Glueing tubulars [the tubular thread]

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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!
Rodrego Hernandez
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by Rodrego Hernandez

Has anyone had a chance to try that Carbon Rim cement that Conti have brought out?

by Weenie


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fdegrove
Tubbie Guru
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by fdegrove

Hi,

Why bother when other glues work just fine and cost less?

Ciao, :wink:
Being a snob is an expensive hobby.

Rodrego Hernandez
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by Rodrego Hernandez

But do they? :wink:

Geoff
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by Geoff

In my experience, Vittoria Mastik 1 works very well on carbon wheels.

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legs 11
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by legs 11

IME a special sort of glue is not the secret to a great Tub glue job.
A special sort of gluer is much more effective.
Patience, Planning and Perfect execution is much more effective.
:lol:
Pedalling Law Student.

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coloclimber
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by coloclimber

legs 11 wrote:Patience, Planning and Perfect execution is much more effective.
:lol:

The four P's of tubular gluing:
Patience, Planning, Perfect execution and Pale Ale.

Its not hard, its relaxing and fun. Geoff and Koen got it right.
+ on the Mastik 1, stretching, multiple light coats on the rim and tire and pumping them up rock hard after mounting.

A few secrets that haven't been mentioned yet-
-If needed, I align the tire when its mounted with a very thin plastic tire lever, like the mavic ones, this saves my thumbs.
-lightly ride the wheel or put downward pressure on the hubs for a few rotations right away after setting the tire up, this sets it and squeezes the glue out
- If your a pansy you can wear rubber or latex gloves
-Deacon Doctor Colorado Slim

fdegrove
Tubbie Guru
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by fdegrove

Hi,

Instead of limiting this Sticky to just glueing tubulars I suggest we'd also include changing tubulars and taking care of tubulars in general?

How about it?

TIA, :wink:

P.S. There ought to be an incredible amount of info about this topic in the forum's archives already. It would be nice if it somehow could be tagged to this thread.
Being a snob is an expensive hobby.

Bridgeman
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by Bridgeman

A most excellent idea!

Unoveloce
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by Unoveloce

+1 again on Mastik. It's good stuff. A couple of thoughts on gluing tubulars.
1. Gluing up a tubular for the road is different than for a cross bike. The profile of the tires and how they mate up with the rims if different. You need to make certain that the bond on a cross tire is really 100% from rim edge to rim edge including the center and probably is a bit more "elastic" than a road tire. It's funny how easily a tire will roll off a rim when there's only 28psi in a 34c tire and lots of traction.
2. When you are ready to do your final gluing and mounting, do the tire first, let it dry for a little while and then mount it up on a dry rim and inflate it a bit while you put the last round of glue on the rim. Glue will make the base tape less elastic as it dries, so keeping it stretching on a rim while you do up the rim will make the tire go on so much. This trick has saved me many a thumb muscle and cut way back on how much I stick to stuff when I glue. Plus, it gets less glue on the rim and tire sidewall, so the job even looks more PRO.

miltah
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Joined: Thu Jan 01, 2009 12:20 pm
Location: Australia

by miltah

Since this has become a sticky, I have a few q's as I'm new to tubular.

In the recent Aus Ride mag, it is said that in the 1980's, a good tublular change can be done in under 2mins by the riders. Rip off the flat, mount the pre-glued spare, pump it up and ride. I know that can get me home but is it safe to push hard on a supposedly dry mounted tub?

And when I get home, do I rip the 'new' tire off again, clean the rim and do that whole tub process again?

fdegrove
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by fdegrove

Hi,

A tubular can be changed in about 2 mins by an experienced user.

When you put on a spare it should have a coat of glue on the base tape and it should be folded base tape to basetape in order for the glue to stay tacky.
The tacky glue reactivates the layers of glue on the rim and thus provides for a decent bond.
I'd never consider this safe enough to push this setup to the limit, more like safe enough to carry you home.

When I get home I put on a new tubular but that's just because I use an old one with few mileage left as a spare.
Besides that I can't be bothered to center a spare to perfection when I know I'm just putting it on for one ride back home.

Should you use a fresh tubular as a spare then chances are you'll still have to put it off the rim again anyway as you'll likely won't have it centered the way you'd prefer it and want to make sure you have a perfect bond again.

No need to restart the entire gluing process again, a new tubular will be happy with just a coat of glue on the basetape.
The rim receives just a thin coat of glue again and after a few minutes the new tubular can go on the rim.

Should you notice the old layer of glue has become very patchy and uneven then now is a good time to clean the rim and rid it of old glue.
In which case you prep the rim as if it were a new one and go through the entire process.
This is something I carry out maybe once every other year.
The better the original glue job the less chance for it to deteriorate with every removal of a tubular.

Ciao, :wink:
Being a snob is an expensive hobby.

Ste_S
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by Ste_S

I carry a pre-glued spare and a can of Pit Stop with me in case of punctures. Luckily the only puncture I've had so far was 3 miles from home, so ended up riding home on the flat.

If I do get around to using the Pit Stop on a flat, does the sealant make it difficult to repair the tub ?

fdegrove
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by fdegrove

Ste_S wrote:I carry a pre-glued spare and a can of Pit Stop with me in case of punctures. Luckily the only puncture I've had so far was 3 miles from home, so ended up riding home on the flat.

If I do get around to using the Pit Stop on a flat, does the sealant make it difficult to repair the tub ?


Hi,

My experience with PitStop is such that I don't even bother to carry it with me any more, it's just not reliable IMHO.

I can explain how and why it's flawed if you twist my arm but let's just say you're better of mounting that spare....

No, it doesn't make repairing a tubular manually any more difficult per se.

Ciao, :wink:
Last edited by fdegrove on Sun Apr 26, 2009 6:27 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Being a snob is an expensive hobby.

jjmstang
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Location: MD

by jjmstang

Conti's special carbon cement is the same as thier regular cement. There was a post on here a while back and we posted pics of the two tubes ( one was the special and the other was the regular). Both of the tubes had the same product code number, just a different name on it.
Buyer beware.


John
Friends don't let friends ride clinchers

by Weenie


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Frankie - B
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by Frankie - B

fdegrove wrote:Hi,

Instead of limiting this Sticky to just glueing tubulars I suggest we'd also include changing tubulars and taking care of tubulars in general?

How about it?

TIA, :wink:

P.S. There ought to be an incredible amount of info about this topic in the forum's archives already. It would be nice if it somehow could be tagged to this thread.


Allright. I'm willing to alter the topic title. but only if a couple of you start using the quote button when they need to in stead of when they are writing a reply.

Thanks.
'Tape was made to wrap your GF's gifts, NOT hold a freakin tire on.'
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