For a mercifully brief period of the 80's, tubular was suburban-american slang for... "good". Just as "cool", "hot", "rad", "keen" and all that other rot is/was. I actually had the distinct displeasure of hearing this word used in a sentence (more than once) by people wearing perfectly straight faces. I thought it was stupid then. Damn... a trend setting poster child for negativity at the tender age of 7. Dope.