Still between 12 and 15 euros from European vendors so here's your chance to Google "Schlauchreifenkitt" :) If you order multiples or find other items to get to any order minimum and spread the shipping cost, it could be worth it. Not all will ship cement to the US. Bike24 does not but IME they are idiots, anyway. Packed an order so poorly that a bag of spokes and nipples slipped out along the way so in the end it took 6 weeks to get everything.

I just ordered a can of Conti cement from Velosaloon in Austria. Fair warning, making their 50 euro order minimum turned into an epic trip down a rabbit hole of 800+ items in the sale/clearance section alone. My first experience with them but the site is fantastic, with clear photos and descriptions of even the tiniest parts. I am so looking forward to my genuine NOS French needle and thread kit for 90 cents :)

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/10...G?v=1568806844

I tried. It worked, up to a point. Sure enough, 350g cans of Continental tubular cement are only €10,08 from Bike24, but doesn't ship to the US (to avoid competition with US vendors or shipping of VOCs?). I'm sure there are other vendors who will, but I haven't searched further.

The discrepancy in price between Euro and US vendors suggests to me there's something going on, tariffs, perhaps?

Yeah I'm half-expecting to get an email from Velosaloon that they can't fulfill the order because of VOC regulations. We'll see. I was able to put my order in and pay (although they didn't deduct VAT).

Bike24 has a lot of items they won't ship to the US, everything Shimano, SRAM, DT Swiss for example. I suppose that's just a contractual obligation to protect the US distributors.

To be honest, I don't buy the VOC argument since tubes of the stuff are still readily available. As I recall, Conti glue uses hexane as the solvent, and even with the cans, you're not getting exposed at high levels. A nearly triple-fold increase in price looks like gouging to me.

I'm still somewhat annoyed that dichloromethane based strippers are prohibited by law these days. Those in very small quantity were the best chemical means of removing sew-up glue from aluminum rims. Using non-trivial amounts in enclosed spaces is really a case of stupid games/stupid prizes.

Can you refresh my memory about why the wisdom in this thread was to avoid these tires?

Keep in mind we are talking tubular rims, not clincher. A sidewall failure with a clincher is bad. A rifle shot to the ears and the jagged sidewall is now a sawtoothed chariot scythe cutting all (chainstays, calves ...) in its path. But a tubular rim just collapses when the sidewall fails. And you just ride home a little slower, bump, bump, bump.

Yeah, I suppose you could have a very light rim fail on a corner and maybe taco but I still think the odds are far greater that any small pavement irregularity will cause the dent I described first. (Unless this is strictly a velodrome or perfect pavement criterium wheel.) My experience has been with the 330 gr Arc en Ciels (always died of pothole dents and the like - eventually too far from round and with poor braking), the 400+ gm whatevers of the same era (same deaths; just taking far more abuse to get there). and my Ergal and Medal d'Or race wheels. (Again, same deaths but far sooner.) The GP4s I mentioned above. Again, basically the same death. Front got retired when I got home because it also had zero sidewall in places.

Th new light racing rims with high strength alloys ridden by big, strong riders - well more caution is warranted. I'm guessing some or most of those have wear indicators that I would honor.

The word is that Challenge has been not living up to the challenge of reliably gluing on the treads. I've heard that here and in relation to their clinchers elsewhere. (My venture with Challenge clinchers a few years ago ended after I stopped believing I had safe and reliable tires under me. Bead issue. Beads lifting off the rim, blowout and destroyed expensive tubes. After spending far longer than I ever have to get that bead perfect. Then I had both latex Challenge tubes, brand new, blow out at the junction between the valve portion and the rest of the tube. 10 and 14 miles from home, first ride. So, simply not rubber I want to do a mountain descent on. Sad that I am hearing issues with their tubulars. But Vittoria makes such a nice and idiotically reliable tubular that I'm simply going there. (I've got a pair of Veloflexes I'm looking forward to.) Vittoria has been making those stupidly reliable tires a long, long time. The cheap training cottons they made with so many different labels back in the '70s. (Yes, not all vendors took proper care of those tires. Thank you, Palo Alto Bikes!)

79pmooney - - -

These were the tubulars I was asking about, not the Challenge brand.

