I am looking for some advice on Tubulars. I bought a set of American Classics carbon fiber 58 mm deep V Tubular tires. I need to glue the tires on. How much of a pain is this process? Is there a possibility of destroying the rims in the process? What are some techniques to simplifying the process? I am looking for any info I can get. My LBS said they would do it for $45 per tire and it would take 5 days to get it done. They also said if your do not cure the glue correctly you can mess up your rims and it could not be fixed. Just trying to figure out if the process is worth it.
Thanks for the help
Do it yourself. Go to Parktools.com or nimble.net and read the instructions. I glued on tubulars for the first time before Wildflower and it’s not as bad as you would think. Heck, the 2nd wheel was much easier than the first.
There’s also glue out in a plasic container with a nozzle on it. I didn’t have that luxury but saw the mechanic that works for John Cobb using it. I’d look for that glue, it’ll keep some of the mess down.
$90 for two tires. No way. It’ll take the shop 15 minutes to do the glueing and there is no wayto destroy your rim! They are just saying that to get your $$$ (IMO).
The bigger problem is how to carry the spare tubular!!
Do it yourself. It’s not that difficult. Make sure you stretch the tires for a day or so before mounting. That bike store probably doesn’t know what they are doing if they are charging $45 a tire. That’s outrageous.
jaretj
I’ve been gluing on tubular tires for years. This year I went to tufo tape. MUCH easier. I don’t think I’ll go back to tape.
Joel
www.CompetitionZone.com
Here is an easy painless way that will get the tire glued on as good as any other method. Mount the tire, either with or without glue. Lift a bit of the tire up at a time, and put just enough glue for that section and smear it with a latex gloved finger. Move all the way around the tire and use at least a half a tube of tubular glue per tire. Inflate and check to see that it is straight. I tried the official method of gluing with several coats and all this hassle, but the above method is more than fine. The only fault one may find is that the level of glue is low. I’ve never rolled a tire and need a tool to get the tire off when cured. This method is clean and allows you to situate the tire better.
I glued my first ones last year, I just followed Slowman’s advice and had no problem.
http://www.slowtwitch.com/mainheadings/techctr/maintenance/tiremount.html