Was it just the valve core that broke or the shaft of the valve? If it's just the valve core, then just steal another valve core off an old flat tube.

Yes, it was just the valve core. So I just need to unscrew the valve from the stem. Unfortunately I don't have any other tubes with removable valve cores, so are there any cheap tubes I can buy just to cannibalize their cores, or can I find cores separately somewhere?

I'm looking for some general help regarding a recurring problem I've experienced over the past 3 years with Vittoria tubulars tires (Corsa CX on Enve 65's & Pave's on Ksyriums). Halfway through each season I've found that the base tape at the outer edges begins to loose its' adhesion to the rim and by the end of the season the only part of base tape secured to the rim in the very middle of the tire.

My hypothesis is that the seam on the tires is so pronounced that over time it causes the base tape to pull away from the rim. I don't have any other tubular brands to check this against, but in talking with my local shop that tried to glue my Ksyriums this season they gave up after the third try of trying to get the tire to glue correctly.

Have others run into this problem before? Are there other brands of tubulars that have a less pronounced spine under the base tape and perhaps will lie flatter?

-Thanks, Todd

valve cores:

http://www.worldclasscycles.com/mm5/mer ... gory_Code=

Your LBS will have presta cores. Fortunately, that is one of the things that has been standardized in that crazy industry.

Nope. Never had that happen with a Vittoria. It happened all the time in my youth with Barum, though.

My first advice would be to glue your own tires exclusively. I hope that they aren't applying some solvent to the basetape or mixing something with the glue to get it to spread on the rim more easily. Back 'in the day', people used to add thinner into Clement Red so it would flow out of a squeeze bottle. Not a very good idea...

The glue technique used by myself and my shop aren't compromised by adding any solvent or other chemicals. I finally had the chance to check out a couple of other tubular tires and the Conti GP4000's had the smoothest and flat base tape of all of them. I'll probably give these a try and see how they work on the wheels.

Hi,



How so? By adding other chemicals you effectively alter the chemical composition of the product so results would be unpredictable at best.

Ciao,

_________________
Being a snob is an expensive hobby.

How so? I know adding chemicals is a no-no. I was just clarifying to the guy asking the question that nothing was altered in the gluing process. Myself and the shop both use Vittoria glue and that's it.

Hi,

I see. The way I read it was that you were actually adding stuff and it was not compromising anything. Sorry.

Ciao,

_________________
Being a snob is an expensive hobby.

I have a set of tubulars that have been tufo tape on them. Now I want to glue instead of using tape, and the tubulars have tape residue on them. Do I need to clean this off, or can I just glue over it?

_________________
-----------------------------
I like Spanish bikes and cars. Riding an Orbea Orca and a Seat Ibiza.

Typically, when you are changing glue types, it is preferable to remove the old glue first. While this is a pain in the butt with glue on the rim, it borders on impossible for the tire basetape.

To use a chemical remover on the basetape is kind of like cutting off your nose to spite your face. Short of replacing the basetape, I do not think that there is a practical way to do it. About all you can do is to mechanically remove as much tape residue as possible and re-glue the tire.

Hi,



Using chemicals wouldn't be a good idea anyhow as these are being soaked up causing damage to the base tape's fibers in the long run.
Even on a rim that Tufo glue is a PITA to remove with the usual solvents.
Which makes me wonder if a heat gun might help soften it somewhat......

Ciao,

_________________
Being a snob is an expensive hobby.

Hey guys im getting a light set of tubie wheels and I need some ideas for tires. Im not going to be riding them every day but maybe on the sunday rides.....Im currently looking at the velo flex extremes but is there something that I could go with thats lighter and still decently reliable? Thanks in advanced.


Given there is a tubular thread, could you please pop requests like this in here. A new thread is not required.

Search is your friend, here are some leads:
http://weightweenies.starbike.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=53485
http://weightweenies.starbike.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=102014
http://weightweenies.starbike.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=93579