A quick word on tubular tires

Posted At : October 3, 2006 11:58 AM | Posted By : Erik Voldengen
Related Categories: Bike

Tubular tires are great for cyclocross. For those who don't know what a tubular is, it's a tire you actually GLUE on to the rim. There's no spot to put an inner tube or anything - everything is self contained.

Obviously, it is pretty important that the glue you use actually STICKS very well. So usually, you clean any dirt or old (unstuck) glue off the rim with some sort of solvent before you mount the new tire.

I used mineral spirits this time around. It really disolved the old glue well. I let the rims sit for a good two weeks before gluing on the new tire, just to make sure everything was completely dry.

I did not realize that mineral spirits leave an oily residue, hard to detect by visual inspection or by running a finger along the rim.

So in my first race, my front tire just peeled right off. I will not use mineral spirits to clean my rims anymore.

Comments (1)
Comments (Comment Moderation is enabled. Your comment will not appear until approved.)
[Add Comment] [Subscribe to Comments]
Erik, thanks for the heads up. As I recall, last year I used mineral spirits and noticed the film. I zapped the whole rim with acetone to get the residue off the rim and that worked pretty well.
# Posted By Brooke Hoyer | 7/19/07 4:49 PM
[Add Comment]