CyclingTips - Latest Comments in The Practicalities Of Tubulars

Re: The Practicalities Of Tubulars

Mike in Utah, USA — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 15:06:28 -0000

In the 70's I rode sew-ups on my Masi. Anytime there was a possibilty of picking up some debris the technique was to reach down and let the tire rotate against your gloved hand to knock it loose. Or there was a little flexible gizmo called a tire-saver that mounted with the brake caliper bolt - accomplished basically the same thing.
But flats happened none the less. I remember the patch kit in the metal tin and cutting open tires and going through the whole process. I also remember getting two flats in less than a half hour. The second tire is probably still hanging in that big oak tree by the road.

Re: The Practicalities Of Tubulars

Ian McGinley — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 20:57:15 -0000

Be careful with tube fillers like slime or whatever with latex tubes. Latex tubes leech air rapidly compared to butyl tubes. With the slime in a latex inner tube, it could cause the tube sidewalls to join and nor separate when inflated again, particularly if the wheels are limited use for race day only. Check the pressure twice a week, and preferably keep them off the floor so the sidewalls don't collapse.

Also think about rotating the wheels to keep the slime moving, and never let the wheel settle at the valve for the slime to bind up the valve also.

Re: The Practicalities Of Tubulars

Have Bike will travel — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 19:30:12 -0000

Problem is I don't race and same as a lot of others, we just want to be part of the gang! Wanna be a pro!

Re: The Practicalities Of Tubulars

Jeff tee — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 18:28:16 -0000

Ah yes, I remember Mitchell's. I think they were out of my price range. (or my parents price range!)
I was talking to a couple of guys last Saturday about the bikes some parents are buying for their kids. My bike for the first couple of years of racing was an all purpose road/track bike. Just turn the back wheel around and you've got a choice of fixed or freewheel. (We weren't allowed gears anyway.)Put on a couple of brakes and there's your road bike. Oh so simple.

Re: The Practicalities Of Tubulars

Juz — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 08:46:54 -0000

A lot of people talk about tufo tape, both positive and negative, without mentioning the important part. This is that it is recommended for use with tufo tubulars, which differ from conti and vittoria in that they don't have a central seam running where it meets the middle of the rim bed- these get in the way of the tape contacting the tire, which has got to lessen the effective contact. Some other tubulars are somewhat like tufos eg schwalbe. Vittorias also are covered in rubber that you have to scrape off. Tufo tubulars certainly are harder to strip off rims when stuck on with their tape than with mastik one or conti glue. I have not heard of anyone rolling one, but there is so much smoke, mirrors and romance about tubulars that who knows what the most secure way is!

Re: The Practicalities Of Tubulars

Juz — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 08:31:59 -0000

There was a fairly recent Leonard Zinn article on Velonews about using solvents on carbon and the conclusion was that you could go to town with your nail polish remover, and you would pass out far before it did any damage to your carbon fibre wheels.

Re: The Practicalities Of Tubulars

Jeremy — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 03:57:53 -0000

As a earlier post mentioned, only use extenders made by Vittoria/Conti/Schwable. The open types like Zipp/Reynolds just don't work. Whilst the Topeak version may appeal to newbies and have all the benefits of the Vittoria/Conti/Schwable ones, they rattle, break, and leak.

I don't understand the apprehension of changing tubs out on the road. I can change them quicker than clinchers. Will do a how to video in the next couple of weeks once my new tubs are built.

Re: The Practicalities Of Tubulars

cyclingtips — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 03:42:36 -0000

With regards to the valve extenders, I did a post a long time ago about a trick to install and seal them properly

http://www.cyclingtipsblog....

Basically you wrap a bit of plumbers tape around the tyre's presta valve before putting on the valve extenders. This will create an airtight seal and it'll make pumping them up much better

Re: The Practicalities Of Tubulars

cyclingtips — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 03:30:19 -0000

Wendy and I keep postponing because of the poor weather. Friday should be beautiful so let's hope for then. I'll keep everyone posted...

Re: The Practicalities Of Tubulars

Adrian — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 03:00:04 -0000

And as a juvenile did you have Mitchell's? They were those clinchers that were smooth and seemed to be as rare as hens teeth (I was in Shepparton and the local juveniles guarded theirs jealously). Since they were the only thing out there they had them for track and road. First wheels I bought I got off an old bloke, he used shellac and showed me how to do it. Looked beautiful. Think I did it once on the road wheels but takes days (paint a layer let it dry, repeat. A lot). And yeah, they did used to check didn't they?

Re: The Practicalities Of Tubulars

Simon. — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 02:36:30 -0000

How do the new Maxic Cosmic Cabones SL or SRAM 60's compare? I know they are clinchers and have Alloy Braking Surfaces but they also give you a nice deep rim. I'm not interested in the hassle of Tub's on the road (Track on wooden boards is fine). Would these wheels be any lighter, or Better than my Fulcrum Racing 3's.

Re: The Practicalities Of Tubulars

GP — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 02:04:05 -0000

Slipping on a tubular isn't so bad, you just need to stretch them before you try and glue them on.

Slip (or ply) on the new tubular first without any glue, pump up to 80odd psi and then let them sit there for a day. Then take them off, place glue on both the rim and the tubular. bang. done.

