Tubie Newbie - Looking for advice/info/education

[tlarwa]

Well, I just pulled the trigger on a set of Neuvation C50 tubies as my race-day wheels. Thing is, I have ZERO experience with tubies (always wanted to try them, and now I will!). Since I bought off the used market, the wheels are coming with new tires already glued up, so I should be good for now. But, I have no clue with regards to flats, what to carry with me on rides, etc., etc., etc. Can someone point me to a good thread addressing the ins and outs of tubies, or give me a good education of everything I NEED to know to get started?

Tom

[peanutgallery]

Duuuude!

If you have to ask, I would highly recommend paying someone at a reputable LBS to do it for you. Second option would be a riding buddy that has experience with this sort of thing. This is for your own safety and those around you, it isn't rocket science but there is a boatload of wives tales, hard and fast fast rules and plain old experience that make them work better and look better upon installation

My second piece of advice is to go ahead and scare up a pair of old rims and a set of new replacement tires. Let them stretch (and age) in a dry, dark place. This will also break you in on the concept of installing a tubular tire on a rim and stretch tires install easier and straighter when you take them in to have them done

Congrats on making the switch

[sean]

If you do have a local bike shop do it, try and watch. Once you get the hang of it, it's really not that bad. There is also Tufo tape, which is REALLY easy (use the extreme in the orange box). But the downside is that it's a PIA to get off.

Also, a friend of mine at my LBS put this (http://www.mediafire.com/?7rcbo22k298dy26) together. It's a nice step by step.

[djg]

Do a search for "tubular" and the poster 11.4. It's not that I agree with everything he's said, but I've been at this long enough, and know enough, to know that he knows what he's talking about when it comes to wheels and tires and bonding the two together. He has some very informative posts on the subject. I know how to prep and glue a tire, but he'll give you better advice than I will.

Second, you might take a look at the Park Tools web site. Not perfect, but clear and, on balance I think, pretty darn good.

And, as folks said, find some old beater wheels or cheap rims to pre-stretch tires. And don't buy crap tubular tires. You don't need the most expensive ones by any means, but bottom-of-the-line offerings tend to be lousy.

Oh yeah -- learn how to do it properly yourself. There are shops (and mechs) out there who will do a great job for you, but I think that even reputable LBSs can be pretty variable in terms of both process and quality of gluing jobs. Once you know, it's not that hard to do and you'll know it's been done right.

[TAW]

Congratulations, you'll enjoy them. There's info on the forum how to glue them, and you can easily learn to do them yourself. For flats, most can be taken care of with a can of Vittoria Pit Stop which fills the flat and gives you air pressure. Good luck.

[tlarwa]

Thanks for all the direction so far. As far as on the road repair goes, should I carrya spare tubular, or use the flat repair stuff you put in the tire? I don't planon running these on training rides (much), but you never know when you're going to flat. I need to know I'm prepared... other than having my cell phone and a wife who will pick me up on the side of the road :rolleyes:

[jaykosta]

Thanks for all the direction so far. As far as on the road repair goes, should I carrya spare tubular, or use the flat repair stuff you put in the tire? I don't planon running these on training rides (much), but you never know when you're going to flat. I need to know I'm prepared... other than having my cell phone and a wife who will pick me up on the side of the road :rolleyes:
=============================
I carry 2 spares with me - and be sure that they are already 'pre-stretched' to fit on the rims. Dealing with new un-stretched tubulars can be a huge pain.

Jay Kosta
Endwell NY USA

[zap]

snip

As far as on the road repair goes, should I carrya spare tubular, or use the flat repair stuff you put in the tire? I don't planon running these on training rides (much), but you never know when you're going to flat.

Good chance you will ride tubulars more than you think on training rides.

The one flat I had in the last 7 years was so bad that no amount of sealant would have worked. Carry an old tubular (say half life) as a spare.

[ultraman6970]

TUbular...

glue them... put like 110 pound of air to them... and be happy.

With flats u can do 2 things, put something like limegreen thing inside or just go an change it in the road.

As for paying an lbs for gluing the tubulars probably no shop will do it because of liability. DO a search in the internet, plenty of places to do learn how to glue them, not rocket science and if you use something like tufo tape is even easier.

U have to learn how to fix them, is easy also but people rather use clinchers because are simpler? Love tubulars tho.

Good luck :)

[false_Aest]

Listen hommé,

There's 100 pages of how-to on the weight weenies forum, video after video after video on websites, Continental's way, Vittoria's way, Flux's way, TooTall's way, Zanc's way, etc.

The funny thing is, they're all pretty similar.

Go over to Velocipede Salon and read what Zanc and TT have to say. Then ignore the Sallys that say you need a shop to do it.

The only way you learn is by doing. Yes, watching helps but doing really helps.


As far as your flats:

Buy an extra El-cheap tubular and valve extender. Stretch that MFER and lay a coat or 2 of glue on it. Fold it up and put it under your seat.

Then buy a paint can opener and some 80, 100 and 200 grit wet/dry sandpaper. Sand the sharp point parts of that thing off. Then make it nice and smooth. When you flat, use that smooth stiff tire lever to coax a hole in the glue (not in the rim or the tire, yo) and then start working your way around the rim.


