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!
Simonhi
Posts: 79
Joined: Mon Jul 12, 2010 4:15 pm

by Simonhi

Ouch, that's a hell of a glue job!!!

They certainly don't like to come off too quickly when glued well, which is reassuring when railing corners at a good rate !!!

by Weenie


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

by fdegrove

Hi,

I take it that's a thumbs up for good old rim cement then? :lol:

Cheers. ;) :beerchug:
Being a snob is an expensive hobby.

tonytourist
Posts: 1426
Joined: Sat Oct 10, 2009 7:13 am
Location: 90039

by tonytourist

I've been scraping Tufo tape off some wheels I bought awhile back. It definitely isn't fun :evil:
I have the front pretty clean without using any chemicals, but the rear has been a real pain.
I'll be using Mastik One. This thread has plenty of good info :beerchug:

fogflip
Posts: 34
Joined: Sat Aug 18, 2012 7:45 pm

by fogflip

Grrrr just went to ride my nemesis wheels the other day been a few months since i have ridden them the rear tire glue job seems to have gone bad i could easily peel the tire side to side. Any reason why this would happen?

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

by Geoff

Nice rims.

I have never seen a properly-applied tubular 'go bad' after even an entire season of hard use. In the 'old days', Clement red cement would dry-up after a few seasons and would need to be replaced. What glue were you using? I have some Nemesis with Vittoria All-Weather's on them that I glued-up with Mastik 1 5 or 6 years ago and they are still really stuck-on there. What was your mounting technique? It is possible that the rim was contaminated with some grease or oil.

fogflip
Posts: 34
Joined: Sat Aug 18, 2012 7:45 pm

by fogflip

Glued them up with mastik 1 three layers on rim 2 on tire i wonder if it had something to do with the vittoria latex coating on the tires i used. I gave the rims a quick acetone cleaning before glueing them up made sure it had all dried before i started. Anyways gave me a reason to order some veloflex roubaix to glue up now lol.

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

by fdegrove

Hi,

Even with their latex coating on the base tape this should not happen.
Probably just degreasing the new rims did not suffice for the cement to adhere properly. It is common practice to roughen up the rim bed of alloy rims by sanding them lightly, then clean them.

Ciao, ;)
Last edited by fdegrove on Fri Nov 30, 2012 12:11 am, edited 1 time in total.
Being a snob is an expensive hobby.

Simonhi
Posts: 79
Joined: Mon Jul 12, 2010 4:15 pm

by Simonhi

fdegrove wrote:Hi,

So, what's the best stuff to use that won't kill me with fumes or harm my precious Enve rims ?


Different rim cements responds differently to various chemicals but here's what I use:
Use an acid brush and plain household petrol/diesel oil to wet all the tubular tyre cement and let it soak in overnight.
Repeat the next day on the rim section you want to remove the cement from. I find it easier and faster to work one small area at the time. One section could then be a strip of rim inbetween spoke holes.
Rub with an old piece of cotton cloth to remove the cement. Do not waste time on small recalcitrant dots of cement, move on to the next section.

Once all sections are covered we'll now remove the remaining small amounts of cement by reapeting the step as described above using another cotton cloth soaked locally (finger tip area) with White spirit (aka Stoddard solvent) until the rim section is totally devoid of cement.
Repeat until the rim is clean. Wipe the entire rim clean as you'll have solvent on spokes, rim and so forth. Make sure to clean the spoke hole and nipples.
You don't want to waste time here should the wheel need truing some day.
Watch out not to damage wheelstickers. If you're in doubt cover the inner side with some old cloth, it will soak up the spilled solvents.
Wipe the rim bed and brake track with acetone, you want these aeras the be particularly grease free. The remainder of the rim and spokes can be cleaned with a dry cloth.


1/ Vittoria Mastik One: Diesel oil, White Spirit.

2/ Continental (both alloy and carbon specific): Same as above but responds best to White spirit.

3/ Tubasti: does not respond well to diesel oil but solves quickly in White spirit.

4/ Tufo tape: all of the above plus tons of elbow grease. Do not use it in the first place.
I only mention it since sooner or later you'll buy a set of secondhand wheels from someone and it will have this nice surprise on them.... :mrgreen:

Ideally modern formulated cements should dissolve quickest by using n-hexane but this is not available in useful quantities.
What turns out to work well but isn't cheap to use is Schwalbe's rim cement remover which you just brush on and it will have dissolve 95 % of the cement when left to work for a couple of hours.
Not sure what it contains but it seems (and I say this with some caution) less aggressive to the skin than the other chemicals.

Either way always use these chemicals either outdoors or in a well ventilated room. Use nitrile gloves to protect yourself.

Ciao, ;)

P.S. Incidentally, I'll be stripping a Hyperon rear wheel this afternoon. I hate that ....... :(


An update m'kay ...

Finally got round to stripping the glue from my Enve 6.7 (actually the 7 part of the duo i.e. rear rim)

In total it took me two and a half hours this evening to go from three layers with only 5% pulled away when I removed the punctured tub at the roadside to a squeaky clean brand new looking rim ready for the first base layer of glue.

