Im starting to hate tubulars

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spaniardclimber
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by spaniardclimber

I was gluing my second set of tubulars to my lightweights....it's my second try, I have glue all over my hands, rims and tire....I hope this time the tubulars are well glued...Im seriously thinking of selling my lightweights.....
I've followed the procedure: stretched tires, layer of glue in rim, layer of glue in tire, a second layer of glue in rim and then mount the tubular.
The tubular has been stretching in the rim for a week, but it has been a pain in the a** mounting it....

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LJ
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by LJ

Just use the tufo extreme tape. So easy, no mess and it does the job.

by Weenie


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spaniardclimber
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by spaniardclimber

What about if you flat? do you have to carry a spare tape? Can I used them with tubulars that allready have a layer of glue in base tape?

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Boonen
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by Boonen

obviously you are doing something wrong here :wink:
Try and ask somebody who knows how to glue a tub if he will show you how to do it.
You could also use the tufo tape. I don't think you have to bring a spare in case you have a flat. Try and mount a tubular on a clean rim and inflate it to 8 bar, you will se that it is pretty hard to get it off. If you ride carefully there shouldn't be a problem. On the other hand, if you have to do some serious downhills I wouldn't use the tape at all as it just isn't as good as a well glued tire.

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spaniardclimber
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by spaniardclimber

In fact the first rim was awfull, but with the second one, I waited a little more, until the glue was more tacky and it looks much,much better...
I deinflated the tire to check the bond, and it feels very strong, so I guess it's ok.

wally318
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by wally318

You don't mount the tire when the glue is still wet. You also don't need to put on so much glue that it takes forever to dry. You put one light coat on the rim. Put small dabs on the rim surface between the spoke holes, and use your index finger to smoothe it out, it will fit in there almost perfectly unlee you have gigantic fingers. Next you put glue on the tire rim strip. Here's where some care for weight saving comes in. You don't need to put glue right to the edges, when you look at a mounted tire you always see a bit of rim strip sticking out from the rim(this doesn't need glue. Use your inndex finger again and spread the glue in the direction that you are working, but don't try to work it in too much. Add a little dab here and there to spots you missed, if you go back and forth the rim strip will soak up a lot of glue( a strip can easily soak up a whole tube of glue if you allow it) If you're careful you can get a tire on with 8-9 grams of dried glue. A tufo tape weighs a lot more than that. By the time you've glued the tire the glue on the rim will be dried and still tacky. You could mount the tire now, but if you feel that you need the second coat of glue do it now. It can be a very light coat and you can control that with your index finger. If you've used a rubber finger cot to keep the glue off your finger by this time it will have glue sticking to it and it will tear and you won't get nice even gluing. When you've finished the second coat, use some solvent in a rag to get the glue from your finger and any other ones that may have some glue, so you don't get any on the tire. When the second coat is still a bit tacky it's time to mount the tire. It works like contact cement, it shouldn't be wet and as long as it's a bit tacky it will work well. The tire should have been stretched for at least a day with almost as much pressure as the tire can stand. With some tires 100 psi won't cut it. You may have to go 150 or more., and use a tubular rim not a clincher. NOw put in the valve, make sure it's pointing straight down and pull the tire downward onto the rim from both sides. Keep doing this till you get near the end where the tire get hard to pull on the rim. For this part you use both hands and lift the tire up and over onto the rim a bit at a time. If you're careful you won't get hardly any on the rim as you bring it over. Once the tires on you can center the tire using the rim strip as a guide from both sides. At this point put about 40-60 psi air in the tire and spin the wheel. You can see how evenly centered the tire is and how straight the tread tracks. If it need some adjustment let some air out and use your thumbs from the side that needs pushing in. Sometimes you may need to roll the tire on the rim bed to bring the tread into alignment. Once you've go the tread straight to where you're happy with it, pump up to 120 +psi. and check again. If alls well let it sit for a day to fully dry. If it needs more adjustment let air out and straighten where needed and reinflate. Hope this helps any tubular novices out there or any tubular wanna bees.
AEROLITUS-defender of the faith

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LJ
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by LJ

spaniardclimber wrote:What about if you flat? do you have to carry a spare tape?


Thats your'e call. There is usually a layer of glue "left" on the rim when you take a tub off thats punctured. Mounting a new tubular straight on the rim should get you home if you are careful.

There are lots of threads about glue and tape on this website but I can honestly say that I have never had a problem with the extreme tape. Its got to be the easiest way to mount a tubular with ZERO mess!

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spaniardclimber
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by spaniardclimber

For this part you use both hands and lift the tire up and over onto the rim a bit at a time. If you're careful you won't get hardly any on the rim as you bring it over

THIS part is without doubt the one that makes the mess. Tufo's are easier, but continentals don't stretch that much and at this point I can't lift the tire...thats when the glue goes all over the rim and tire sidewall, and it looks horrible...

