artguywes

Hi everyone I just bought a vintage Conopus track bike off of craigslist and would like some input on sew ups. (For $100!!!) It came outfitted with sew up mavic aero rims on Suzue hubs, campy bottom bracket and TTT bars. I'm a little nervous about riding sew ups. My armadillos have spoiled me with their resilience and durability. I'm going to check Sheldon Brown's site, but other privy information would be appreciated. Thanks - Wes

Keep the shiny side up!

oldbobcat

Just make sure the tires are glued on well. You have nothing to fear, except perhaps more flats than you were getting with the armadillos. And there are plenty of reliable guides for this. Just follow the directions to the letter until you know what you're doing, and you'll be fine. Beyond that, here are my tips.

1. Pre-stretch your tires. This means mounting them dry (unglued), inflating them to full pressure, and letting them sit for at least a few hours. I like to wait at least overnight. This is more for ease and cleanliness in mounting than safety.

2. The first coat of cement on the tire is usually just to saturate the cloth strip. The second coat makes it stick.

3. Wait until the cement is dry before mounting. This helps keep hands, braking surfaces, and tire sidewalls clean. The cement is pressure activated, so inflate fully when you're done, and let the cement set for a while before riding off. And make sure the valve stem is in straight.

4. Always ride with a spare and be sure it is ready to mount.

5. Use Tubasti only as a last resort, especially when the weather is warm. Some people will tell you Mastic is the only glue to use, but I've had good luck with Clement, Vittoria, and Continental, too.

After Armadillos, I think you'll enjoy the ride.

JohnDThompson 

Depending on the tire you use you can expect no more problems than with any other tire. I used to do loaded touring on sew-ups back in the 70s.

That said, track bikes usually came with very lightweight (fragile) tires shellacked to the rims. When a tire failed on the track, you were out of the race. End of story. So tires were light, fast, and very firmly attached to the rims.

Unless you're planning on using this bike exclusively on the track, you may want to consider more durable tires and a more user-friendly adhesive than shellac. The heaviest tubulars overlap in weight with some of the lightest clinchers and tend to be more durable, but still harder to fix in the event of flatting. Yellow Jersey offers a perennial deal on tubulars that's hard to beat: 3 tires for $50. It's hard to go wrong starting with these, at least.

Zef

There is so much that can be spoken about and asked about sewups. Do some of the reading that you mentioned you intend to do and then as specific questions form in your mind, post them here. I have been riding sewups exclusively for a number of years and other than the expense of a new tire when one flats, I love them. The one thing I do recommend before you ride your new steed for the first time is to deflate the tires completely and check the tires for a good bond with the rim. If the tire can be tugged off or pushed off with moderate pressure then I would recommend pulling the tires off completely and remounting them with fresh coats of glue on the tire and rim. Back in my racing days I knew of folks who used a very minimal amount of glue, supposedly to keep weight down and make removing their tires easier...this was a bad practice as it sometimes led to the tire rolling off the rim, especially when they flatted. So, check that tires so you don't wind up eating asphalt due to someone elses shoddy workmanship.

-j

zacster

When sewups are properly mounted and inflated, and assuming decent quality, the ride can't be beat. However, the hassle of gluing them on, their fragility and the difficulty in patching them make them less than ideal for general use. I know some will say, and already have, that they use them all round, but it'll get old really fast, and expensive.

I rode them in the eighties into the nineties, even in NYC, but stopped when I bought new clincher wheels and tires. The weight savings of the wheels and the feel of modern clinchers made it so it just wasn't worthwhile anymore to ride sewups. The gap had been significantly narrowed.

Grand Bois

I use Tufo tape on mine. I wouldn't bother with tubulars if I had to deal with glue.

artguywes

I appreciate all of the valid input. After reading more I did what many of us do and threw caution to the wind and dug into this tire replacement. It has now been 24 hours and the glue appears to have set well.

As a union finish carpenter I use contact adhesive every day and was wondering if it is any different. Something that is common knowledge among us carpenters is that mixing (using a water based on one side and oil based contact on the other side) glue types is the strongest contact bond possible. Wood glued in this manner takes a pry bar to separate. Maybe I will conduct an experiment once I get another set of rims.

noglider 

Contact cement sounds like a good idea. With your experience, I think your tires are in good hands.

Grand Bois

Stick with the glue made for the purpose. You need to be able to remove the tire without damaging it. Tubular glues allow that. You don't repair a flatted tubular out on the road, you replace it with a spare and repair it at home.

If your experimental glue fails in a high speed turn, the tire can can roll off and you could die.

noglider 

What increases the likelihood of a rolloff? In my late teens and early twenties, I rode tubulars a lot, and I didn't always glue them. I relied on the residue. Heard a lot of warnings but never had or witnessed a rolloff. I was light then, and I was probably light on the turns, too.

Pete07

After I rolled a tire (that means it came off) during a sprint finish and got 5 stitches in my head in the early 70's, I paid a lot more attention to gluing on tubulars. ultimately I got a job at a high end bike shop and glued on a lot of tires for customers.

As far as suggested glues from the time machine, we didn't like the white tubular glues, we did like Clement and the other brown glues, and when it had to get put on tonight and raced on tomorrow, we used GM Fast Tack Trim adhesive from the car parts store. Yes you might rip up the tire base strips when you took it off but it was not going to come off during the ride.

The downside was that if you got a flat on the road, Fast Tack didn't leave enough of a base to help fasten the tire to the rim. The heat from the brake pads would help melt the old glue and start to fasten the new tire to the rim. That was when the brown glues paid off and provided a good base for future tires.

Good luck - I never rolled a tire after that first mistake

noglider 

Thanks for reminding me why I won't ride tubulars. Clinchers have come a long way, too.

What do they use in track races these days? I imagine tubular tires and rims are still lightest.

artguywes

Thanks everyone!!! It worked great. Some glue and attention to detail paid off. The tire is rock solid and no lateral movement. The old Canopus track frame is also one of the quickest bikes I've ever ridden. Big fun.

noglider 

We want pictures!

DieselDan

When you get some more money, invest in a good set of clincher wheels for everyday use. Save the tubulars for special rides.

Ex Pres 

That's just wrong, wrong, wrong

DieselDan

Just a suggestion. Wrong would be having the hubs relaced to clincher rims.