A few observations:-

1. Applying the diesel spirit 24 hrs before helps the glue to soak it up making easier removal, next time I will do this twice if I'm in not hurry (which I'm not as my Nemesis rims are now attached to my bike, super plush too ;-)

2. Second application of diesel spirit then started to rub the glue away. I found this a PITA and ended up using an old tea spoon to get most of the glue off, I found that it saved me using a ton of cloths.

3. I then went round the wheel with a diesel damp cotton cloth to remove most of the glue. Mixed success but most of it came away without too much fuss. I think this is why I would do two applications of diesel and allow a day between each to really soften the glue but it was not too much trouble really.

4. Once I had gotten most of the glue of the rim and the edges were fairly clean I had to tackle the central channel, anyone with Enve 3.4 or 6.7 will know what I mean, its a channel about 5mm wide with a rounded base 2-3mm deep below the base of the rim. I think it helps to centre the tyre when fixing to the rim. I maybe put too much glue here when I first glued the rims up and it really showed as the glue had kind of levelled across the channel and did not want to shift from it too easily :-( So I used an old tooth brush with white spirit (Stoddards spirit ?) and just kept at it, for ages !!!

Eventually, after a good while the glue was free of the rim so,I gave the whole lot a wipe over,to rid eat sides of the rim from any stray unwanted glue and then re-sanded the rim to help key the base layer better to the rim. I think maybe I did not do this enough first time round, since the rims were new they could have had some mould release agent still on them and may have contributed to the glue peeling off th rim ins some places when I removed the tubular. It could also,have been down to me putting layers of glue down to thick, either way I didn't think a light sanding would do any harm.

So,that's it. Dhort of fixing the punctured tubular (which I may save for another day) I have pretty much covered most aspects of tubular ownership and can honestly say I won't be heading back to clinchers anytime soon. It's really not too much trouble and the feeling,of security bombing hills more than makes up for the extra effort required when you get a flat.

If it helps Imgot my puncture at 40mph and it was without incident, a rapid deflation followed by smoothly slowing to a stop. I dunno,if that would have happened with my clinchers but then I guess that is for another topic :-)

All the advice on the this forum has been great in helping me make the switch, to,anyone to riding tubular tyres I would save given it a go, there is a definite difference in the quality of the ride for me, not a "magic carpet" thing but just better, especially when cornering.

Cheers,


Si :-)

jaketim114
Posts: 38
Joined: Thu Sep 27, 2012 6:06 pm

by jaketim114

With diligence, Naptha will remove vittoria mastik one easily. The key is to let is dissolve the glue, and then basically soak it up with a towel.

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

by fdegrove

Hi,

The reason I always refrain from mentioning naphta/naphtalene is that it is, besides being carcinogenic, a highly flammable hydrocarbon.
So much so that the slightest spark, even more than a metre away, will ignite it.

I should know having learned the hard way while setting fire to the entire lefthand side of my body....... :oops:

Ever since it's been made available I've been using Schwalbe's tubular cement remover which works fine and is safe.

Image

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

sungod
Posts: 1702
Joined: Fri Dec 24, 2010 9:37 pm

by sungod

i bought some of these a few weeks ago

i'm hoping it'll make the next glue removal a far less sticky experience than the last one - which involved a can of white gas, fortunately without ignition, and dilute glue covering not only the wheel but me too

jaketim114
Posts: 38
Joined: Thu Sep 27, 2012 6:06 pm

by jaketim114

Naptha is no more carcinogenic than the gasoline/diesel that a lot of people use. Just use nitrile gloves.

Haven't tried that Schwalbe glue remover. Maybe I'll give it a shot.

dbordewisch
Posts: 22
Joined: Tue Jan 03, 2012 12:35 am

by dbordewisch

Something one might try for a safer glue removal. I just used it this week on a Zipp/Mast/Vittoria wheel. After letting the clean sit, the glue could be rubbed off.
Motsenbocker's Lift Off, http://www.liftoffinc.com/
It was available at Lowe's near by. While it is not safe to drink it is not flammable or anywhere near toxic as Acetone or Mineral spirits. The best cleaner I have used in over 20 years.

Wookieopolis
Posts: 118
Joined: Tue Jun 07, 2011 4:28 am
Location: Berkeley, CA

by Wookieopolis

Motsenbocker makes a few different products. Which one did you use to remove the tubular glue?

by Weenie


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dbordewisch
Posts: 22
Joined: Tue Jan 03, 2012 12:35 am

by dbordewisch

I tried these two:

http://www.liftoffinc.com/product-tape-remover.php

http://www.liftoffinc.com/product-paint ... emover.php

I'm not sure which one works best I was also interested in this one, http://www.liftoffinc.com/product-sealant-remover.php , it was not stocked by the Lowe's I went to. I'm really glad to use something that is not so potentially harmful or dangerous.

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