Glueing tubulars [the tubular thread]

Wheels, Tires, Tubes, Tubeless, Tubs, Spokes, Hookless, Hubs, and more!

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The spirit of this board is to compile and organize wheels and tires related discussions.

If a new wheel tech is released, (say for example, TPU tubes, a brand new tire, or a new rim standard), feel free to start the discussion in the popular "Road". Your topic will eventually be moved here!
Zoro
Posts: 352
Joined: Wed Oct 30, 2013 12:52 am

by Zoro

How there could be 2,800+ posts on gluing tubulars - I have no idea. I just started this forum thing. I have ridden tubulars since 1980. Likely been through 100+ by now. I've ridden tubes across the USA, on the tandem used in masters national and just orders some nice FMBs for my boy. I've melted glue and had them roll sideways (tandem) from downhill braking, used all kinds of alternatives like Fast Tack and mixes and strange oven curing processes, and rolled them off in a pack.

What I have never done is posted about gluing them.
Last edited by Zoro on Wed Nov 27, 2013 5:44 am, edited 1 time in total.

thprice
Posts: 252
Joined: Sun Jul 17, 2011 6:34 am

by thprice

Welcome Zoro :welcome:
With 30+ yrs of tubbie experience, great to have you on board.

by Weenie


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mellowJohnny
Posts: 492
Joined: Thu Aug 16, 2012 12:56 am
Location: YYZ

by mellowJohnny

markyboy wrote:I am thnking of going back to tubular :D but want a decent tyre with good puncture resistance any recommendations?


Honestly the Conti Sprinter (Gatorskin if you ride rougher roads) have done me well. From a price/performance perspective they are a good starting point. I generally stick to Vittoria and Continental so I can't comment on much else. Aging works for me, and some of the other guys here swear by it, so maybe pick up a set or two of different brands, age them over the winter, and you'll be ready for the nice weather. Ride a few and see what works for you. Roads out where I am range from fresh asphalt to chip-seal. No punctures last season on Sprinters. Come to think of it, each group-ride puncture I saw last year were guys riding clinchers...so there you have it, scientific proof. ;-)

Good luck!

Monkeyboy3333
Posts: 632
Joined: Tue Apr 05, 2011 7:41 pm

by Monkeyboy3333

I picked up a pair of Sprinters to mount on some new Planet X 50mm tubs for the summer (admittedly a long way off for the UK ) I was concerned about how hard it was going to be to get them on to the rims given all the bad press they seem to get re stretching. To be honest it was a piece of cake. I have had far far more trouble getting Veloflex corsa clinchers onto a clincher rim. That was truly hell. This is my maiden voyage with tubs and having read the thread in full I appreciate that there are much better tubs out there in terms of ride quality. I literally pumped up til round, and stretched the tyre onto the rim, yeah a little bit of work required on the thumbs behalf but not nearly as bad as I had imagined.

This thread has been really helpful in making me take the leap with valuable posting by Geoff FD et al and I am sure that with confidence in procedures going forward I will start using 'proper' tubs. I will report back once we get a few dry days to try them out!

Geoff
Posts: 5395
Joined: Sat Dec 13, 2003 2:25 am
Location: Canada

by Geoff

Congrats. Tubulars should not be some mystical thing, but a part of the riding experience that everyone should enjoy. Have a nice ride!

barsook77
Posts: 105
Joined: Sat Nov 02, 2013 10:17 pm

by barsook77

Zoro wrote:I've melted glue and had them roll sideways (tandem) from downhill braking, used all kinds of alternatives like Fast Tack and mixes and strange oven curing processes, and rolled them off in a pack.




Won't roll one with Continental Rim cement ... if mounted properly. Holds up in the desert heat and extreme mountain cold.

360,ooo miles and counting.

Geoff
Posts: 5395
Joined: Sat Dec 13, 2003 2:25 am
Location: Canada

by Geoff

Good-quality tubular glue should do the job just fine. I prefer Vittoria Mastic 1.

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legs 11
Posts: 3602
Joined: Tue Jan 23, 2007 11:22 am
Location: Leg hurty

by legs 11

:up: :smartass: :thumbup:
Got a pile of tub/wheels to glue up here this afternoon, and thought I'd try the solder fluxing brushes from a well known auction site.
Mate, what was I thinking before when gluing up with a brush that needed cleaning out?!
These things are brilliant! Fit the rim almost perfectly, hold plenty of glue, and have a good feel in the hand forgluing up near the edge of the base tape.
I picked up a pack of 20 for next to nothing......although I will probably clean them and use again anyway as it goes against my thoughts on green issues really :thumbup:
I got so sick of puncturing all the time on crappy clinchers, grovelling around with my hands and new tubes covered in road grit and shit, struggling to get the tyres off (Campagnolo wheels)..... I thought I'd revive my old passion for the 'real thing'
Remember dudes......."clinchers are for commuters" :lol: 8)
Pedalling Law Student.

Geoff
Posts: 5395
Joined: Sat Dec 13, 2003 2:25 am
Location: Canada

by Geoff

If I don't use my finger wrapped with a piece of plastic, acid brushes are the only way to fly. (man, that sounds really weird...)

ejo
Posts: 9
Joined: Wed Jan 29, 2014 11:22 am

by ejo

Hi all,
I have recently acquired a set of planet-x 50mm tubs.. and because I love 25mm tyres, got a set of vittoria evo sc to go on it. I need some pointers, as I am having problems gluing these tyres on the rim, as will be described below.

