I just went to a bike shop to have new new tubulars put on my zipps…
The shop used tape instead of glue to put them on. I’ve been a glue man in the past…
Question: Is it difficult to change, and will there be tape left on the rim for my spare, if needed?
In the past my spare was always pre-stretched and pre-glued. The one time I needed to use a spare, it worked flawlessly.
I’m just checking b/c i don’t want to learn at Wildflower that taping was not the way to go!
tks.
I use tape and its a lot cleaner, generally I have found when I remove the tub the tape comes as well, thankfully to date this has only happened once in a race and I just made sure I didn’t go around corners too fast
.
Wow…that’s really rare that a shop would tape. Kudos to them. Did they offer an explanation?
There are pros and cons to both tape and glue…not to mention the pros/cons of each glue. A search would help out there…
As for the spare…you will want the pre-stretch and glue it. There is generally little to no tape upon removal.
They said that they do it because it is not as messy, and apparently it is as good or better than glue.
I just got off the phone with them and they told me that pre-gluing my spare tubular does nothing??? That’s odd, in the past I’ve always had my tubulars pre-stretched and pre-glued. I’ve been told that the pre-glue heats up and becomes tacky after that tire is put on the rim. Not so, according to this bike shop (which actually is a pretty hardcore roadie oriented bike shop).
He said that there will be some residual tackiness from the tape, but that I should take it easy if I put a spare on. I can’t take it easy in a race!
Thoughts?
Yes. My thought is that your LBS sucks and you’re getting bad advice.
However…we are in that grey area of “opinion” b/c this is an art, not a science.
With that said:
Roadie don’t change tires during a race, triathletes do. Personally, I do not pre-glue my tires…b/c races which I could carry a spare are non-technical. I haven’t done WildFlower, but my understanding is that you’ll want some tackiness on a spare tires for downhills and a few turns. Pre-gluing DOES add tackiness…albiet not a tons of adhesion.
Unless the shop did a good job of conditioning the rim (scratching it up), the tape is coming off with the tire. Perhaps a little tape will be left, but certainly not enough to provide remotely close amount of “tackiness” that a pre-glued tubie provides.
I hate to say this, but most hardcore roadie shops don’t glue too many tubulars. Many roadies have converted. I’d say your shop guy is lazy and/or didn’t want to screw up your wheels. As mentioned above, I’m quite surprised they taped them. Tape is fine if you are using a non-coated tubular (like Tufo)…don’t worry about that part. Just mentioning I’ve never heard of a shop that tapes.
Perhaps we could assemble a list of coated and non-coated tubulars…
I taped my tubulars myself and have no idea if it was the right thing to do. This whole glue/tape/spare thing does drive me a little crazy and makes me think clinchers may be better for that reason alone (I have 909 tubulars). But that is a moot point (extra points to the grammar/syntax (is that the right word) police???) now for both of us.
I haven’t been carrying a spare as I have no glue on my taped rims…could I preglue them slightly then use tape then have a glued spare? If I do that I might as well just glue…but I don’t want to redo them yet…The sealant is another option but I had some problems getting the sealant in after the tubular was on the rim (404 front with core extension - the disc went o.k.) - tufo said it would not be a problem but I couldn’t get it to go in. If you put the sealant in before the race its good for a few months but adds weight each time you add it…
Seems like nobody really knows or I can’t tell who does and does not know from the posts/opinions. How hard is it to roll a tubular that is not glued well? I have no idea. Which is safer - tubulars or clinchers?
That last downhill at Wildflower is a fast hill with turns - I’d really really want confidence in my wheels going into that section. Some of those rollers toward the end are pretty fast but no too twisty. I almost saw a guy eat it on that last downhill and I though he was going to get really hurt…
Good luck,
Dave
Dave -
Frustrating, isn’t it?
I’ve never rolled a tire, but have friend who have. I’ve yet to hear a story about anybody rolling a taped rim. If someone can pony up a name, I’d enjoy asking a few technical questions about their installation.
Personally, I waffle back and forth b/w glue and tape…it really depends on my mood and how much work I want to go through.
Here’s a short list. I’ll add to it as the night goes on (need to meet some friend’s out)
Glue:
Pro -
Readily available
Industry standard - 50 years of history
Will harden/dry
Can be re-applied when tire glue cracks (although not always a good thing)
Purist would argue it’s an artform
Arguably the best adhesion (Fast Tack)
Cons
Learning curve, education, knowledge
Can dry out. Breaks, doesn’t bend.
More prone to impact failure
Goops up the rim, leaks into nipples…could add dozens of problems
#1 has all sorts of implications
Tape
Pro
Easy
Fast
Elastic - Tape doesn’t dry. Bends, doesn’t break.
No mess. install or removal
Cons
Extreme heat “melts” tape
Some question the bond
Can be a pain in the ass to remove
MUST use non-coated tubular tires
I’ll add more later…feel free to PM suggestions and perhaps will serve as a nice archive. Maybe add a “tubular/clicher/tubular-clincher” pro/con. However…must keep to bullet points. Contrary bullets okay.