PS - I've not used my 404's for some months, got 4 flats in 3 weeks. They're now collecting dust under my bed, but looking forward to bringing them out for summer.

PPS - how did the ride with Wendy go?

Enjoy. GP.

Re: The Practicalities Of Tubulars

Tony — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 01:23:58 -0000

Might need more research but there's this
huge article that confused me a lot - but around page 271 it starts to deal with the plasticizing of carbon-fibre composites. Bearing in mind this also mentions the detrimental effects of water on the composite and hopefully that doesn't mean rain will turn your bike into a puddle. Its dealing with total immersion for a period of time, not wiping it over and washing it off.

Like I said - need some answers from a manufacturer as I'm sure there's too many variables from the weave, to the finish coat etc.

Re: The Practicalities Of Tubulars

Jake — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 23:51:10 -0000

All this talk of nail polish remover/solvent to remove glue begs the question does this affect the integrity of the carbon ??(I assume you're using carbon rims)

I managed to run over a dropped glue tube and have glue splattered all up my carbon forks but I've been to scared to use solvent to remove it for fear of affecting the carbon..

Re: The Practicalities Of Tubulars

DS — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 23:50:34 -0000

It's Wolber - a french manufacturer. Still got a pair of their rims on my late 80's road bike.

Re: The Practicalities Of Tubulars

Jeff tee — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 22:30:26 -0000

Adrian is making me reminisce. When I made the transition from juveniles to juniors I got some 2nd hand wheels and brand new singles. They seemed to cost a fortune. My first 2 races I punctured both tyres and I think I ended up using some that my brother discarded as "unuseable". I remember sticking them on with Bostik. The referee used to go around and ensure the tyres were stuck on. Do they still do that?

Re: The Practicalities Of Tubulars

Billy Buster — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 22:25:00 -0000

Clinchers too!

Re: The Practicalities Of Tubulars

Anonymous — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 22:17:15 -0000

I had a puncture on a brand new tube and bought some 'Slime' just to see if it would seal it. Once I got the tire off, put the slime in and re-glued I havent had a problem with it. I've done about 5 races on that tire since and it seems to be working well. Sure beats forking out $100+ for a new tire.
Tubes are great, but I dont understand why people train on them. Keep them for racing!

Re: The Practicalities Of Tubulars

Have Bike will travel — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 22:10:09 -0000

I had a flat while riding tubular and have to catch a train back from Frankston. Which is not pleasant especially when it is packed. After my messy affair trying to stick a new tyre on, I am too scare to use my set of tubular wheels. I have put the blue sludge in just in case a get a puncture.

Question: Does this stuff work? and how long will it last? Has any one have has experience with this stuff?

Re: The Practicalities Of Tubulars

hazey — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 22:08:07 -0000

Tubular wheels can be difficult but well worth the effort!

When I brought mine I was thrust into the deep end, a world of leaking valve extenders, glue vs. tape debates and the like. What I learnt from the experience:

Do your research before gluing etc; there are a heap of resources online that can point you in the right direction of doing the job right. The more you read the fewer problems you will have if you are new to the process. One website I found helpful:

http://www.parktool.com/rep...

Get good valve extenders! I bought my wheels second hand (with tubes attached) and found that the valve extenders (topeak ones that fit over the top of the valve) where installed poorly and where very problematic to use. Continental and Vittoria make a set that works with tubs that have removable valve cores that are very reliable and easy to install, they simply screw into where the valve core is located.

http://www.vittoria.com/ind...

Using a truing stand while applying the glue to the rim saves a lot of mess whilst improving the quality of the job. However after spending over 2k on a set of wheels I couldn’t really afford one! I got past this problem by suspending the wheels (from the ends of the skewers) using string from the roof of the workshop I was in. This method was surprisingly stable and allowed me to rotate the wheel while gluing.

Re: The Practicalities Of Tubulars

Have Bike will travel — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 21:52:54 -0000

This is the reason why one should read Cyclingtips before one tries to do something new. I did take the advice of stretching your tyre on a spare rim.

Re: The Practicalities Of Tubulars

Jeremy — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 21:43:37 -0000

Tip 1: always clean tyres before/after a ride
Tip 2: STOP, if you think you've run over some glass, clean tyres
Result: no flats with tubs

Cleaning: Shellite with Rubber (chemical resistant) gloves. Works well with Jantex which has the Tubasi glue ideal for taping up Vittorias.

Roll Off: As Mr Tips, has pointed out, you need to check the adhesion. In the wet, water will soak up the base tape and adhesion will be reduced. Cornering at 45degrees at full gas or on rough terrain just isn't very wise. If you are a hard man, stick with Mastik One and Contis.

Re: The Practicalities Of Tubulars

Tim — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 21:32:16 -0000

dear HM, was Hollywood really out on the 6am ride this morning or did he text me at 5.16am with Vuelta results just to trump me? ;-)

Re: The Practicalities Of Tubulars

hard_man — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 20:55:13 -0000

Holly wood's singles....

10 flats in 10 weeks ... new single each time plus the petrol for the GF to come and pick him up on the other side of Frankston each time...

very expensive !

Re: The Practicalities Of Tubulars

cyclingtips — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 20:53:31 -0000

I'll get right on that list hard_man.

;-)