My shop lent me a set of carbon wheels to try out for a couple weeks. I was a little nervous to take them since they were tubulars and I had no experience with these. They happened to have a pair of these Tufos mounted on them. I was blown away by how supple the ride was compared to my 23mm clinchers, and they still felt faster and more responsive. Over the two week trial, I didn't have any flats, and the ride quality was so much better than what I was used to that I decided to give them a go.
That was three years ago. I've been riding these wheels and tires as my every-day ride since then. What I've been most surprised by is how indestructible these tires are. Over the three years, I can count the the number of times I've had to change a tire on a ride on one hand. That's way better than I was ever able to get on any clincher I was willing to ride.
I have had a few more slow leaks, but these were easily fixed with some sealant squirted in through the valve. I don't get quite as many miles out of the tires as I have on some clinchers (usually about 1300 or so on the rear, twice that on the front), but the lack of flats and great ride is worth the extra expense.
I use the Tufo Gluing tape to mount them, so not too messy and easy to do out on the road if necessary, which is rare.
Started riding tubulars only five years ago. I know people say the best clinchers are a match for tubulars, but I don't share that opinion. Chief among their faults is dealing with flats. After trying several other tubulars, these were the most flat resistant, important if your team car or neutral support are sidelined. Others may be more supple, better ride quality, but for un-supported everyday riding, can't be beat.
I switched from clinchers to tubulars a few years ago and will never look back. They are much more supple, handle better, and I have far fewer flats. The Tufo Elite Ride 25 is my favorite. It has the ride quality of a 28mm clincher, yet is still fast and relatively light. It just glides over crappy roads and chip seal. It is fairly durable - I've done a lot of riding in the southwest with all the goathead thorns, as well as a fair amount of dirt road riding, and they hold up well. I generally get 1500-1800 miles on the rear tire, and several thousand on the front.
A lot of riders I know are afraid to try tubulars. I have been riding them almost exclusively for the past four years. They ride nicer than clinchers and I have WAY fewer flats. In the last two years with well over 10,000 miles, I've only had one occasion where I had to change a tire on a ride, and that was when I hit a piece of sharp metal and cut through the sidewall. If I had been riding clinchers, it's unlikely I would have had a replacement tire with me.
Like the previous reviewer, I also ride a 25 on the rear and 23 on the front. Great combination. The Tufo extreme sealant works incredibly well in these tires. Sealant is much more effective in tubulars because the tube is bonded to the casing and the puncture can't easily expand to let the sealant out. I just returned from a 2-week, 1200 mile tour through AZ and NM and rode over lots of glass, wires, thorns, and other debris with no flats. Most other clincher riders had numerous flats over this period.
I'm an ultra rider - I ride 12 and 24 hour TT's - you don't want a flat at 3am - it's dark and you have been riding since 8am - after 19 hours in the saddle you don't want to deal with tires (flat) - I have done 16 rides in the National 24 hour challenge.org without a single flat - this is a good tire - 25mm a tubeless sew up and you can run lower tire pressures which make for less rider fatigue - a good price as well - Bill Ingraham Scituate Ma
I'm an ultracyclist - I ride 12 and 24 hour TT's - I need a wide tire, a sewup, and if it's tubeless that's the answer to my prayer - I have ridden the national 24 hour Challenge (Michigan) fifteen times using this tire and have never had a flat - it's good ride is made better by running low pressures which make it easier on the 24 hour rider - if you try one of these you will buy more -
Great tire with a very nice road feel. Get it on sale for a decent deal - too expensive not on sale. I've found that these hold up well to cuts and road debris compared to the ELite Pulse version. This is the better tire.
Very solid construction and unlike traditional tubulars in a good way. Much better design by not sewing the tube inside the tire but rather they used a much better approach by giving it a tubeless style construction. Flat prevention is taken care of with the use of a Stan's or Tufo sealant. 25c width makes a for fast rolling tire!
