USAZorro

Here are a few things I've learned about preparing tubulars for installation in the past 6-7 months.

When you get them, inflate them to about 40 psi - don't mount them on anything yet.

After a few days (maybe a week), deflate, and mount them on a rim (no glue), and inflate to about 40 psi again.

After another week (although it might be best to just leave them stretched over the rim until you want to glue them), they should be nicely stretched, and quite a bit easier to manage when you do go to glue them on.

Also, a few days before you want to glue them on, put a layer of adhesive onto the rim(s) you're going to mount the tire(s) to.

Unless you're dealing with really old tubulars, I suggest using 3-M Fast Tack for glue. I must say though that I've heard that Fast-Tack can cause the base tape on older tubulars to separate from the tires. I had a pair of old Wolbers that this happened with, but I haven't had it happen on any of the other tires I've used. Anyhow, here's a technique that I've used to mount tires with very little mess. I don't ride very aggressively, so I haven't ridden on any hairy, high-speed descents, so I can't vouch for how this holds under those conditions.

Before you start, have some mineral spirits and a clean cloth rag at hand. Sit in a plastic chair in a clean well ventilated space, and put on vinyl or latex gloves - the very thin ones. Deflate the tire, put the stem of the tire into the hole in the rim. Make sure you have the tire oriented the way you want it. Once the tire is on the rim, sit in the chair, hold the rim with the stem up. Grasp the tire about one spoke hole away from the stem and lift it up. Squeeze a bit of glue onto the exposed sections of the rim. Move the glue tube around to get a light coating on the entire surface. Release the tire, being certain that the base tape is centered, rotate the rim two spoke holes, and repeat the process. Do this until you make it back to the stem.

If you get any glue on the tire, rim, spokes or yourself, wipe it off immediately. Use mineral spirits as necessary to clean the glue from any metal that it gets on.

Once you've completed the gluing, inflate to about 25 psi. If any glue oozes onto the tire or rim, wipe it off immediately. Also make any manipulations you may want to center the tire if it hasn't gone on quite as straight as you want. You may need to decrease the pressure in the tire to do this. After 30 minutes, inflate the tire to about 40 psi and let the rim sit over night. I've had no problems riding on the tires the next day.