See post #2424 above

I'm not sure I can follow you. It is a tubular rim and it will be strictly for the velodrome.

Anyway, as I have been explaining, I'm not rushing into this and will measure the wall thickness as accurately as I can before I put any more work and money into this wheel, let alone ride it. Right now I simply would like to find a sectional drawing to see what's what when the rim is new. Again, this is not a C&V wheel at all, it's one of those Mavic integrated things with proprietary hubs, spokes, nipples, and whatnot. At this moment, from what I have been able to observe, I think 1mm of aluminum is all there ever was in many places on these rims. Without removing the spokes (which, of course, requires a proprietary wrench), the valve hole is the only spot where the thickness of the extrusion can even be seen. The inner valve hole measures 1mm thick exactly, the outer is considerably thinner in the center of the tire bed.

To explain in more detail, what I would like to find is something like this, except this is a Weinmann Pegasus clincher rim, not a Mavic:

https://www.weinmanntek.com/archive/...%9B%BE%206.png


So I imagine the Ksyrium looks much the same in cross-section, minus the clincher horns of course. My brake tracks are worn down but there is still a little "step" between the brake track and the rest of the sidewall. Which would mean there is just as much material left there as there is throughout the rest. But I want to measure that and/or confirm the original cross-section did indeed have extra material in the way of the brake tracks.

It's just not the same starting point as with an old school rim that's the same thickness everywhere and hence every bit of wear makes the brake track the thinnest wall.

Check into Araya Aero rims. There are several models which might work for you. One model below on my Raysport.

https://live.staticflickr.com/5541/3...f2db0407_b.jpg20080911_9 by L Travers, on Flickr

Oh, gotcha - I actually bought a pair of the Panaracer tubular 23’s for an even lower price (it may have been for the same “recyclery” place. I guess I will find out if they also blow out randomly…

I have one on the rear :) Not branded but unmistakable, with spoke hole inserts, 21mm wide, it must be an ADX-2.

Well, I mounted my first set of tubular tires. I did not get them as straight-as-an-arrow, but they are on the rims. Some glue got around to where it should not be, but fortunately not a huge mess. What's the buzz? Lighter fluid will take it off? I pumped them up to 140 lbs to set them (my pump only goes to 160), and hopefully, I'll have good luck with them this summer.
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...d70cc24d77.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...c2032a7764.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...b1e9fb965c.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...392fb9be40.jpg

Were it me, I'd tear the rear off and re-center it - seriously. If you make a decently-committed hard left turn, I fear you're gonna be cornering on the sidewall - not good. For your own sake, center that tread!

The front looks pretty much okey-dokey.

DD

:lol: You can’t be serious. 😇 Do over. You can do much much better. You have 4 months.

Okay, I will. Thank you very much.

I struggled just to do this, and it was my second try. You have any tips on technique?

Minimize pressure, then lift and adjust evey 6 inches or less. Check for uniform exposure of the base tape side to side.

Yep. Go round and round, spin to check, make some adjustments, repeat til your satisfied.

I'll give it a shot, but this tire is so tight, I don't think it is going to budge at all. Lift with what?

Yeah, if there was no glue on the rim and tire, maybe I could do that! You seem to have no idea how adhesive this glue is. Nothing will budge, once the tire is on the rim. I am going to strip all the glue off the rim and going to tape. I've heard I can strip them with a hair-dryer and a rag. These results are entirely unacceptable. Now I see why my mechanic refused to do this job. Maybe I should have just used tape, instead of three coats of glue. It took me three (3) tire levers to get these tires on, because the glue I put on them seems to have prevented the tires from stretching onto the rim.

Don’t give up so easily. I’ve only used Continental and Vittoria glues. What are you using? And I don’t think tire irons can be used to good effect. You want to stretch as you go and if you run out of tire, start over and stretch more forcefully. Watch some Videos. I think Continentals are the tightest and yours don’t look like them.

I'm just going to mention tape:

1. Put the tape on the rim with backing still on
2. Put the tyre on and centre it (it's not stuck yet)
3. Pull the backing tape off (from underneath the tyre, at the side).
4. Inflate to hard and leave

Then again I haven't tried glue (yet).