Talk to me… Is gluing them on something I should tackle myself? Or leave it to a “professional” - I put it in quotes because I’m not so sure an LBS guy is necessarily any more competent than I might be.
I’m pretty good mechanically. Built my own bike, maintain it, can work on a car/motorcycle/house… It’s not that I feel I can’t do it, I just don’t want to find out on a 45mph decent that I did it wrong… Especially since the only way I’ll be learning is web sites, blogs or youtube.
It is not rocket science. I am sure you wont have a problem - #1 mistake I have seen is not letting the glue fully dry before mounting the tire. Funny to see folks with glue all over hell on their wheels, hands, sidewalls…
DIY. Like the others said, it is not rocket science. I did mine myself and lived to tell the tale. Don’t be in a hurry and make sure it is nice and straight.
It’s really not that bad as long as your rim isnt really wide compared to the tire and you prestretch the tire. I bought some Easton EA70x’s and had trouble getting 21mm tires to fit well. I then put the same 21mm size tires on my Zipp 808’s with no issues.
You might have to change a flat soooooo
Learn how
Never trust the shop monkeys with tire mounting
They will make fun of your poor skills
Before you glue put the tire on rim and make sure the tire is ok
You can not return tires with glue on them
The glue is out of this world good sniffing (-:
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It’s not that I feel I can’t do it, I just don’t want to find out on a 45mph decent that I did it wrong… Especially since the only way I’ll be learning is web sites, blogs or youtube.
Find someone local who does it (and has for some time - if they mention tape, RUN the other way).
go to liquor store and buy a 12 pack of either:
Duvel
Westmalle Tripple
Rochefort 8
Orval
take said 12 pack to friend from step 1) and ask them to teach you
drink some of the beer while gluing - a requirement in my household.
All I seemed to see on the side of the road at IMNZ this year was guys holding a wheel in one hand and a limp tubbie in the other, as they forlornly looked for a service van…(how much faster can THAT be?)
clinchers have progressed so far in recent years they are (arguably…and here on ST we all like to argue about tubbies/clinchers) as good as tubbies and a whole lot easier to fix on the side of the road (if you don’t have a support car driving behind you with replacement wheels) and not to mention, a whole lot cheaper as well.
They have to sell them cheap, to offset the price of tubbies compared to tubes!
Up to you of course, but I would never choose tubbies, even if they were free. Here in New Zealand, the road are so rough and glass strewn that I simply can’t afford to consider tubbies, particularly since the performance of a decent clincher is arguably as good as a tubbie.
Enjoy your new wheels, I’m sure you will love them and they will make you go wicked fast.
Enjoy your new wheels, I’m sure you will love them and they will make you go wicked fast.
Not sure if this was sarcasm… but I hope I do as well. I hope to finish my bike legs in the top 10 overall - at least within the local sprints - so this way I’ll help my chances - and know for sure the only remaining thing to improve is the engine.
How likely is that? Not sure yet, I just started last year and have been improving quickly. Now, if I can shave another minute or so of my running pace, we’ll be talking…
You should look up some of the post by **Tom A. **- he has a lot to say about clinchers compared to tubies.
Personally, with the advancement of clinchers, I am considereing selling all my tubular wheels and replacing them with clinchers.
When it comes to doing it yourself I think you should. How else are you going to know how to change a flat when it comes time. By the way…have fun The first few times are a joy.
You were lucky that no sarcasm was intended. Normally I’m pretty sarcastic, but after finishing IMNZ, i’m pretty tired, and pretty satisfied and just want others to have a good time doing tri’s like I do.
Seriously. Enjoy your wheels and I hope they make you fast.
What do I ride? I have a 650C Cervelo P2K (the latest version is now called the P1, but mysteriously no longer appears on the Cervelo website or local dealer brochures) I have HED3 Clincher 650 wheels with aluminium braking surface, that I LOVE. I fell in love with them years ago and have coveted them ever since. I was so happy when I got them about a year and a half ago. They are still awesome wheels and in fact Lance rides them these days so I guess they are still pretty quick. I love also that they don’t look like all the other wheels out there, and they are chunky and macho looking. They also appear to be strong enough to carry my rather ample weight!
What do I ride? I have a 650C Cervelo P2K (the latest version is now called the P1, but mysteriously no longer appears on the Cervelo website or local dealer brochures)
I looked about 2 weeks ago, just after I heard about the name change and couldn’t find it on the Cervelo website. At the IMNZ expo, there was a P4 on display, plus a P3 (was the P3C) and the P2 (was the P2C) and they had a brochure with a ton of Cervelos shown and no P1. I mentioned the lack of P1 on the brochure and (apparently) on the website and he confirmed it wasn’t there, but was still actually available.
The local salesman told me that all 17 P4’s allocated for New Zealand this year, had all be pre-sold, sight unseen! Must be a lot of lawyers still around! LOL
While as an engineer I can appreciate the P4, and think it’s an awesome bike, I don’t think it’s earth shattering enough like previous Cervelo’s have been. That said, I think previous Cervelos, particularly the P3C set such a high bar, that going much higher was a pretty tough ask.
For me, as an aging, weigh challenged trigeek, I think the P2 (was P2C) is the right bike for me anyway, and the P4 wouldn’t be a better choice for me so even though I don’t have near enough money for a P4, it’s a moot point anyway. I will still drool over a P4 every chance I get however…and keep riding my P2K / hehehe
Well…to quote the character “Elaine” from Seinfeld:
“I don’t know how you guys live with those things.”
I’ll keep mine…I haven’t had any problems with shrinkage yet.
To the OP: I ride tubulars almost exclusively for the same reason you stated: I got a great deal on a couple of pairs. Actually, I own 3 1/2 pairs of tubulars now. I ride in north Florida, on some pretty trash strewn roads, and I have very low incidence of flats with the tubulars.
I glue them myself and it’s no big deal at all. Changing them roadside isn’t a big deal either; just keep a preglued one in your seat bag. I actually had a flat the other night (old, old Tufo that came with some wheels I bought). I changed it and finished our bridge training ride, which involves loops on an urban bridge, 35+ mph descents, and a 180 degree turn at the bottom of one side. I don’t necessarily recommend it and I was cornering slowly, but it’s do-able.
Final note: you can get very cheap tubulars from Pro Bike Kit and others ($11 Vittoria Rallyes, $17 Conti Giros) that make the financial penalty of a training flat pretty low as well.
A quick, additional question for tubulars on all carbon wheels - I know you need new brake pads, where do you align them?
Is it necessary that it is perfect aligned to the off colored strip next to edge? Or is that just a guideline? If it goes over 1/4 inch, is it something that needs to be fixed? My fear on putting it too close is that I don’t want to heat up the glue while braking.
Final note: you can get very cheap tubulars from Pro Bike Kit and others ($11 Vittoria Rallyes, $17 Conti Giros) that make the financial penalty of a training flat pretty low as well.
Those tires suck
If I hade to ride them I would just ride clinchers
.
Final note: you can get very cheap tubulars from Pro Bike Kit and others ($11 Vittoria Rallyes, $17 Conti Giros) that make the financial penalty of a training flat pretty low as well.
Those tires suck
If I hade to ride them I would just ride clinchers
I think they were suggesting keeping that as a training spare (or training tire I guess…) but no reason to carry around a $50 spare… right? I dunno. I’m one to not care so much in training. I still do most of my training on an old road bike with $6 tires. The whole bike was less than $500 when I bought it new… much less than the good deal I got on wheels this time around. LOL.
The first few times are a joy.
/ 
hehehe