Those of you that ride tubulars, do you carry a spare tubular in your races? Do you simply use the tufo sealant and carry not spare? Or do you carry a tubular and use the sealant? I would imagine that the majority of tubular riders carry no spare during races. Am I wrong?
I carry a spare but would be hard pressed to get it on the wheel is my thought. It has not been properly prestretched so I guess it is just in the hopes that the sag wagon could help me get it on and limp me home.
Yes, you are wrong. Don’t leave home without it.
I carry a spare now that I learned how to put a tubular on pretty quickly without tools, once it has been stretched. I suspect I could now change a tire in under five minutes, so I put one in a seat pack for my sprint tri last week. It turns out that I beat the second place guy in my age group by five minutes, so had that flat come along, I may have still been in the race.
I have tried the sealant before, but it can really gum up your valve and make it hard to air up your tires or keep a good seal. If you use the sealant, do not let the air out of your tires after the race. Just keep them inflated until your next race. That ought to prevent the sealant from leaking out the valve, gumming up and complicating your pre-race ritual.
Chad
I can’t speak for others, but I would always carry a tubular spare when racing. If you know what you are doing it should take 1 - 2 minutes or less to change a tubular. In a race as long as an IM or even a 1/2 IM, that’s nothing. Waiting for neutral support may take a very long time.
The spare MUST be pre-stretched and bext to have some glue on it.
Fleck
carry a prestretched tubbie, a 16gm CO2, and if you have a disc a crackpipe. Under two minutes for a tubular. Of course you can use tech support like I did in Ralphs and it takes 4 min. Found out it was best to carry my own crack pipe.
you can cut the top off of a small water bottle and use that to carry it around in.
In my last two races I flatted. The first race was cold and I was unable to remove the tire from the rim. My first ever DNF. My first ever flat in a race tubular or clincher. That really sucked. My very next race (Powerman Alabama) I flatted again this time the rear, I had it changed in 4 minutes with a non pre-stretched tire. Once I got it started it went very fast. I thought tubulars would never flat. I also thought I was somethinbg special changing the tire in 4 minutes until I read the other posts saying 1-2 minutes. I hope I never get the chance to improve.
it seems like shear insanity to me to not carry a spare and as suggested it has been pre-stretched and pre-glued. That is, it has been glued, mounted and inflated a couple of times before folding it up and carrying it. Both half IM and IM are too expensive, in terms of training, cost, travel, accomodation etc. to just DNF because you have no spare. What a lame excuse that would make.
I carry the following on training rides and any race at or over a 1/2 IM
1 pre glued stretched spare tubular
2 CO2 cartridges
1 air despenser
1 razor blade
If you flat a tubular you first just cut across it with the razor blade (I’ve seen these made just for cycling and cutting off tubulars with a retrackable blade), simply peel the flat off the rim, stick on the pre-glued/pre-stretched spare, add air and you’re done. 3 minutes and you’re cycling again!! There is NO reason to fight getting the flat tire off…its toast anyway…CUT it off!! I use Tufo tape on my tubulars, BUT I’ve pre-glued the rim with a light coat and pre-glued the spare. The Tufo tape comes off with the flat tire and the pre-glued rim and spare are enough to get you to T2 or home! Been there…done that!
1 razor blade
NO reason to fight getting the flat tire off…its toast anyway…CUT it off!! I use Tufo tape on my tubulars, BUT I’ve pre-glued the rim with a light coat and pre-glued the spare. The Tufo tape comes off with the flat tire and the pre-glued rim and spare are enough to get you to T2 or home! Been there…done that!
No way Jose! Sweaty hands and a razor blade = recipe for disaster! A 2" unglued gap on the rim opposite the valve is all you need to get the peeling started and the rest follows easily.
Secondly, you can have tubulars repaired. If it’s new and it is just a pin prick a new tube can be inserted. This will save you some money.
