Tubular Repair

[fdegrove]

Hi,

Oh dear.... Long winter months ahead........

Ciao,

[LouisN]

A stupid one:

Can I find some latex material somewhere to make latex tubes patches ?

Can't seem to find anywhere...

Louis

[fdegrove]

Hi,

You can use an old latex inner tube as a donor. That's what most people do.
Remember to round the patches.

Ciao,

[two-one]

Hi guys, I have a problem with a Vredestein Volante Pro Tricomp, and was wondering if any of you have any tips.

Yesterday, I went on a ride, untill my front tire became soft... I thought "a puncture? already?", but when I re-inflated it, I found a small lump, under which air seemed to escape.

Back at home, I used some soapsuds to find the puncture, but the lump did not leak any air! It came out of the sidewalls next to the lump.

So I'm guessing it's a productionfault, right? I already mailed Vredestein, asking for explanations, but I was also wondering if this tire can be saved (maybe to be used as a spare, if I replace it)

[Geoff]

That is an example of an ailment unique to tubular tires: a 'slipped casing'. While rare, it does happen.

You are correct that the flaw likely occurred long before the tread was ever installed at the factory. Unfortunately, there is nothing that you can do. The LBS should have no problem giving you a new one, as the manufacturer will replace it.

[SL58]

I was kind of lazy to check all 13 pages but I patch outside of my tubulars
with ShoeGoo and I am sure I am not the first doing that but it does OK job
on outside imperfections, cuts, etc...

[mrlobber]

Got a Vittoria Corsa Evo SC (ridden approx 2000km's this summer) which loses approx 50psi of air within 10 hours. Put it in the water to isolate the cause, and it seems the air comes out (slowly slowly with lots of really small bubbles) along a 6-7 cm long "stretch" where the black tire tread meets the beige sidewall. For the tubular gurus here - should I just continue riding it for shorter distances or can something be done about it? And what is the cause for such "microleak"?

[fdegrove]

Hi,

Sounds like an "internal" leak to me.
The inner tube has a small puncture caused by a a grain of sand or whatever small particle sitting between casing and the inner tube causing a slow and diffused leak.

These are extremeley difficult to cure as the leakage is so slow even a shot of sealant won't be directed to it to stop it. You may give that a try though. With some luck the hole in the inner tube may find itself covered with liquid latex and cure it eventually.

Ciao,

[teamtim]

So what are your thoughts .....

I have Tufo S33 tubs - I know they are not to everyones taste

Tufo are tubeless. Do you reckon that a MTB tubular tyre repair kit will work on one of these if I puncture ? As there is no tube all I have to do is locate the puncture and insert/glue a rubber bung in it.

What do you lot reckon ?

[Geoff]

The Tufo sealant should work just fine.

[teamtim]

ok - so I have made a mistake.

I started repairing a Vittoria Evo Corsa CX 320 last night after a beer. I have successfully managed to tear the basetape all the way across about an inch from the valve. What are my options ?

Could I just take it off past the valve to where is joins the other end of the basetape and then replace that section overlapping by 5cm or so. Perhaps I could use a stronger glue that latex. What are your thoughts ?

Thanks
Tim

[Geoff]

Gee, that sounds familliar! That used to happen alot to me when I was starting out. We were riding cheap Barum tires and we used to have the basetapes separate all the time. The product that we used to use was Barge cement. I think it was for installing carpets, or something. It worked, anyway. The trick was to make sure that the surfaces were clean and dry. If you were trying to repair early-season tubulars, the road grit made it almost impossible to get a good bond.

[teamtim]

so should I remove the basetape from the join to the rip, then put a new piece of tape overlapping the tear and then overlapping the join ?

[Geoff]

I would just glue it back down flat with the carpet cement, let it cure, then glue-it-up as normal.

[fdegrove]

Hi,

Gee, that sounds familliar! That used to happen alot to me when I was starting out. We were riding cheap Barum tires and we used to have the basetapes separate all the time. The product that we used to use was Barge cement. I think it was for installing carpets, or something. It worked, anyway. The trick was to make sure that the surfaces were clean and dry. If you were trying to repair early-season tubulars, the road grit made it almost impossible to get a good bond.

Solving this kind of problem leaves most people without easy access to Barge cement in Europe clueless.
They either have to resort to rim cement which is a bad idea or find a shop that offers liquid latex and take a shot at it.

If there are places that still carry latex based carpet layer's glue then that would do as well but those are far and inbetween...

So, when based in Europe, what to do?

Cheers,

P.S. Before panic breaks out, having to reattach base tape is normally only of concern to those who actually repair their tubs by hand (thread and needle jobbers so to speak), base tape needs to be reattached after sewing or when using el cheapo tubs that have not been properly built in the first place and which you'd really not want to use anyways.