Originally Posted by
seedsbelize
Yeah, mount them on rims and pump up. I don't think you need to go to full pressure; just enough to be round. You can leave them like that for months, or years. Or days.
It'll just be days. I've never ridden on tubulars and I'm really curious. I'll stretch them onto the rims, blow them up and let them sit for a day or so, then finish cleaning up the rims and mount them. I want to do that on a day/evening when I won't be rushed. I have to decide between two methods I saw on Youtube. In both, you put the tape on the rim, pull up the backing strip on both sides of the valve and pull both ends to one side. Then stretch the tire onto the rim and pump it up enough to have some shape. Then you carefully center it and even it out. Then with one method, you put a pencil or pen under the tire to lift it off the rim, then roll it while pulling off the tape right behind it. With the other, you let off just enough pressure that you can pull the backing tape out from between the rim and the tire without tearing, and pull it all out.
Then check alignment AGAIN, and pump up to full pressure, and leave at least 24 hours before riding.
I suppose I should have sprung for better quality tires than Continental Giros. Excel was selling 2-packs of Vittoria Corsas for almost the same price as the Giros, but I dawdled and they sold out.