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Boonen
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by Boonen

spaniardclimber wrote:
For this part you use both hands and lift the tire up and over onto the rim a bit at a time. If you're careful you won't get hardly any on the rim as you bring it over

THIS part is without doubt the one that makes the mess. Tufo's are easier, but continentals don't stretch that much and at this point I can't lift the tire...thats when the glue goes all over the rim and tire sidewall, and it looks horrible...


When I mount tubulars I don't have the time to prestretch them so I just stretch them a bit by hanging them over my shoulder and putting my knee in the loop and pressing down. For me this does the trick pretty well and I mostly do either continental or vittoria tubs. When everything is glued up (I basically do what wally describes), I use a medical glove for straightening out things so my fingers don't get glued as well :wink:
Now for the hard part, getting the tire on without making a mess :)
Put the wheel on something hard on the floor. I use a clean tile for it, but a piece of wood etc. would be fine as well, as long as it is clean and level. I take one shoe off and hold the wheel down with my foot so it stays in place when applying pressure. (I usually can't fit my whole shoe in between the spokes and using only your foot makes less chance for damaging the rim if it is cf) Now put the valve in the valvehole, stretch the tubular by pulling it firmly to the left and right of the valve. Gently lay the tubular onto the rim making sure you still apply enough pressure. When you get down to half the rim grab the tub and the rim firmly and turn anound the wheel. Now hold the wheel around the valvehole with your foot and pull the rest of the tub in place. If you have done it right there should be a little space at the end between the rim and the tub. If you let go it will straighten out, but make sure it goes both ways and the valve keeps pointing straight up. Now pump in some more air, centre the tubular in a wheelstand or in your bike, roll it on the floor, check if it is still straight and let it dry overnight. There is probably some glue sticking out between the rim and the tub. Don't bother with that till the glue is drie. You can cut or rip it off the next day and you will have a good looking wheel.

It's as easy as that, practice makes it easier. Let us know how you do.

maxxevv
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by maxxevv

Talking of Tufo tape, I've never seen it, but I suspect its a similar product to the 3M VHB(Very High Bond) tape.

Anyone done comparisons ? I'm quite sure at similar quantities, the 3M VHB will be much cheaper.

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spaniardclimber
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by spaniardclimber

Now hold the wheel around the valvehole with your foot and pull the rest of the tub in place. If you have done it right there should be a little space at the end between the rim and the tub

Either wy arms are too weak or I make something wrong, but when I reach this part it looks like the tubular is too small for the tire...next time Im gonna practice mounting the tire with no glue, until I see I can get the job done.

centre the tubular in a wheelstand or in your bike

When I do this, I pull up and centre, so the glue in the rim 'unglues' from its original place...should i displace it horizontally instead of pulling and centering?

Thanks all for your help!

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tommasini
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by tommasini

IF you haven't already, when you get ready for that last bit of tire to be stretched onto the rim place a bare foot over the lower section of the rim (harder with aero rims) that is resting on the floor so when you pull up on the tire there is something holding the rim down.

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Mr.Gib
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by Mr.Gib

Listen everybody: there is far too much fear of tubulars on this site. Everyone who is not comfortable with them just relax and practice changing a few tires. All the advice I have seen re gluing tubulars has been good, so no worries. Glue is fine and the tape works well and is mess free.

Considering the incredible level of knowledge of the average member on this forum, it is rather surprising top see everyone getting so worked up about tubulars.

Although clinchers are space efficient as far as carrying spare inner tubes, the benefits of tubulars (ride comfort, cornering, weight) far outweigh any inconvenience associated with them. Perhaps you are all just showing your age; when I started racing it was tubulars only.

The only reasonable justification to not use tubulars is that they are more expensive, but given how much most of you spend on your bikes, I doubt cost will stop any of you from adopting tubulars.

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tommy
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by tommy

spaniardclimber wrote:continentals don't stretch that much


Thats true, continentals must be the worst tubulars to mount on a rim.
I like the vredestein the most! Mounting them is like mounting a clincher.
No problems what so ever!

big fellow
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by big fellow

Mr.Gib wrote:Listen everybody: there is far too much fear of tubulars on this site. Everyone who is not comfortable with them just relax and practice changing a few tires. All the advice I have seen re gluing tubulars has been good, so no worries. Glue is fine and the tape works well and is mess free.

Considering the incredible level of knowledge of the average member on this forum, it is rather surprising top see everyone getting so worked up about tubulars.

Although clinchers are space efficient as far as carrying spare inner tubes, the benefits of tubulars (ride comfort, cornering, weight) far outweigh any inconvenience associated with them. Perhaps you are all just showing your age; when I started racing it was tubulars only.

The only reasonable justification to not use tubulars is that they are more expensive, but given how much most of you spend on your bikes, I doubt cost will stop any of you from adopting tubulars.


i am sure beloki would agree with that....

as would anyone who's had a flat on a tubular in the middle of nowhere...

by Weenie


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