Tubulars..

[Dead Man]

Wore through my first tubular this week. There's actually still life left in the tire, but I got a puncture and just impulsively decided to rip it off. The wheel is in bad need of a good truing for some reason, so I figured I'd just get that taken care of now and replace the tire. The front is still solid, but the rear has a decent flat spot... totally justifiable decision. I haven't added up mileage, but I really don't think it's that much - I didn't realize how little miles you get out of tubulars. A consequence of the more supple rubber/mat?

The reason I'm updating, however, is that when I ripped the tire off, expecting a nice re-usable bed of smooth/consistent glue in the rim, I discovered the latexy coating on the seam tape ripped off the seam tape and is stuck to the surface of the glue. I picked at it a little, and it's definitely not want to come off easily. I assume this is going to need to be completely removed, just for my own peace of mind cornering on this wheel in the future, but it also seems like if the stuff is good enough to hold the tire to the glue, it ought to be good enough to hold glue to glue.... anyone experience this with Vittoria tubs and just leave it in there?

[buldogge]

Generally a light scuff and a fresh coat of glue keeps a decent bed.

-Mark in St. Louis

Originally Posted by The B

Wore through my first tubular this week. There's actually still life left in the tire, but I got a puncture and just impulsively decided to rip it off. The wheel is in bad need of a good truing for some reason, so I figured I'd just get that taken care of now and replace the tire. The front is still solid, but the rear has a decent flat spot... totally justifiable decision. I haven't added up mileage, but I really don't think it's that much - I didn't realize how little miles you get out of tubulars. A consequence of the more supple rubber/mat?

The reason I'm updating, however, is that when I ripped the tire off, expecting a nice re-usable bed of smooth/consistent glue in the rim, I discovered the latexy coating on the seam tape ripped off the seam tape and is stuck to the surface of the glue. I picked at it a little, and it's definitely not want to come off easily. I assume this is going to need to be completely removed, just for my own peace of mind cornering on this wheel in the future, but it also seems like if the stuff is good enough to hold the tire to the glue, it ought to be good enough to hold glue to glue.... anyone experience this with Vittoria tubs and just leave it in there?

[jdp211]

I generally try not to rip tires off in an effort to leave as little of the basetape behind as possible. I try to remove any basetape before applying more glue. You can probably pick at it with a butter knife until you get a gripable piece of basetape and then carefully pull it off. Also, a bit of sandpaper never hurt.

[Dead Man]

Originally Posted by jdp211

I generally try not to rip tires off in an effort to leave as little of the basetape behind as possible. I try to remove any basetape before applying more glue. You can probably pick at it with a butter knife until you get a gripable piece of basetape and then carefully pull it off. Also, a bit of sandpaper never hurt.

Re-reading my post, I should have been clearer- it's not the tape itself that's stuck to the rim, just the latexesque coating from the tape.

[mrogulja]

Have you tried Goo Gone.
I have had great success with soaking rims for 4-6 hours in it.

[Dead Man]

Originally Posted by redir

Just get a piece of 100 grit sand paper and roll it up into a tube and sand off the gritty loose stuff. Then brush on a coat of Goof-Off and the glue becomes active again.

From earlier in the thread - I think this is probably my solution.... not really sure why I didn't think of it myself!

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by The B

Wore through my first tubular this week. There's actually still life left in the tire, but I got a puncture and just impulsively decided to rip it off. The wheel is in bad need of a good truing for some reason, so I figured I'd just get that taken care of now and replace the tire. The front is still solid, but the rear has a decent flat spot... totally justifiable decision. I haven't added up mileage, but I really don't think it's that much - I didn't realize how little miles you get out of tubulars. A consequence of the more supple rubber/mat?

The reason I'm updating, however, is that when I ripped the tire off, expecting a nice re-usable bed of smooth/consistent glue in the rim, I discovered the latexy coating on the seam tape ripped off the seam tape and is stuck to the surface of the glue. I picked at it a little, and it's definitely not want to come off easily. I assume this is going to need to be completely removed, just for my own peace of mind cornering on this wheel in the future, but it also seems like if the stuff is good enough to hold the tire to the glue, it ought to be good enough to hold glue to glue.... anyone experience this with Vittoria tubs and just leave it in there?

