i must toss my two cents in on this. for what it's worth, i asked on CR several weeks ago about repairing tubulars. i got several responses from folks who say that they used to/still do routinely patch their tubs offering their tips and advice. so i tried my hand at it.
in that time i have repaired three tires; all of them were simple puncture repairs. the first repair held for about a month of daily commuting in the city on a fixed. it eventually blew-out, i had not used an appropriate strength thread when i re sewed it up. a wee bit of tube got exposed onto the rim at about 110 psi and blammo. the second and third repairs have held up nicely so far.
if anyone wants it, i will be happy to give a list of items (after trial and error as a tyro) i recommend to repair tubs, all of which can be bought at your local crafting store.
as for replacing entire tubs in tubulars, i tried the "cut open a small section, cut a new tube, and slide the tube in through the tire and patch it up at the ends" deal. i was repairing a clement cyclocross tire. after about 2 hours, i gave up. i found it impossible, at least with that brand of tire, to get a limp tube to slide all the way around. i have a feeling that with non-cyclocross tires you could "massage" the tube throughout the tire, but the treads on the clement wouldn't allow that.
for what it's worth . . .
dan "i've gotten more tubular flats in a town of 69,291 in 4 months than 3 years in a city of 478,403" bloomington, indiana
>From: "dddd" <dddd@pacbell.net>
>To: "Classic Rendezvous" <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
>Subject: Re: [CR]Repairing tubulars
>Date: Sat, 21 Jan 2006 12:51:50 -0800
>
>I think there may be some misunderstanding here. I could be wrong, but
>replacing a tubular's tube only involves opening up a small section of
>stitching, then inserting and re-glueing together the ends of a new
>cut-open tube. The original stitching and even the thread holes shuld be
>preserved as much as possible. Still more work than I've yet accomplished
>wrt repairing tubulars.
>
>I have to add that I've had pretty terrible luck with cheap tubulars,
>whether Giros, Vittorias or Michelin cotton-variety tires. Too many tread
>bubble failures and too many flats. I run pressures of only about
>95-100psi.
>The construction of the cheap tires folds 2-ply cotton over the "beads"
>(edges), leaving 4 plies here but only two under the tread! Contrast this
>to the better tubulars that achieve 4 or 5 thin, hi-tpi plies overlapped
>under the tread with a single ply folded over the edges, putting the extra
>thicknesses of hi-density casing where it's needed to prevent puncture at
>minimal weight.
>
>Why are cheap tubular fabrics so prone to allowing the tube to escape and
>form the dreaded tread bubble? I've never had cheapo clinchers do this.
>Maybe the relatively (slightly) higher pressure? I have at least run the
>cheapest of 23mm gumwalls up around 90psi without problems, but have to
>admit I didn't suffer through too many a set of those.
>
>David Snyder
>Auburn, CA
>
>----- Original Message ----- From: "Raymond Dobbins"
><raydobbins2003@yahoo.com>
>Subject: [CR]Repairing tubulars
>
>
> i tried repairing tubulars a couple of times - that was enough for a
>lifetime. this guy opens them up completely, replaces the inner tube, and
>then re-stitches them with an industrial sewing machine. at $16 each for
>two or more tires (including return shipping), it aint cheap but it is
>worth it for nice/expensive tubulars with otherwise plenty of life in them.