I just bought these because… well, first of all, they were 30 dollar rims, and they are pretty much exactly what I have been looking for (aero profile, anodized gray surface, 32 hole) for my new bike. I now need some tires to go with them, and I don’t really know much about the whole tubular thing.
Knowing some of you use tubulars, what tires do you recommend? I’m pretty much looking for decent quality; I won’t be racing this bike (no velodrome near me, unfortunately!) but I also won’t be going for curb-drops and barspinz ( ) so I don’t need anything too expensive but also I would like these to last me a while as tires are hells of expensive.
Also, any help with gluing methodology or fitting or glue tape or what have you would be very appreciated. I kind of feel over my head; there are methods as simple as glue tape to affix the tire to the rim but there are also the crazies who insist on aging the master artisan-crafted 5,000 TPI tire for years and gluing it to the rim using the finest cements from only a certain small town in Italy and I’m going crazy. Help meee.
Dave Moulton did a series on his blog about tubulars. He has info about repairing and gluing as well as just general information. Don’t think it mentions too much about specific tires though. Might be of some use.
On a new tire I put two coats of Conti Cement on the base tape 24 hours apart. Two coats on the clean rim, I use acetone. not sure what to use on carbon rims.
Prestreach the tires on bare rims for a few days beforehand.
Thanks, everyone. I hadn’t really thought of eBaying tires; I will do that.
Would anyone recommend, like, the Tufo Extreme tape? I’m not going to be doing mad skidz or anything so I’m hoping these will last a while, so I might as well glue them; I just am kind of scared of messing something up, having the tire roll off the rim, and then crapping up my rim/not being able to get home. The tape appeals to me because there are fewer things to mess up than a totally by-hand procedure like applying all the glue myself. I am going to be building these wheels anyhow, so I dunno, I guess if I can do that I can glue a tire… I AM JUST SCARED DAMMIT.
[quote=“dreells”]Dave Moulton did a series on his blog about tubulars. He has info about repairing and gluing as well as just general information. Don’t think it mentions too much about specific tires though. Might be of some use.
Oh man! I had totally seen this before, but I couldn’t place it. Should have known it was Moulton’s blog… I am a big fan of him at any rate.
At 15 bucks per rim, I’m pretty sure any new tire I get is gonna be more expensive.
So… two coats of glue on the clean rim? And since these rims have already had tires mounted, I use acetone to remove the glue residue already on them. Am I getting this correctly?
The thing with tape is that you have to be sure it’s activated. If you’re really light this can be hard. Pump the tires up to their max psi and get a fat friend with a heavy bag to ride around for a few minutes weighting the wheels separately. Also be prepared for it to be a bitch to clean off when you have to replace a tire.
[quote=“bonechilling”]Conti Sprinters are a really good value. You can usually get them for cheap on eBay, especially now that the season’s ending.
There are lots of cheap tubulars out there, though. I bought a Dugast for $15 on eBay yesterday.[/quote]
It either was a beat to fuck dugast or it wasn’t real.
I’m fairly certain that it’s not worth someone’s time to make fake Dugasts, especially if they sell for $15. As for the quality, the pictures and description made it look hardly used, but we’ll see when it arrives this week.
) so I don’t need anything too expensive but also I would like these to last me a while as tires are hells of expensive.
