I’ve never used em. Talk to me about what’s good for a bike that gets ridden fairly regularly on city streets.
How installation goes, how to fix a flat in the field. Lets rap.
also interested, but from what i’ve heard, with good sealant, you can ride tubies with a lot of tiny holes in them and they’ll still hold air.
also, my use would be for road and cross racing
Mine would be for kickin’ around town and bein’ baller.
Also interested. I have some gp4 rims I want to lace up. My use would be track/little bit of street riding.
Tubular tires are useless for street use.
I ride a tubular front rim on the street and haven’t experienced any problems. whatever the cheap vittoria tires are, they suck. conti giro’s are ok for the money
there is a learning curve. once you get it then they are fine.
as far as flats, there is that possibility you could flat twice on a ride then maybe you’re screwed coz most only carry one spare.
the spare you carry should be pre stretched and pre glued. just apply a few coats of glue on the basetape, let dry then fold up. if you flat you put the spare on. the pre applied glue will be plenty to hold the tire on coz the rim should have a good coat of glue.
i have extra rims that i stretch tires on. to put the tire on, stick the valvestem in the hole of the rim. put about half the tire on the rim then you gotta use thumbs to grab the tire and lift it onto the rim opposite the valvestem.
i have some nitrile gloves i wear when gluing tires/rims. that glue sucks to get off fingers.
i just dip my finger in can and spread thin layer on basetape. (too much glue on first coat can make the basetape separate from the tire casing so a few thin coats is good).
you can use tubes of glue too. then just squeeze thin layer along center of basetape and then spread out with your gloved finger.
also. when gluing. air tire up to maybe 20psi. then you can hold the tire in the center and pinch it so it forms a figure 8 shape.
process for most goes…and this will give you a tire that’s really on the rim.
2 coats of glue on rim and tire. let dry 24hrs after each coat.
then when you’re ready to put tire on rim you apply a tack coat of glue. which is a coat of glue that has dried for only 15-30 minutes. it will be dry to the touch but when it comes in contact with the other glue it will adhere well. i think tack coat either rim or tire is fine.
my rims all have glue on them already so i do a thin layer of glue on the rim just to smooth the old glue some. put wheel in truing stand to put glue on and to let dry.
basecoat on tire and tack coat on tire after i do the rim. let tack coat on tire dry to touch then put tire on rim.
spin the wheel slowly and look for places where the tire needs to be centered. there will be places where i have to pull the tire off the rim and center the basetape. look at the tire casing coz lotsa times the basetape on the tire isn’t perfectly centered.
if you don’t get the tire glued straight, or if the tire gets real tight at the opposite end of the vlavestem then the ride will get bumpy when you get going fast.
when gluing the tire i try to pull the tire real tight on the half of the rim close to the valvestem then set it onto the glue.
search the serotta forums about gluing tubulars, there are many threads.
cheap tubular tires suck. they flat easily and ride like stiff breadsticks.
i like conti sprinters (regular, not gatorskin) alot coz i’m kinda heavy so i like a firmer tire. that said they are firm but still have a nicer characteristic to them that any of the clinchers i’ve ridden don’t have.
sprinters from ribblecycles.co.uk is best deal i know of.
i haven’t ridden any real nice clincher like a veloflex or something so maybe those are as nice as moderate level tubs.
i have some conti stehers on a bike. i didn’t stretch them long enough and they were a bitch to get on. they get a little bumpy around 35mph. haven’t pulled them off to reglue though…chance i’ll fuck up the tires. do not want. but they do feel nice.
so. if you get semi nice tubs and take the time to glue them well then you’ll be happy. if not you’ll probably just be disappointed and think tubs suck and wanna ride clinchers.
i do have a bike with clinchers as i don’t always wanna ride tubs in the rain. increased chance of flats.
now looking at year 3 of primarily riding tubulars, I’ve had great luck with tufo’s (kinda crappy ride, but work well with sealant) and gp4000’s. used stans and have never got a flat w/ the sealant in the tire.
Jesus christ.
Cookietruck talking me into just building new wheels.
lulz.
want you to know what all is involved before you drop the monies on tiers.
Thanks man. Sounds like a colossal pain in the ass, but something new to learn how to do y’know?
its not that bad once you figure it out and do it a few times.
alzo, you can get tubular rims or wheelsets for pretty cheap coz most people don’t know how to do it.
Tubular on the street is kind jackass atmo.
BUT IF YOU HAVE TO, read this:
http://weightweenies.starbike.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=56813
Wealth of information.
lulz. plenty of knowledgabel riders ride only tubs. to each their own.
also. your signature pic is kinda jackass and also everyone using atmo every other sentence is kinda jackass. whatthefuckmo.
worst trend of 09. should stay in 09.
It depends on the environment. If you’re doing training rides on tubs I don’t see that as a problem. But if this is your day to day/commuter bike I really wouldn’t recommend tubes. and the sig is gonna go today. Was doing it for the holidays for lulz.
You really are fucking retarded you know that? Many many people daily ride tubulars, hell I even know people that do loaded touring on them, and you know what? They are fine. You carry a pre-glued spare and your problems are solved.
You really are fucking retarded you know that? Many many people daily ride tubulars, hell I even know people that do loaded touring on them, and you know what? They are fine. You carry a pre-glued spare and your problems are solved.[/quote]
Or tube which costs about 1/5th as much.
there are still guys that have the skills to fix a flatted tubular and don’t mind using those skills.
Yeah but at that point you’re replacing an entire tire, not just a tube.