This has been / is a fun thread.
When you all are coasted out on threads, having worn through your tubular
protectors, I'll fill in the gaps and give you reasons behind various
techniques.
Hopefully it will enlighten the darker areas of medieval necromance,
superstition, hearsay, and misinformation, and get you nice and tight on the
road and velodrome.
Ted Ernst
Palos Verdes Estates
CA USA
>I know all those descriptions of setting up and
> mounting tubulars sound complicated and arcane, but it
> really isn't. It just boils down to a couple of
> common sense steps:
>
> 1. Stretch your tyres beforehand. I store every spare
> tyre I own on a rim - used ones are pretty cheap on
> eBay, and I'm always in the market for a few extra
> used, especially beyond daily use, rims.
>
> 2. Multiple glue layers. I've never found one way to
> be more critical than another. Maybe more
> superstitious, but not more critical.
>
> 3. Once glued, allow 24-48 hours curing time - which
> shouldn't be a problem as I seriously doubt that
> anyone on the list is limited to one bike.
>
> 4. Watch your tyre pressures! To me, this is the most
> critical of all. I've always worked with a 5-9lb
> pressure range, and would never think of leaving the
> garage without checking pressures and topping off if
> necessary.
>
> If you haven't ridden tubulars before, you should
> really try them. Actually, I've always believed that
> someone cannot really call humself a cyclist unless
> he's done at least one season on tubs.
>
> Back in 1977, when I took my 'last' bicycle ride, it
> was on a tubular equipped World Voyageur. 28 years
> later, when I got back on, it took me three weeks to
> get the Raleigh rebuilt, reliable, and find the hubs
> and rims to build up a set of tubular wheels. Boy, I
> missed them as soon as I restarted riding, and haven't
> looked back.
>
> By the way, I've yet to ride a set of modern 700c
> clinchers. Three of my four bikes are on tubs, and
> only the Raleigh has clinchers, Weinmann rim 27x1's -
> temporarily most likely, as the wheeels originally
> built for it were transferred to the TdF to get it on
> the road quickly.
>
> Finally, a thought on all these roll-off horror
> stories: I classify those alongside 'uncontrolled
> accidental wheelie' motorcycle stories - something
> that can happen if you're not careful (or are
> deliberately careless/stupid), but for the most part
> are way overblown in a manner to scare the average
> beginner.
>
> In my accident last week, when the rear wheel locked
> up, I was doing just under 25mph. The bike fishtailed
> while continuing forward for about 25 feet before
> swinging right and spitting me off. Now, that's a
> fair bit of force to put on a rear tyre - yet, had I
> not broken my wrist, I could have just picked the bike
> up and ridden the remaining distance home. The glue
> mounting was unscathed, and the tyre still holds air
> as I write this.
>
> This from a guy who's method of tyre care and mounting
> would probable be considered slipshod by the members
> who have already posted long arcane gluing techniques
> on this thread.
>
> Tubulars are no big deal, but they're still the best
> bicycle tyre.
>
> George R. "Syke" Paczolt
> Montpelier, VA USA
>
>
> Syke
> Deranged Few M/C
>
> "France backed off its pledge to send seventeen hundred troops
> to Lebanon Thursday and offered to send two hundred. No wonder
> we keep testing positive in their bicycle races. Everyone looks
> like they're full of testosterone when they're surrounded by
> Frenchmen." ---Argus Hamilton
>
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
> http://mail.yahoo.com