Road Tire / Rim combinations explained

Rims and tires come in all sizes, including varying height and width. While sizes can be easily explained, often the question arises over the confusion between Tubular and Clincher rim / tire combinations.

Here is some general information about the characteristics of both Tubular and clincher variations.

TUBULAR TIRES:
Pros:
Tubular tires are a tube and tire all-in-one, held to the rim using glue.
Tubular tires are used by majority of competitive cyclists for various reasons listed below:
~ lowest rolling resistance
~ lighter than a clincher set up
(Both tubular rims and tires when compared to their clincher counterparts offer a significant weight savings)
~ Use higher tire PSI
~ Safety & stability: While not the best idea, tubular systems are fairly easy to ride on when a flat occurs

Cons:
~ Changing a flat means needing a new tire and time for glue to cure
~ More expensive to maintain due to inability to simply replace or patch a tube when a flat occurs.

CLINCHER TIRES:
Pros:
~ Ease of use for every day riding: Patching or repairing flats can be done road side
~ Tubes and tires are separate, so they can be replaced independent from each other
~ Many tire and tube choices available, all shops should have some tire in stock to fit your clincher rim
Cons:
~ Combination use of inner tube, rim liner, & tire causes heavier weight
~ Clincher rims have more metal used to hold the tire to the rim, adding more weight
~ Materials used in clincher tires can cause higher rolling resistance

2 New Road Alternatives: (TuFo and Tubeless)
TUFO TUBULAR TIRES FOR CLINCHER RIMS:
Fairy new technology, as the name suggests it's allowing for tubular tires to be mounted on clincher rims.
Pros:
~ low rolling resistance, rim liner or glue, offering swift tire changes and less weight
~ the easiest and fastest installation from all types of tires, no tools required
~ immediate use after installation
~ riding quality is close to tubular tires

Cons:
~ Cost
~ Very specialized, so not readily available

Tubeless:
Similar to a car tire, you only need to mount the tire and inflate it without a need for glue or tubes.
Pros:
~ Light weight
~ Ability to run a large range of tire pressures without the worry of flatting
~ More available then TUFO

Cons:
~ Can be hard to inflate on road repair
~ Up to 30% more expensive over standard tires
~ Sometimes needs an additional sealant