Pull the base tape off of the rim.
Start over.

[Dead Man]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

Pull the base tape off of the rim.
Start over.

I worded that kind of screwball - it's not the tape that stuck, it's the latex coating of the tape that stuck.

[BSUdude]

I understand what you're saying. In some online tutorials they specifically mention to "rough-up" the latex coating on the basetape prior to gluing with some fine-grit sandpaper. I believe Vittoria is the only manufacturer the puts the coating on the basetape. I'm not sure why, but I believe it is for some purpose OTHER than gluing performance. This wouldn't have happened with a bare cotton basetape, which most (all?) other manufacturers use.

As to your predicament, you have to make the rims so your comfortable gluing on them. I would probably try sanding the latex first to see if you could get through to the old glue. I would think even removing a majority of the latex would be enough for my peace of mind, personally. Then if that didn't work maybe move on to acetone, since that will leave the old glue intact (basically, unless you rub until your arm falls off). Beyond that you move into the realm of glue removal I think.

It seems like you should be able to get through to the old glue w/o going through the process of fully stripping down to bare carbon again. I can't say I have direct firsthand experience with your problem, though I at least understand what your asking.

[Dead Man]

I sort of wonder if maybe it's actually to aid in extraction... it pretty much came cleanly off the base tape on the tire with only a couple minor tears. As good as that puppy was glued on, I probably would ahve completely shredded the base tape, leaving half of it stuck to the rim. It was a freaken biatch to get off- way harder than the tires I pulled off these rims when I bought 'em.

[FlashUNC]

Originally Posted by The B

I sort of wonder if maybe it's actually to aid in extraction... it pretty much came cleanly off the base tape on the tire with only a couple minor tears. As good as that puppy was glued on, I probably would ahve completely shredded the base tape, leaving half of it stuck to the rim. It was a freaken biatch to get off- way harder than the tires I pulled off these rims when I bought 'em.

The tougher it is, the better the glue job. Take that as a good thing.

And what OldP said, gotta get the latex off, clean up and get back to square 1.

[shovelhd]

You said yourself that glue doesn't stick to latex. Clean up the rim properly.

[Dead Man]

Originally Posted by shovelhd

You said yourself that glue doesn't stick to latex. Clean up the rim properly.

What? It stuck pretty damn good, man. I was wrenching that mofo with my carpenter's arms pretty much all the way around, to get it to come off the rim.

But, for clarity, "properly" is exactly what I'm asking about: what's proper? Now I know sanding it down is proper, and that's what I'll do.

[shovelhd]

Originally Posted by The B

What? It stuck pretty damn good, man. I was wrenching that mofo with my carpenter's arms pretty much all the way around, to get it to come off the rim.

But, for clarity, "properly" is exactly what I'm asking about: what's proper? Now I know sanding it down is proper, and that's what I'll do.

There's a reason that you scuff the latex off of a new Vittoria, that's all. Glue is fine, glue mixed with latex, not so sure.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by The B

I sort of wonder if maybe it's actually to aid in extraction... it pretty much came cleanly off the base tape on the tire with only a couple minor tears. As good as that puppy was glued on, I probably would ahve completely shredded the base tape, leaving half of it stuck to the rim. It was a freaken biatch to get off- way harder than the tires I pulled off these rims when I bought 'em.

Sounds like you did a good job. Get some 3M glue remover or similar, some green scratchy pads and clean up the rim a bit(not need to be perfect, as new), let dry, clean with some acetone(tire also), reglue.

BTW-some will cry foul but I have glued on many Vittoria tubulars on my own wheels and I have never removed the latex from the base tape and have never rolled a tire in 30 years. I use Panaracer, best, clear, glue I have used, Vittoria is second.