Hi Drinyth,

Hey, your dealer should have given you the briefing on this! We give everyone who buys tubulars a little lesson on their maintenance and care, we also teach a tubular tire clinic here about once a month in the season.

If the tubular is glued correctly it shouldn't be too hard to remove. 180 degrees opposite the valve stem leve about 1 inch of rim with no cement. This is where you go to begin the removal. When you flat in a race it is likely you will be adreneline-supercharged enough to pull that tire off in one fast motion. The glue residue should be left on the rim since it improves adhesion for the non-glued spare and provides a rough surface for it to grip.

Be aware that most tubular cement solvents can also affect the matrix holding the carbon fiber of a carbon fiber rim together.

Good luck!

---

Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com

I did get a little briefing. They told me what they were doing and I got to watch as they glued and mounted my tires for me. I'd just like to do it once or twice myself before riding them on race day.

So if I remove the tire that's on there right now, can I just put it back on with the glue residue that's already on there? Or do I need to reapply glue to the tire and/or rim? How many times can I remove and reapply the tire from the wheel without signifigantly weakening the adhesive between the two?

Just looking to practice a little before race day and what the rammifications are of doing so on an already glued tire/wheel.

Best of luck to you in IMNZ, Tom! :)

If you take it off you must reglue it except when in a race. I would then after the race reglue it or install a new tire. I think the learning curve for tubbies can be tough. I train on tubbies so I get to at least once a year change the tires. "MY EXPERANCE" is todays tubbies don't flat as much as in the old days(1970s) It is nice to have a nother set of wheels to stretch tires on before you glue them on. Practace makes perfect. Well at least I am better at changing them then 30 years ago :-) Dream on Dirtball !

Should I reglue the just the tire or both the tire and the rim? I have carbon wheels and Tom mentioned that the glue cleaner may be damaging to the rims? Are there any drawbacks to putting layer after layer of glue on both of the tires and rims? Can you even clean glue off a tire before you remount it?

Maybe I'm just making a mountain out of a mole hill. Conceptually, I can see myself just ripping off the bad tire and putting on the spare without too much of a problem. I'd just like to do it once or twice for peace of mind, ya know?

I would find some used wheels at Ebay or lbs. I got nice wheels for $125 revlex rims durace hubs. Mount some cheep tubbies like tufo s22 and ride them and change them. Your carbon rims I know nothing about. I would not change them unless I got a flat. The glue will build up if you mess with them. You have to reglue both. It's a contact type glue. It may be a mole hill or you think to much :-0 Thinking has never bin my strong point. The Dirtball

Since it's a relatively new wheel and glue job, just putting a thin layer on the rim after removal will soften it up a little to make a new connection with the tire. If you wanted to practice a few times, I would only put more glue on the last time, or you will get some build up. I think you'll be pleasantly suprised by how well the tire will stay on 'dry.' Put it back on, pump it up, and go for a short ride. When you get done, see if it's much easier to get off the 2nd time.

Even when putting on a new tire, leaving the old glue is fine, some say preferable. Unless it's dried out an hard, it'll just become one with the new glue. Trying to clean it off would be a real PITA.

I'd prefer to not mess with my race wheels, so I would suggest going back to the LBS and seeing if they have an old wheel and tire that you can practice on.

Yeah. I think I'll just do that and/or wing it when it comes time for me to change out my tire on the side of the road. I did pay very close attention to him while he was mounting my tires, so I know how it all works in theory. I just have no idea how hard it'll actually be to remove the already glued tire from the rim - would have been nice to know how much approximate force it takes or if I need any special tools other than my fingers.

I know he didn't leave a little patch across from the inflation valve with no glue. Hopefully, that's not going to cause me too much of a problem if I ever need to get the tire off.

Thanks for the quick replies and feedback folks!

I would highly recommend that you practice taking off that tubular. My wife learned the hard way at IM New Zealand -- the LBS had done a "roadie" glueing job that even the support van guys couldn't get undone! To say the least she was a little bummed as I rode by her!

The first time I tried to remove my tubular from my race wheels (practicing) it took about 10 minutes of sweat and a lot of cussing. Granted I didn't have that race adrenalin (don't know how much I would have at mile 85 of an IM either) but I'm going to take some sage advice in this thread and practice until I get it down to less than 2 minutes. Of course that will guarantee I will not have a flat. And with tufo sealant pre-loaded I better not!

What you might want to do is, deflate your tires, and just get it started at the spot away from the valve. You'll be able to get a feel for how hard/easy it is, and it might make it a little easier for the next time. If you can work out something with your LBS, even better.

I highly recommend using 3M Fast Tack Trim Adhesive. It stays tacky forever and holds tires on really well. Plus it self regulates. Enough stays on the wheel, but it never builds up too thick. Regular tubular cement on carbon fiber wheels is a nightmare. I had to use a stick and 20 minutes of cussing to get a tire off (not my tire/wheel, or my glue job). Fast Tack is an OIT (old indian trick) from roadyland.

I always have a plastic tire iron with me for that stuborn tire.

I won"t use fastack anymore. It's a faith thing.Do the right thing use tubie glue.