Would a pre-taped tire be safe on a glued rim?
confusing…I know. explanation—when i first bought the wheel I used tape and this tire (which is now my spare tire). I tore the tire off and cleaned off the rim. This tire still has a lot of the white tape strip on it which is hell to get off. If I get a flat, can I just use this tire or is it going to roll off?
What tape? Rim tape? There is no need for rim tape with tubulars, unlike clinchers, there is no innertube that would protrude through the spoke holes in the rim and burst/puncture. Without knowing just what you have done or what you mean, I’d say get rid of the the lot and start again. I suspect you mean that the glued tubular pulled off the rim tape. The tubular is to be glued directly to the rim. Any rim tape would effectively stop/frustrate the gluing of the tubular to the rim, instead it is glued to the tape and if the tape is non adhesive then you might as well have no glue at all. If this is the siutuation, liek riding unglued tubulars, it is an accident waiting to happen.
why would you gamble a dnf in a key race just to save carrying a spare tire?
you’re right, it was the remains of tufo tape on the tire. I’ll throw it out and start over…it just hurts throwing out this stuff. anyone want a 19mm s3 that’s been taped and then pulled off a rim?
Has anyone used the tape on rims that have been glued? I’m trying to skip ‘pre-gluing’.
I’m wondering if I can just pre-stretch my spare tire and bring the tufo tape in case I flat. When i flat, can I razor blade a tire that has been glued on, pull it off, then attach the new tire using the tape?
1/2 - no spare.
IM - 1 spare tubular, (2) 16g Co2 (Special needs bike bag has another tubular)
Knock on wood…I’ve never flatted in a race (road or tri) and basically use the most fragile tire (Tufo S3 lite).
If I did flat 5 miles from the finish, I’d just keep riding. Heck, probably even more. No pre-glue for me, I’d just be a bit caution on the turns. I’ve had plently of friends ride with either no glue or cracked glue. Now…don’t go suing me if you have problems…I’m just saying there’s no reason to be overly prepared. It’s a race, shit happens, deal with it and keep moving forward.
I carry a spare on anything longer than a sprint. I have a low millage used tire I use as my spare so it’s prestretched and pops on really easy.
I’m concerned after seeing you refer to the S3 lite as the most fragile tire. I’ve just ordered a pair because I heard that they are great tires, and also because the tufo website says they have a protective rubber ply and a puncture proof ply. Is that just a load? Or are you riding older tires?
I guess since you’ve never flatted, I shouldn’t be to concerned. By the way, how long are the valves on those bad boys?
-Colin
I didn’t mean to say they were fragile tires. It’s just that “many other people” would claim they are fragile. To me, they are BY FAR the easiest tire to mount.
Although…here is a real world example. At IMLP last year practicing, a car pulled out in front of me and I had to lock up the brakes. Left a 5ft skid (if that) “flatted” the tire down to the core. Surprised the hell out of me b/c they were new tires…thus, put on another set. I assume they are “lite” b/c they use less rubber. But, I could be wrong.
Stal, eek! What are you trying to do? You are making a simple thing much more complicated than it needs to be. Forget the weird short cuts (which seem to be the long way round anyway) and learn how to glue a tubular tyre (tire) to a tubular rim properly. Otherwise just stick to clinchers. What’s red and white and sits in the corner sucking its thumb? A baby playing with razor blades.
Mounting and dismounting tubulars is very easy to do properly. Let me suggest if you have no one to show you and you aren’t confident, you take a visit to the LBS with your wheels and tyres, and get them to show you how. You can probably save the tyre if you pick the tape remnants off it.
Honestly, changing tubulars is simpler than changing innertubes on clinchers but there are some steps you just can’t skip.
Yo…Cav…give the razor blade thingy a rest. I’ve used them numerous times without sliting my wrists. Its a tiny little corner of a blade that sticks out when you slide it open. Whats the big deal? Last time I looked I was 50 years and old and know all about using razor blades.
The heck with re-cycling tubbies…I throw them away and buy a new one, and I’m still not going to be broke anytime soon.