Has anyone ran the Vittoria Rubino Pro? Just wondering how durable they are. I think I'm going to get some 28mm's for my Univega Gran Rally, they're a pretty good price.

https://www.biketiresdirect.com/prod...0-tubular-tire

I need to glue or tape about 5 or 6 tires.
Procrastination keeps 2 bikes side-lined and 1 bike only hopeful for an upgrade.

What do you DO? when you glue?
Music? TdF video reruns? TV/streaming?

Being a 2 1/2 layer gluer - for new tires w absorbent basetape - I need inspiration worthy of repetition.

Tom Petty

Dean

First I make sure my dog is good and tired so she won't be inserting her nose and fur into my business.

Which half of the rim do you glue? The valve stem hole side or the rim label side? :p

Mounting Tubular Tires requires 100% focus and 0 distractions. To suggest that you can do it while watching TV or listening to music is crazy talk. Newbies read this thread. Someone could get hurt. :rolleyes:

I'm seeking comments on the Bontrager R4 320 Tubular Road Tire. An ebay seller hasthem for $50 shipped for 25mm tan walls. The normal Trek price is $70-100.

Since I entered retirement 3 weeks ago, I'm finally finding time to re-build my Lotus Super Pro Aero.
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...7675c95a56.jpg
While I'd like to go with the super skinny 19-20mm tubulars I originally bought, now that I'm here on the GA coast, I'm thinking I'd like a little more rubber at 25mm and slightly lower PSI in my tires. I have on hand 25mm tan-wall Vitoria Rallys but feel as if it deserves better tires.

Pictured above is when I brought it home. The PO had mismatched rims. I replaced the rear clincher to match the front tubular.

I can't comment but I'm glad you posted them. I think I'll try them myself, they look perfect for me.

Wheelsets
 

It's been a while since I've been on the forum and as I'm getting older I am not building bikes and working on them like I used to.

Anyway, I was cleaning out my workshop yesterday and came across two sets of wheels that I no longer have a need for. I actually forgot I had them.

One is a set of Mavic GP4 rims on Dura Ace hubs, 36 hole, with skewers

The second is a set of Ambrosio Montreal Medaille D'Or on Campagnolo Record hubs, with a Sachs 6 speed freewheel, also with skewers, 36 hole.

Is anyone interested in these?

Thanks

Bob

Can't speak to the R4 320s but I bought half a dozen Bontrager R4 Classics (28s) and most all of them failed where the stem is glued to the latex tube. Called Bonty, said they hadn't heard of this issue and they sent along a few more at no cost. Have 4 in florida now being retubed. Flat protection hasn't been all that great either. In the same class as the lot of Vittoria Corsa Controls I tried, which is rather poor. Really miss the Vittoria Pave.

However, the Classics are beautiful tires, super supple ride, and super fast.

Joe

I've actually never had a tubular larger than 23mm and I'm fine with it. But I think I'm going to see how a bigger tub feels on my chipseal roads and try out these Strada Pro 27mm's on my Univega. It has just enough clearance to fit. If I like them I'll probably put some on my Wabi single speed if I ever get the new wheels I ordered this summer. Paul hubs have been on back order forever.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/17496836762...Cclp%3A2047675

FYI, the Mastik glue is on sale at CC for twenty bucks. I'm ordering a can today.

https://www.competitivecyclist.com/v...VidWxhcg%3D%3D

I've spent the past four days removing almost 40 years of petrified Mastik from the front rim of my Lotus (pictured above).

I used the Effetto Mariposa Carogna Mastick/Glue remover gel and let it work over-night. Three applications of the Carogna, hours of scrapping with a plastic putty knife, scrubbing with a 3M green pad, picking at the spoke holes, and a final buffing with a Dremel light abrasive wheel, it is clean and free of the fossilized adhesive! There's no wonder why I waited to retirement to take on this project!

I'm going to use tape when I mount the new tires! Watch for a poll as to which set of tires I will use.

P.S. I didn't purchase the Bontragers I linked above based on your experience.

There are a few words which might have made the job easier, but in your line of work you are probably out of practice.:troll:

That is a lot of work to use a product designed to make less work. My Mavic GEL 280s with 40 year old Mastic were cleaned up with an old small screwdriver used to chip off the bigger pieces. Followed up with Citristrip to remove the little pieces. (The new Citristrip comes in a plastic container while my supply is in a tin can. Maybe they changed it and it doesn't work as well?)

Thanks for the comments jimmuller and Classtime !

Part of the issue could have been that the Lotus was originally owned by a professional road cyclist and triathlete. My guess is that he over-glued his tubulars because he raced on this bike. He was on the '84 US Olympic team and as a professional was sponsored by Shimano and Lotus.

I should have taken a before picture!

My worst glue stripping job was also (as I recall) on an old set of race wheels. Cheap insurance? What was the red glue? It filled up every spoke hole in addition to being pretty thickly applied to the actual rim bed. That took awhile. I'm much more restrained in my tubular gluing. Never had a problem.

The rear Conti Giro on my Motobecane GR died the other day, and the front one isn't looking long for this world either, so it's a good time to switch to these, purchased several months ago. Looking forward to trying them out.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...45ec7b4720.jpg

I have used a brass, repeat.brass wire wheel on a drill to clean up old glue....some of which was the red stuff. worked pretty well

That's what I have used as well. Less than a minute per wheel, even with the Clément red glue. No nasty chemicals, no tiresome scrubbing. Be sure to wear eye protection.

I once tried the sanding-wheel-on-a-drill approach like that using a steel wire brush. It did absotively posilutely nothing to the dried red whateveritwas on the wheel.

I've had the same experience as jimmuller with the brass/bronze wheel and the red Clement mastik. In fact, since the original owner had a Clement tire mounted and the glue was the color pictured in JohnDThompson 's post above, my bet is that Clement was the brand used. However, my wheel had about 10 times the amount of glue and all the spoke holes were filled solid.

BTW, the Effetto Mariposa Carogna had barely a (pleasant) smell, was water based, and never bothered my skin, eyes or nose. It did deteriorate blue exam gloves quickly, so I wore heavier rubber gloves while using it.

Spray some disc brake cleaner on the glue and let it sit for a minute before using the wire wheel. I also use that to clean the glue that gets on the brake tracks when mounting a new tire.

Are you talking about automotive brake cleaner spray? Wouldn’t this strip off anodizing and start dissolving the aluminum? I’m curious which exact product could be used this way.

I installed a pair on my Serotta. They are just meh so far. I might try reinstalling them to delumpify them a bit, but I like current production Vittoria Rally 25mm better as a more affordable tubular.

I don't quite know which variant I have. I can't read the label all that well, but they are 26mm and say "Protite," which I suspect means they have a flat-resistant belt.