to me is one part of a complicated equation. As you surely will acknowledge, there is a whole lot more to good tire performance in mountainbiking than a static test on a perfectly round drum roll (as done my TOUR magazine). On rough surfaces there are other factors like resilience, small bump and vibration absorption, rebound, deflection under lateral loads and so many others – many of which are not considered in most testing environments but all playing into what comes out as a real world riding impression it leaves to you or me.
I am not disregarding such testing and numeric results, but they are only part of a much bigger story. At least in my experience .

–> All that said – I am in no way sold to tubulars. I am torn between some intrigueing traits they bring to the table, the drawbacks they bring and what is currently considered state of the art tubeless ready technology (which by the way isn´t anywhere near refined at this point). But I feel this tubular tire/wheel should have a real chance to prove their worth under real world riding to come to a fair judgement and what I see beginning from the very first 29er tubulars back almost 3 years ago – they are getting better and more universal.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 11:08:24 +0000

Given that c_g’s own country’s Tour Magazine has consistently tested road clincher tyres to have lower rolling resistance than tubulars and Tufo tyres have a history of doing poorly in the same tests I have a hard time believing the lower rolling resistance claims for these.
Recently on a long ride I had a stick go through the sidewall of my tubeless tyre. I was able to boot the tyre using the small roll of duct tape I carry in my pack, put in a tube and make it back to the car. If I was running a tubular it would have been game over(sealant or not and I would have faced a long walk.
I spent 15 years while racing on the road gluing and running tubulars of various kinds, but typically there was a car with spare wheels behind the peleton!
Still if someone wants to put on a set to go out and have fun on their bike its all good!