Ok, there's a back story, but I found myself with some fancy tubulars so now I'ze gots some learnin to do... Can anyone comment on whether there's a difference in strength or amount of work to glue some tires if I do the old school multiple coats of glue method or the supposed "Belgian method" of a layer or two of glue on the rim and tire sandwiched on a layer of tape? The glue-n-tape method seems faster, but faster is not always better...
Back story later
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
I never used tape, so I cannot comment on it. Most tires I've seen roll simply did not have enough glue. I've used Conti, Vittoria, Wolber, and 3M Fasttack. I prefer Fasttack. I liked Wolber second, but I haven't seen it in years. I've had good luck with it. Others have questioned whether the bond is strong enough to use for low pressure cross. Wide cross tires are also wider than most rims, and thus have more "leverage" and are easier to remove. I think waterlogging also allows water and dirt to soak through the base tape and attack the bond. Independent tests available on the web say Mastik 1 (a vittoria product?) has the highest bond out there. It is available from cyclocrossworld.com. If you are not comfy with Fasttack, I'd suggest using Mastik 1 and using multiple layers. The base tape must be saturated to "seal" it, otherwise it will suck up the glue from the rim. The rim needs at least two good coats, and make sure you cover the edges. Too bad cross bikes weren't all disk brakes. Then you could let it all ooze out and not worry, just like we do on track bikes.
"I've had good luck with it" refers to Fasttack. I inserted Wolber comment after the fact. By good luck I mean never rolled a tire. On the road, I've always had to really work to get them off. On cross tires, I've had some that came off the rim easier than I would like after a few rides in the rain. Regluing after a race on a puddled course is probably a good idea.
This is my current reference for the "Belgian method" (I think that's cyclocrossworld's claim by the way) of glue and tape. I'm all for the faster and less messy option, but I'm stil going to search more for info on it. We've got a guy in the club who is pure old-school (ala solo) and does the 3 coats or so method.
As far as cross bikes with disc brakes... I only recently learned they're not UCI legal and I don't quite get why...
That doesn't look all that much better to me. Plus, if the bond does weaken from water or whatever, you'd have to buy new tape. If you use mastik type glue in layers, then after the first time you just need one new layer of glue and a skim coat on the tire (especially if it's been glued before too) and you should be all set.
With Fasttack, you do have to work fast. It sets up in about 10 minutes. However, adding a new coat will "reactivate" the earlier layers, so long as they are not days old. I still use a few layers, "seal" the base tape, and they do a quick thin bead on the tire and rim just before mounting. You can ride them within hours, but doing it at least the night before is a good idea.
The idea of needing to let glue dry for a day between coats, well, maybe. The old glues have mineral spirits or something in them, and it is slow evaporating. Most of them are very high tack, not so high shear (even though that is what's really important), mimicking natural rubber adhesives, even though most are polymer now.
I found a report yesterday on what looked to be a well constructed experiement of roll off strength of glue vs tape (tape only). The general result was that the strength of tape alone was about 5% less.
I kinda knew I wouldn't, but I won't have the new wheels for Gloucester anyways so there shouldn't be a big rush to get them done. I picked up 2 tubes of Mastik 1 last night and I was going to get some tape off a guy I know. I might decide, like he did, to not use it.
Post a Comment