The tubeless design of the Tufo Elite 25 makes this tire almost worry-free if you travel on rough asphalt roads with less than perfect surfaces and scattered junk like lost bolts, scattered asphalt gravel, crushed aluminum cans and other metal junk. These tires take abuse very well, there's no inner tube to worry about, and with sealant they is very puncture resistant. Although these tires lack the suppleness of a latex tubular they ride and perform very well for me on urban and suburban roads mounted to a Mavic carbon wheelset. Note in my opinion the wheelsetrim makes a big difference in terms of whether a given tire will ride and feel a certain way, it's a bit of an exploration (I've tried Challenge, Vittoria latex tubulars) and surprisingly I found the Tufos to work better with the Mavic than the more expensive tube-style tubulars.
I've ridden these tires at 80 psi rear 75 psi front (slightly underinflated, 180 lb rider) and the tires perform very well at adsorbing bumps and steer well on the flats and descents - in essence they behave like road tubeless clinchers under these conditions, which is what I was looking for in a tubular. My only wish is that these also came in larger widths like 28c or 30c, but the 25c actually perform well enough that I can live without the wider tire particularly with regard to keeping the wheelset weigh lower for climbing.
This is the tire I've been using more than any other for the past seven years. It's not as supple and light as other race tubulars but I get very few flats and the tires generally last until I'm down to the cords. I ride these tires in all conditions, even commuting to work.
I previously gave this tire a great review, mostly for endurance, but have since had the experience of two blowouts on this tire with about 500 miles on them. I have since decided to stick with traditional tubulars with latex tubes and not the newer tubeless tubular designs like this Tufo and some Mavic and Conti tubulars. It seems to me that they are trying to come up with a cheaper way of charging tubular prices for a lesser product. Technology is great when it works but is miserable when it doesn't.
Being new to tubs I was a bit hesitant about the whole black magic of the glueing process. Came across Tufo in my research and their taping system and thought I'd take the plunge. These 25's roll well, but seem a bit stiff coming from what I'm used to (Michelin Pro4 clinchers), but my experience with tubs is limited so take this review with that in mind. The installation couldn't have been easier. I've only ridden in the dry so no comment on the wet experience.
One thing to note is that these 25s have ballooned out to 27mm. That's a good thing. Many of the roads that I ride are quite steep, have a poor surface and are often wet. I need all the contact patch I can get in the back and these are about the biggest I can get in my frame Cervelo R3. I will purchase these again.
I have ridden about 500 km on these tires and so far so good. Some wear is visible on the rear, but I would estimate the rear should be good for at least 3000 km (assuming no flats). They convey that great ride expected of tubulars. They inspire confidence on descents and around tight turns. Their extra width allows them to be used comfotably on light gravel roads or bikepaths.
Despite being wide they fold up quite compactly, so taking a spare is not much of a problem.
I would rate them higher, but they are a little expensive. In this case it seems you get what you pay for.
I have about 500 miles on these and have hardly any wear. They are not as supple as the Schwalbe Stelvio tubs they replaced, but the price is very good. They are straight and mount up well. They seem very tough - no cuts. It's a trade-off though, the durability hampers the performance. I like my tubular wheels and I like to ride on them, and the Elite Ride 25s allow me to ride for miles worry free. I'd love to ride Vittoria tires but I don't want to spend $95 for one tire and worry about flatting. For the record, I weigh 210 lbs and am hard on tires.
This has been my go-to tire for the past couple years. I am not a racer, but love the feel of tubulars and particularly like that I get so few flats compared to my friends riding clinchers. I talk to a lot of riders that are afraid of tubulars - what happens when you get a flat, they ask. Well, with the Tufo Extreme Temp Glue Tape, it's not much harder to change than a clincher. But I've only had one flat in the last two years with well over 10K miles of riding. And that was caused by running over a sharp piece of metal that cut the sidewall. If I had been riding clinchers and didn't have a spare tire with my, I'd have been SOL.
The Tufo Extreme Sealant works incredibly well in these tires. Unlike clinchers, the tube is bonded to the casing so small holes in the tube don't stretch. I usually don't put the sealant in until I get a leak, but either way the sealant works great. Once the sealant is in the tire, I never even know if or when I get a puncture since I never loose pressure.
The 25mm width of these tires makes them perfect for riders like me that are more concerned with comfort and traction on rough roads than getting the absolute lightest and narrowest tire possible. They make the rough chip seal roads around Tucson tolerable, even when riding my stiff carbon wheels.
Highly recommended.
