Home› General Training Discussions

Glue over tape for tubulars?

JeremyBehlerJeremyBehler
in General Training Discussions

 I'm changing my tubies on a set of wheels that I bought used. As I removed the old tires, I found they used tape vs. glue. It's a semi-transparent tape...maybe Tufo? I got the tape off the tires, but there's still a layer on the rim itself and it doesn't want to come off. Can I just apply glue to the tape (like I would the rim?) and then mount the tire or would this not work? I've heard examples of people using a layer of glue directly on the rim then a layer of tape and another layer of glue between the tape and tire so I'm assuming this should work but don't want to risk rolling my tires off the rim if that's not the case. 



I've glued tubies before so am fine with that process, but wanted to see if there is an issue applying to the tape vs. directly to the rim surface.

Comments

  • jwpicciottojwpicciotto
    Depends on how you ride. If you tend to take corners at high speed it is not advised. The glue needs to go on a clean surface to truly adhere properly. Not sure what the wheel material is, but you can use a solvent to loosen the glue on the rim if the wheel is not carbon fiber. If it is, I would not recommend solvents because they will also work on the epoxy that holds the carbon fiber together. In this case, you can use sand paper to rough up the glue and remove any that is loose on the rim. You don't have to scrape all of it off, but you are looking to prep the surface so the glue will adhere properly.
  • tgarsontgarson
    @Jeremey,

    I'd suspect it's Tufo tape since that's the most common. I've never used the tape but it's sacrilege to even mention it on ST because it apparently is horrible for Crr (Rolling Resistance) of the wheels. I'd try to get it off if you can for that reason alone, but it would intrinsically seem that gluing straight to the rim surface would be safer and more secure as well. That all being said, I find stripping old glue off of a tubular to be the single worst act in all of bicycle maintenance-dom. I looked high and low for advice the last time I did that and it still was miserable.
  • filarlfilarl
    I just checked my tubular race wheels and one has a flat, so thanks for all the helpful info guys!
    I had no idea that tape was so bad! Not sure what I'm going to do then as I tend to have my LBS take care
    of this stuff and they use tape:-( Last time I did it myself (pre-children) it was absolutely the worst, agree
    with Trevor! UGH!
Sign In or Register to comment.