Originally Posted by bpatterson .
I'm about to get my new bike it has reynolds MV32UL tubulars these will be my first tubulars
What are the big diffrences to clinchers as far as training ... do I need to always carry a extra tire ... should I glue my own tires or should just drop it off at the shop? any othe nuances of tubulars that you could provide are appreciated
Given that it's a $2,500, 1,000gram low spoke count wheelset I'd be more inclined to save them for racing. But it's your call and they'll be fun to ride.
There "may" be some special surface prep required on the carbon rim surface to allow the glue to stick properly to it prior to the first coat. That's your #1 RTFM moment. #2 RTFM moment is reading to see if there are any compounds/glues etc that the manufacturer does recommend putting on the rim to stick the tires on or clean the glue off with. You could go to the reynolds website now and read that ahead of time.
Given the price tag on those rims I'd ride those as little as possible with a flat tire but a well glued deflated tubular tire can be ridden a long way, with some care in the corners of course.
Vitorria Mastik1 is a good road glue (as opposed to a track glue that'll dry hard and be fecking hard to remove the tire from the rim and leave glue near useless to use when out on the roadside). It's been around seemingly since Stonehenge and works well if you take the time to follow the glueing procedure properly. Vitorria probably has instructions on the website but from what I recall it's on the side of the tin too. Get the tin and not the small tubes as there's nothing more frustrating that running out of glue midway through the second coat. Gluing takes time. Read the procedure carefully and follow it to the letter - including the drying time between coats. Internet "wisedom" about the glueing process goes out the window somewhere between noticing the tire rolling off your new rims mid corner and the side of your hip, elbows and face doing a good impression of a slab of bacon in a meat slicer at the local butchers shop.
If I was to buy a set of tubs now they'd likely be Conti competitions and a Conti giro for a spare. Width of the tire would be based on the width of the rim. If was doing a bunch of crits (rotflmoa) I'd probably go for the Conti podium
Get a couple of paint brushes (the small ones for trim work good), some solvent (see above note on carbon rims and cleaning above), rubber gloves (tub glue is a pain in the ass to get off) and make sure that you have a few pairs of suitably old and trashed jeans/t-shirts. Once it's on - it's on... Trim one of the paint brushes down to "stipple" the glue into the base tape of the tire. Remember to clean the brushes as soon as you've used them. If you know you're lazy and clean up - buy four brushes!
Prepare your spare at the same time that you glue your other tires. It'll need the same coat or two of glue as well.
Accept the fact that at first you'll dribble some glue on the braking surface and will likely get some on the sidewall of the tire too.
Whatever tires you get you'll need to stretch them. I'd ebay some cheap sprint rims or see what's on craigslist. You can give them a good "tug o war" stretch using your feet and hands... but I like to get them on a rim, unglued and inflated at full pressure for a while - it makes getting the tire on the rim when you have wet glue soooooo much easier.
Inflate the tires too full pressure before you glue them - they'll turn inside out which isn't a problem but it'll allow you to check for pre-delivery punctures before you get glue on them. Once they're glued, mounted or not, they're yours!
Depending on the rim width, I'd get a tubular tire to match that width. It's a semi aero rim so it'd be somewhat silly to negate the aero benefits of that rim by stuffing a 22 or 23mm tire on a 19mm rim (if it is 19mm).
Resist the urge to buy old "aged" tires from 10 years ago. Unless you know where they've been stored and you trust the folks you'll likely find that, as mentioned above, the base tape glue will have dried up and the base tape will start to peel off. It'd be likely that the rubber would have been heat cycled thousands of times in someones garage and exposed to 'who knows what' chemicals to the point of cracking. Modern tires are so much better anyway. I used to love Continental tubulars but ride Conti clinchers now - these days I don't really see the point of tubulars for the road... but there's something to be said to hearing Conti TT tubulars pumped to 170psi (or 200psi depending on which tire you're running) on a concrete surface. They 'sing'.
I'd also make sure that when you're out and about training that you have a reliable method of inflating your tires to at least 100psi. You can negate a bit of "sticking power" from the glue following a tub change by putting in some extra air. The thought of putting in 110psi with a mini-me pigeon **** pump just makes my hands pre-blister at the thought.
