OK, ok so I know I’m lame because I don’t change my own tubulars. That being said I took my Zipp’s into my LBS for new rubber as I’m a month away from an “A” race and I didn’t want to wait until the last second. When I picked up my wheels the mechanic told me there was too much dried glue on one of my wheels to glue the new tire on.
Question: How do you scrape the old, dried up sew-up glue off of a carbon rim without damaging the rim? Liquid Solvent? Sandpaper? The tongue of a grumpy 12 year-old cat (like that’s an option…she’d claw me to death if I tried)? I worked at a shop in college and don’t recall how/if someone dealt with this issue.
I used some kind of strong solvent that my shop had. the shit stank the entire shop up and gave me one hell of a buzz but it got the crusty glue off the rim. So you’re saying they just gave you back your wheel and said they couldn’t mount the tire because of the glue? Sooms to me a good shop would have cleaned it off and done the job you asked (and were paying) them for.
Dude, someone was seriously working a lazy day. Here in AZ I sit in the sun with the wheel at say 1pm in the summer. Gets the glue soft and pliable. I then use some sort of metal rounded edge thing I made to scrape it off. You can use Aectone at least that is what Zipp told me and I use it some as well.
Go to home depot or Lowes and look for a can of Naptha. I found it at my local HD. Should be in the paint area next to the acetone etc. Worked really well for me. Just a rag and some elbow grease.
I “think” that mineral spirits (which I hace used) is Naptha and that acetone is not the right solvent; acetone will definitely do something to the epoxy in the carbon build up, as that is what you use to remove uncured epoxy…
We recommend Goof-Off or acetone. MEK works well too, but is beyond unhealthy so I don’t recommend it. Acetone and other solvents will not attach cured epoxy resin or carbon fiber. However, these solvents can attack paint and decals. Our rims are not painted, but some are, especially all rims from Taiwan and China, so I would be very careful what solvent you use on a non-zipp rim and make sure you contact the manufacturer for a recommendation (generally denatured ethyl alcohol will not hurt paint and it a decent glue softener, but not as good as acetone)
For best results, let the solvent soak on the glue by continually applying it with a paint brush or rag, then remove by rubbing with a terry cloth towel soaked in the solvent. Do not use hard tools of any sort, I have seen numerous rims where somebody has scratched or broken fibers by using a screwdriver to scrape glue, which results in an area susceptible to future fatigue failure.
I’ve used acetone on a Zipp 440 without incident, but it didn’t work to remove the glue either… If the glue is clear (Continental or similar), acetone will work. If it’s red and dried hard, there’s not much of anything will work for carbon rims - anything that’s effective on the glue will attack the rim as well. I used a plastic knife to chip away the biggest chunks of residue, then glued with clear, and haven’t had any problems in 5 years.
Thanks for the input everyone…and Josh my Zipp wheels are painted. I have a set of one of the old-school limited edition white 440’s that I got way back when I was a shop rat during my college days. In 15+ years of racing I’ve only seen one other set of the white ones and it was at IMFL.
I have been gluing tubular tires on rims for over 50 years. From wooden rims to aluminum and now carbon. I have never removed glue from a rim. It is totally unnecessary unless way too much was applied by some inexperienced person in the first place. Once you remove a tubular tire, the glue which remains on the rim is a base for the next gluing. Once you have a base on the rim, it only takes a thin coat on the rim and tire to reattach the tire. The solvents in the fresh glue dissolve the old glue and make a good bond. In 50 years of gluing many thousands of tires for both cycle tourists and professional racers I have never had a tire roll off the rim. It is much more important to know what type of glue works with what make of tire. Does the tire have a vulcanized base tape? Or does it have a non-vulcanized tape? Is the base tape attached to the tubular with a liquid latex, a fast tac, or gum spirit? As if you use the wrong glue, it will dissolve what holds on the base tape and cause the tire to be unsafely attached.
Mike Fraysse
Hey mike, slightly off topic but I bought a nice new pair of Conti Comp tubes and while stretchting them on the rim (Zipp disc), ripped the base tape, as in the base tape wouldn’t stretch as far as the tire, and ripped. Might have been my bad for not stretching slowly enough (but they had been on ‘stretching’ rims overnight…) as they were a grunt to get on. The base tape seems to have separated by about 1/4". Is that going to degrade the set-up? The tape seems to still be glued well to the tire otherwise.
(obviously I am looking for, “note the best, but not that big a problem as the base tape is not structurally part of the tire and if you have it and the rest of the tire glued right, then it will be “ok”, not optimal, but good enough for an IM ride on race wheels.”)
It is much more important to know what type of glue works with what make of tire. Does the tire have a vulcanized base tape? Or does it have a non-vulcanized tape? Is the base tape attached to the tubular with a liquid latex, a fast tac, or gum spirit? As if you use the wrong glue, it will dissolve what holds on the base tape and cause the tire to be unsafely attached
What you should do is where the tear occurred put a coat of Conti rim cement over the rip and approximately 1/2 inch on either side of the rip on the base tape. Allow it to dry for 1 hr, then apply an identical second coat and allow to dry overnight. Following day glue the tire on normally. You’ll have no problems. In the future, get a pair of old tubular rims or cheap wheels someone is discarding (bike stores have basements full of these old tubular 5, 6, or 7 speed wheels and will most likely give them to you for free) use them to stretch the tires. French rims like Mavic, Super Champion, etc. are slightly smaller than Zipp carbon and thus are easier to put on new tubulars. Light handmade tubulars stretch very easily; machine-made tubulars are more difficult.
Mike Fraysse