It's like loosing your virginity. The first time is sloppy and gross. Then you get better.

[tlarwa]

Listen hommé,

There's 100 pages of how-to on the weight weenies forum, video after video after video on websites, Continental's way, Vittoria's way, Flux's way, TooTall's way, Zanc's way, etc.

The funny thing is, they're all pretty similar.

Go over to Velocipede Salon and read what Zanc and TT have to say. Then ignore the Sallys that say you need a shop to do it.

The only way you learn is by doing. Yes, watching helps but doing really helps.


As far as your flats:

Buy an extra El-cheap tubular and valve extender. Stretch that MFER and lay a coat or 2 of glue on it. Fold it up and put it under your seat.

Then buy a paint can opener and some 80, 100 and 200 grit wet/dry sandpaper. Sand the sharp point parts of that thing off. Then make it nice and smooth. When you flat, use that smooth stiff tire lever to coax a hole in the glue (not in the rim or the tire, yo) and then start working your way around the rim.


It's like loosing your virginity. The first time is sloppy and gross. Then you get better.

I love the feedback ... best post I've read in a while. I'll definitely check out the suggested reading across the hall. I'm not afraid of doing it myself, and happy to get my hands dirty doing it. And while I agree the first time was sloppy, I dont remember it being gross (but admittedly, that was a long time ago)...

[sean]

I'm not going to call you Homie, but I am going to say that Tufo Preventative sealant works pretty nice for small punctures. I think it's the stuff in the yellow box. You remove the valve core (with supplied tool), squirt some in and inflate (more or less).

I would do that but STILL carry an extra. You never know what the extent of a flat is going to be and that extra tire may help you from having to carry the bike home :crap:

[regularguy412]

If it were me and these wheels/tires, I'd carefully strip off the tires and re-glue. You never know how good (or BAD) a job the previous owner did. Plus-- they should be pretty easy to re-mount ,, as they've already been glued up and presumably, ridden. You also get the experience of taking them OFF -- which can be more or less difficult depending on what brand of glue used and the previous gluing method.

Mike in AR:beer:

[thwart]

Then buy a paint can opener and some 80, 100 and 200 grit wet/dry sandpaper. Sand the sharp point parts of that thing off. Then make it nice and smooth. When you flat, use that smooth stiff tire lever to coax a hole in the glue (not in the rim or the tire, yo) and then start working your way around the rim. Good stuff... like the do-it-yourself aspect.

[socalspeedsk8r]

I would recommend putting sealant in them before you get a flat. I ride tubies as my daily wheelset and run 10k+ per year. The sealant takes care of 99 percent of the punctures, it the big cuts it has trouble dealing with.

The Vittoria Pit Stop is worthless and I wouldn't waste your money. I have run every sealant on the market and by far the best has been Caffelatex. Won't dry up or gum-up the tub and seals some pretty big holes.

Scott

[FastVegan]

It's like loosing your virginity. The first time is sloppy and gross. Then you get better.


Awesome.

[FastVegan]

Tubulars are not black magic, they are bike tires.

So many people try to make a big deal out of tubulars, please dont listen to them. You can get hurt by not properly installing a brake pad set or a stem, but few people talk about that stuff.

Buy a few extra tires, acid brushes, glue and some old rims. Then learn to change them, glue them and eventualy repair them.

I only ride tubulars, commuting, racing, group rides, (hell even my MTB has tubulars).

Ride them, enjoy them.

I have 2 sets of the C50s and I love them, they have been through hell and are still in good shape. The alloy nipples are junk, but I have only needed to true the front after a nasty CX crash.

Good luck!
Dave

[feta99]

I was also in your shoes a few weeks ago. I have a few sets of tubular wheels and love riding them but was always worried about gluing the tire myself. I needed to glue a couple sets of wheels and decided to do it myself, after much research from this forum, weight weenies, zank's method, vittoria's website, reynolds website, velonews, some research paper online and youtube and I dove right in.

I had two sets of wheels, one alloy and one carbon and decided to try the alloy ones first. I followed the multi day approach, with 2 coats of glue on tire & rim, with 24hour drying time between first coat and 12hours between second coat. Then before applying tire, I put on another coat on the rim and let it dry for a few minutes and started having fun. The hardest part for me was trying to get the tire on straight and readjusting it when it was on the rim. I was installing a pair of Veloflex tires and they seem to require very little stretching, the Carbons were much easier than the paris-roubaix though. As an aside, I hear Conti tires are a pain in the ass to strech so I might never try those.

Anyways, at first I was very worried about applying too much glue and not getting enough glue on the edge of the rim, supposedly, best bond is at edge or rim. After I did my first wheel I realized that I applied too little glue and the bond between the tire and rim was a little weak for my liking. So, I pulled the tire and restarted. Cleaning the rim was a bitch and that is something I hope not to have to do too often(again).

Long story short, the second time went a lot better and I am very happy with the results. It does require a bit of patience and some time but is fairly easy. Set aside some time over a few days and enjoy.

Tools for the job:
-Lots of acid brush(plumbing section at home depot)
-Vittoria Mastik 1(1 small glue container per tire&wheel)
-Acetone for cleaning carbon rims
-100 sand paper for cleaning rims
-Rags
-Gloves
-Wheel truing stand
-Music

Good luck!