The vittoria tyres are the older batch I think, its the one with a removable core and not the red removable stem. I also got a tube of conti glue to see if I can get 1 tyre on. But it was not entire (or at all) successful.. I did as the conti glue instructions said, 1 layer on tyre, 1 layer on rim, let dry for 12 hours, then another layer on tyre, another layer on rim, wait for a few minutes and mount... the result was not good at all.. I used up the whole tube of glue.. but for some reason, there is a whole lot of starved joints... the middle of the basetape where the seams "protrude" out a bit.. and that has the effect of "pushing" the tyre away from the rim, especially at the edges where it contact with the rim matters the most..there is glue on the edge of the rim, there is glue on the base tape (right to its edge)... but because of the above, its rather difficult for both the rim and tyre of them to make contact at the edges, especially when the tyre is inflated to high pressure for the final cure...

So, my question is how do i solve the above problem? Is it just a matter of using more glue, so that it will fill the space between the edge of the tyre and the rim? Does that even work to give good adhesion? I have already used 1 tube of glue for one tyre.. I thought that was enough... or do I need more or have I chosen the wrong tyre width (need narrower tyre), wrong glue or something else?

Thanks for your help :)

Geoff
Posts: 5395
Joined: Sat Dec 13, 2003 2:25 am
Location: Canada

by Geoff

Ok. This is a pretty common problem.

I am not familiar with the particular rim you are referring to, but sometimes the profile of the rim bed does not fit the tire well, particularly if the tire is too wide or too narrow for it. Personally, I like to use more, thinner layers of glue (Vittoria Mastic 1), but you have done a job that should work just fine. If the tire is not adhering to the rim and you have placed down a decent glue job, then the likelihood is that the tire and rim may not be compatible.

How much pressure are you using to inflate the tire while it cures?

ejo
Posts: 9
Joined: Wed Jan 29, 2014 11:22 am

by ejo

Thanks for the reply Geoff. The rims for the planet x tubs are from Gigantex if I am not mistaken. I have heard that some rims have a groove in the middle to accept the seams.. but this is not one of them. The conti carbon glue instructions said to put a pressure of 140psi for curing, which is what I have done, but upon doing that, I could see gaps (no contact) between the rim and tyre at some areas on the rim edge... both tyre and rim had glue, only that they weren't in contact, not sure because it was not thick enough there or not..

Another issue, the conti glue "dries up" really fast, within 20 seconds, its already gone tacky, which means after the 2-3 minutes it takes to coat the rim and tyre with the second layer, mounting it on and centering the tyre seems rather difficult..

Anyway, instead of risking it, and before it completely cures with lots of gaps, I removed the tyre and as much glue as I could... no damage to the basetape thankfully so I can start again... but I am now wondering if I can even use these tyres on the rim at all... I didn't know that you had to match tyres and rims.. but I guess since not all the rim edges are gaping away from the tyre, this might indicate that I did bad glue job? I'll try with more glue next time.. or concentrate more at the edges instead of trying to distribute it evenly across the rim..

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jekyll man
Posts: 1570
Joined: Wed Apr 25, 2007 10:23 am
Location: Pack filler

by jekyll man

ejo-
The conti glue does go off quickly, and is "stringy". You have to be quick and fairly generous with it.
As Geoff recommends, the mastik 1 is far easier to use and thus quicker to apply. I got a few 10mm wide soft artists brushes with a flat end (sure they must have a proper name) and apply it with them. A rim will only take a few mins and no mess.
FWIW- I'd do a few runs on your rim before the final "assault". Just the one on the tub.

Another thing- was the rim clean before you started?
I've fitted this combo for others in the past (well 23s), and never had any problems.
Official cafe stop tester

ejo
Posts: 9
Joined: Wed Jan 29, 2014 11:22 am

by ejo

Jekyll man, thanks for your pointers as well. I'll try the mastik 1, will get a couple of tubes and some brushes and see how it goes. The rim wasn't completely clean of old glue when I started. I removed the loose and brittle ones. When I put the glue on, the new one sort of melted the old one anyway, and I read that was not really an issue. Anyway, the rim is pretty clean now, after removing the recently applied glue, which seem to have pulled off the rim quite easily, as I didn't leave it to cure completely...

Incidentally, I might not be able to get all the conti glue off the basetape on the tyres, but I take it there should be no serious issues if I were to then switch to vittoria's mastik glue and apply it on the tub?

fdegrove
Tubbie Guru
Posts: 5894
Joined: Tue May 03, 2005 2:20 am
Location: Belgium

by fdegrove

Hi,

Make sure to completely degrease the rim bed before applying a fresh coat of rim cement. (Acetone or similar)

Incidentally, I might not be able to get all the conti glue off the basetape on the tyres, but I take it there should be no serious issues if I were to then switch to vittoria's mastik glue and apply it on the tub?


I'd leave it as is.

Ciao, ;)
Being a snob is an expensive hobby.

by Weenie


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