Any opinions on best glue to use for tubular tires?
three tubes Mastik 1 per wheel
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Woah. That’s a lot of glue. MAYBE 2 if you’re heavy handed and have a brand new rim/tire. But usually one tube/tire. Maybe one tube for 2 tires if both wheels and tires already have glue on them.
you’re right, I misremembered.
correction: 2 tubes of Mastik 1 per wheel.
This may be controversial, but what the hell, I’ll share it anyway: 3M weatherstripping adhesive. You can get it in a big tube from an auto parts store, it’s less expensive than tubular glue, and IMHO works better. The bike shop I worked at 20+ years ago always used it and I’ve had good luck with it over the years. I feel like I get a little stronger adhesion w/ it than with Conti or Vittora tubular glue which are the others I’ve used. I’ve never had any issues w/ it or rolled a tire that was glued w/ 3M, and that includes a lot of races on low pressure CX tires in addition to tris, TTs, and crits on road tubulars. FWIW, the only time I’ve ever rolled a tire was one I’d glued with Conti glue. However that was a CX tire running around 25 psi and I probably should have used more glue than I did.
I don’t have any doubts it would work - amazing how hard it is to peel an inflated road tire off the rim with no glue on it.
My only hesitation would be that if/when I rolled a CX tire glued with Mastik1, I know it’s operator error rather than equipment malfunction.
Mastik. One layer on the rim, one layer on the base tape. Let dry 24 hours. Repeat. Let dry 24 hours. One layer on rim. Wait a couple of minutes, mount tire. Align tire, then inflate to 40 PSI and check for trueness. Inflate to 60 PSI and roll the wheel around the floor for a few minutes using your body weight by holding the hub (it looks goofy). Inflate to 100+ PSI and let dry for 24 hours. Now ride. That’s my routine…
-Pete
P.S. The glue layers should be thin (I use an acid brush) and not thick and gobby.
Good reply Pete. I use that very same method. Mastik, and I agree with the thin even layers. Never rolled one and you can remove it without breaking a thumb. Redo every winter or once a year. HTH
Continental tubular glue.
This may be controversial, but what the hell, I’ll share it anyway: 3M weatherstripping adhesive. You can get it in a big tube from an auto parts store, it’s less expensive than tubular glue, and IMHO works better. The bike shop I worked at 20+ years ago always used it and I’ve had good luck with it over the years. I feel like I get a little stronger adhesion w/ it than with Conti or Vittora tubular glue which are the others I’ve used. I’ve never had any issues w/ it or rolled a tire that was glued w/ 3M, and that includes a lot of races on low pressure CX tires in addition to tris, TTs, and crits on road tubulars. FWIW, the only time I’ve ever rolled a tire was one I’d glued with Conti glue. However that was a CX tire running around 25 psi and I probably should have used more glue than I did.
I used 3M Fasttack adhesive way back in the day, but for some tires it seemed to affect the bond between the tire casing and base tape, so I stopped using it.
Vittoria Mastik Uno and Continental are the best glues I’ve used.
Unfortunately I can’t remember the source, but some ST threads over time referred to some testing that showed Mastik One was the best glue as it resulted in the lowest RR. I’ve had a look on Al Morrison’s tests and I didn’t find it there, maybe it is there and I didn’t look hard enough, but if you search these forums you might find the link somewhere.
This may be controversial, but what the hell, I’ll share it anyway: 3M weatherstripping adhesive. You can get it in a big tube from an auto parts store, it’s less expensive than tubular glue, and IMHO works better. The bike shop I worked at 20+ years ago always used it and I’ve had good luck with it over the years. I feel like I get a little stronger adhesion w/ it than with Conti or Vittora tubular glue which are the others I’ve used. I’ve never had any issues w/ it or rolled a tire that was glued w/ 3M, and that includes a lot of races on low pressure CX tires in addition to tris, TTs, and crits on road tubulars. FWIW, the only time I’ve ever rolled a tire was one I’d glued with Conti glue. However that was a CX tire running around 25 psi and I probably should have used more glue than I did.
I used 3M Fasttack adhesive way back in the day, but for some tires it seemed to affect the bond between the tire casing and base tape, so I stopped using it.
Vittoria Mastik Uno and Continental are the best glues I’ve used.
Yep. 3M worked everytime for me. Still use it. One of the best wrenches I ever met turned me onto it.
This may be controversial, but what the hell, I’ll share it anyway: 3M weatherstripping adhesive. You can get it in a big tube from an auto parts store, it’s less expensive than tubular glue, and IMHO works better. The bike shop I worked at 20+ years ago always used it and I’ve had good luck with it over the years. I feel like I get a little stronger adhesion w/ it than with Conti or Vittora tubular glue which are the others I’ve used. I’ve never had any issues w/ it or rolled a tire that was glued w/ 3M, and that includes a lot of races on low pressure CX tires in addition to tris, TTs, and crits on road tubulars. FWIW, the only time I’ve ever rolled a tire was one I’d glued with Conti glue. However that was a CX tire running around 25 psi and I probably should have used more glue than I did.
Not controversial at all…its cheap and it works great.
Mastik 1
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Vittoria Mastic 1. Next question.
I’ve been using this for years, on advice from a hardcore track racer. They are nuts about how they glue their tires.
I use a lot. A new tire gets three coats, a new rim gets 2 coats.
-Scott
here’s an extract from AFM’s notes on the glueing:
In late 2007 I discovered evidence that the gluing method I had been using to test tubular tires was not producing optimum Crr results.
I had been using 2 coats of Continental glue on my Reflex test rim with no glue on the tire. This seemed to secure the tire adequately but this was not the case.
The use of less glue seemed in line with improving the Crr of tubulars by reducing the thickness of the “compliant glue layer.”
It seems now more important to achieve a ~ 100% bond to the base tape - the light gluing I initially used must have allowed some slipping resulting in higher Crr.
The test in 2007 was on a Vittoria Crono mounted on a Sub 9 disc using 3 coats of Mastik 1 glue on the rim and 2 coats on the tire (~ 2 tubes of glue per wheel).
The tire tested out at a very low Crr, significantly lower than the first test with light Continental gluing. I have repeated the test on several Cronos with similar results.
Additionally I have tested other tires with “the same” gluing processes and have seen similar and better results as compared to the light gluing tests.
Rev 8 adds those results plus identifies the glue process. I would estimate that the Crr lightly glued tires might improve by ~ 0.0003 - 0.0004 when properly glued.
Definitions - Properly glued => Mastik 1 - 3 coats on Rim, 2 coats on Tire Lightly Glued => Continental - 2 coats on Rim, no glue on tire.
A separate test,
http://www.engr.ku.edu/~kuktl/bicycle/Part7.pdf
concludes
Mastik’One is the best glue to use for carbon fiber rims. Continental was the worst performing of the conventional glues.
So, I am using Mastik following the ‘properly glued’ protocol. The tire is hard to remove but not impossible.
Vittoria Mastik 1, end of story
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