In a message dated 7/12/2002 7:04:40 AM Eastern Daylight Time, atrikerider@juno.com writes:
<< US Postal team person describe the process they used for gluing tubulars to the rims. It took four days! A coat of glue is applied to the rims and allowed to dry overnight for each of the four days. On the fourth day, while the final coat on the rim is drying, a coat of glue is applied to the tire. When the glue on the tire is dry then the tire is carefully mounted onto the rim and inflated. >>
I saw that too... That reinforces the importance of multiple THIN coats. Too little glue is a bad idea! The risks are high and correct gluing could make a safety difference. It is not an accident that the USCF provides penalties, not free laps, for crashes in which the tire rolls off the rim due to amateurish gluing procedures....
Back to the Postal Service team mechanic interview, I think I heard correctly that actually the last coat was not allowed to dry as thoroughly as the first coats. I think he said a 1/2 hour? That would provide just a little slipperiness to allow repositioning the tire on the rim bed to keep the tread running true. I think these guys are on the ball!!
Dale
Dale Brown cycles de ORO, Inc. 1410 Mill Street Greensboro, North Carolina USA 27408 336-274-5959 Fax 336-274-6360 <A HREF="http://www.cyclesdeoro.com">cyclesdeORO.com</A> <A HREF="http://www.classicrendezvous.com/main.htm">Classic Rendezvous</A>