I have been mounting tubulars on my rims for over 20 years and have never put air in before mounting. You are right, leaving the tire flat gives you a little more edge (slack) to work with. Also, I've never engaged in a three-week marathon to mount a tubular. I generally get flats on the street, so I generally mount the spare (or sew up) on the street and, by necessity, have to ride away on it then and there. By the way, I stretch the sew-ups with my foot, with my shoes on (it can get cold and wet in Chicago), usually at a time when I am somewhat peeved, someplace just past the patch of pavement where some(one) threw a glass bottle down. I put some glue the rim (a few Cc s between each spoke hole, then put the valve in the valve hole, place the rim on the pavement, wheel upright, with the valve at the top of the rim, grab the tire with both hands on either side of the valve and, using my weight and the force and direction of gravity, push the tire over and onto the rim, scooting the tire onto the rim with the palms of of both hands so the sidewalls don't touch the rim, working my way down and away from the valve, and around each side of the rim simultaneously, using the valve as anchor. When I get to the bottom of the rim there is usually a little slack in the fit of the tire allowing a little space between the tire and rim which allows me to pinch the tire between my fingers, flip the wheel over so that the slack in the tire hangs over the rim, pull the tire over the rim and drop the tire into the rim so that the sidewall does not come into contact with the rim and glue. Sometimes (lately) it goes so smoothly that I don't get any glue on my hands. Other times, oh well. Then I put about 20 psi into the tire and eyeball the rim tape all the way around to make sure the tire is centered. You can move it slightly to perfect the fit then inflate to 120 psi. About as good as I can get with the frame pump. Once inflated you can ride on it with some confidence. Don't do curb jumps. When you get home, deflate, reglue and remount the tire. Inflate and let it stand overnight. It should be fine in the morning.
Tom James
Chicago
> It's been years since I've mounted a Corsa CX but I
> always gave them some
> inflation just to get a basic shape before mounting
> them up.
>
> John Price
> Denver,CO
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: rhawks@lmi.net [mailto:rhawks@lmi.net]
> Sent: Friday, July 12, 2002 11:34 AM
> To: classics rendezvous
> Subject: [CR]Light bulbs and tubulars
>
>
> Is a light bulb finally going on for me (or to use a
> British expression, has the penny finally dropped)?
> on the website listed below, there are photos
> illustrating
> the procedure. In the photo where the tubular is
> finally
> going on the rim, it looks like there is some
> inflation
> to the tubular. I always tried to mount the tire
> with
> no are in it, so the tire was pretty much flat all
> the
> way around. None of the many replies mentioned what
> state,
> inflation wise, the tubular would be in as you were
> actively
> mounting it to the rim. Before I go much further,
> thanks
> so much to all that replied.
> As for why I never put *any* are in the tubular,
> I
> felt this gave me the widest *inside* diameter to
> work
> with, and with new tires being smaller, for lack of
> a better
> term, one would want any advantage they could get.
> To perhaps
> illustrate what I mean, I think it is easier to try
> to mount
> an uninflated tire than an inflated one. So, should
> I have
> a small amount of inflation in the tubular? Thanks
> in advance
> for replies.
>
> rob hawks
> richmond, ca
>
> RaleighPro531@aol.com RaleighPro531@aol.com
> Fri, 12 Jul 2002 08:35:16 EDT
>
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>
> I found this on the Vittoria website.
> Seems to work for me.
> http://www.vittoria.com/
> Click on "Mounting" under tubulars.
>
>
> Pete Geurds
> Douglassville, PA
>
>
>
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