smontanaro 

Got my Griffon built up a couple weeks ago. I took it for a shakedown ride, but there was this annoying clicking coming from the front wheel. Didn't have time to deal with it immediately, so I hung it back on the hook when I got home and went about my business. Over the next week or two, I laid my hands on some short reach Superbe calipers to replace the too-long long reach calipers. After all the cleaning and parts swapping, I took it out for a short spin yesterday. Still with the click.

When I got back, I swapped in a different front wheel to confirm it was the front wheel (and not my bad hearing). Then I set about trying to figure out what was wrong. Checked the tension on the spokes (manual grip test - good enough to tell if one spoke was really loose). Every spoke crossing which creaked got a drop of oil, as did all the eyelets. Of course, despite being careful, that activity created a bit of mess on the rim, so I had to spend some time cleaning it if I wanted any stopping power.

Those efforts yield no different result. I noticed that the valve stem was sitting at a slight angle from vertical. I figured perhaps it was clicking against the rim from tire squirm on every rotation. I'd have to separate tire from rim on a new glue job on the tubulars to correct it. Deflate, get ready for some resistance to my peeling, and ... nothing. The tire just slid right off the rim. I hadn't glued the tires to the rims after I built the wheels, just wanting to protect the rims from the concrete floor. Several weeks went by before the first ride, during which time I'd completely forgotten the tires were still unglued.

So, another thing to add to the first ride pre-ride checklist.

TenGrainBread 

That's a new one! Probably happened more times that one would imagine.

My favorite part about working as a mechanic in a shop was when someone would show up complaining about a clicking sound they couldn't figure out after weeks of troubleshooting. About 10% of the time it was the FD cable end hitting the crank on every rotation. I'd bend it out of the way of the crank, give it back to them, and just watch the look on their face.

noglider 

As a stupid teenager, I often rode unglued tires. And I am alive to tell you this. But we're smarter now, right?

thook

my favorite "here's yer sign" moments are leaving quick releases undone on the brakes after fixing a flat only to realize at the next high speed cornering

qcpmsame 

Its nothing to come unglued about @smontanaro, you didn't roll a tubular and mess things up big time. And as said in the above posts, you weren't the first, and definitely won't be the last to do this one.

Bill

Road Fan

And Skip, you won’t be the last to survive such mistakes!

Chr0m0ly 

Left the chain on the the seatstay peg after changing a rear tire, went to pedal off and bent the peg. Not dangerous, or even noticable, but I felt like a real horses butt putting the first bit of structural damage on a 35 year old frame.

Last ride 76 

I never did this when I was younger, I only had 2 sets of wheels (at best).


Since riding C&V, I have done this twice.
Like you, I was either protecting the rims, or keeping tubular tires in shape, as I have quite a few wheelsets and tires these days, not necessarily ready to glue. I didn't lose a tire either time, but after the second time, I made it a rule to always give my tubies a good roll with my hands, when either inflating them or swapping wheels around. (I'm a slow learner)

noglider 

Some of these mishaps can be prevented by habits. The LAB promotes something called the ABC Quick Check, which means every time you get on your bike, look at and tug on a few things:

A for air
B for brakes
C for chain and cranks
Q for quick releases

I've developed this habit and ingrained it so deeply that I don't even realize I'm doing it. Sometimes I'll roll a few feet and realize my brakes are loose, or something like that, but only a few feet, because I check these things quickly, every ride.

You don't have to use this exact routine. It's probably better if you develop one of your own.

bargainguy

True story: I was replacing a stem on one of my personal rides when I got a phone call. Had tightened the new stem halfway but not all the way. Completely forgot about it at the end of the call, assumed I had tightened it enough, and went out for a ride. Seemed fine until I had to turn. Then it became obvious the stem was loose halfway through the turn and the wheel wasn't turning...time for a controlled fall. Never made that mistake again.

noglider 

That just happened to a friend of mine. Loose bars are one of the biggest hazards on a bike. He fell and got hurt but didn't break anything, which is nice. because in a recent crash, he broke his collar bone!

sykerocker 

Wanna bet? But at least now we can claim senility.

SurferRosa

What's that clicking noise?

I rode over 50 miles saturday with a little creak coming from my Paramount's small chainring when climbing. (I hadn't ridden it in 6 months or so.) I was embarrassed in the group I was with, but hoped none of them noticed. I figured I'd deal with it when I got home. If only I had simply asked one of them for a 5mm alan key. Yeah, it was just a loose chainring bolt. So dumb.

CliffordK

I never cleaned my rims, so there was always some glue on the rims, and since I also patched tires, usually glue on the tires too.

But, I did roll one once. A bit embarrassing, but no real harm. I was more proactive at gluing after that.

JohnDThompson 

Well, those of us who survived are, anyway.

noglider 

There is no need to clean old glue off a tubular rim, so no apologies for that. When I installed tires without glue, there was residual glue on the tire and rim. I don't defend the practice, but I don't think it's as stupid as putting on a tire with no residual glue.

Salamandrine 

I cleaned my rims once. That was enough. Never did it again.

When the old Clement red glue was popular, sometimes the residual glue was enough. During the summer, if you got a flat and replaced it on the road, the old Clement glue would remelt and glue the tire on almost as well as if it had been newly glued. Being a bit OCD about mechanical issues and always an aggressive descender, I'd reglue them anyway, but sometimes I asked myself "Why am I bothering?"

Now that all glue is more akin to the old Conti or Panaracer contact cement type, I'd be a bit more careful.

AFA rolling around on brand new never glued or perfectly clean rims - bad idea. The OP is lucky not to have rolled a tire and crashed.

Moe Zhoost

Glad you had no drama. I can see myself doing the same thing, though it is hard to forget that you hadn't yet gone through the immense pleasure of mounting new tubulars.