They look great on your Saronni Red whip!!

The Challenge Strada Pros are first-rate tubulars, I've concluded after more miles on them. Fast yet comfortable, with decent grip. Workmanship is first-rate. If you have a vintage race bike don't waste it riding on clinchers. You'll never know how the bike was designed to perform.

That is good to know about the Strada Pros. I wish they came in a 23.

I'm about to try tape for the first time, and I'm having a tough time getting the old glue off the carbon rim.

What do folks recommend to remove the glue and how clean does the rim have to be?

Hi,
A few years back I purchased a gravel/cross bike with Tubulars (Cole Carbon), switched to Clinchers and never really tried the Tubs. I am now retired and want to try. If I like I may try the Challenge Getaways in 40mm. Currently have a Grifo Pro Team on the front that is taped...I put on a couple of years ago (primarily ride Zwift due to excessive traffic...and other reasons but do have a paved/gravel trail system nearby) but left the rear on. The glue is now petrified and removing with Mineral Spirits is slow going. Really slow.

Anyone ever use n-butyl acetate to remove glue? This is the greatest solvent I have come across to remove adhesive. I used to work for a packaging company and if a bottle broke, the floor tiles were coming up...immediately. I purchased a bottle and will try a small spot on the wheel to ensure it is no problem with the carbon resin...or may test on an old carbon stem or something.

Be wary of NBA...it reacts with the body very similar to ethanol...breathing the fumes will intoxicate and the headache afterwards is rough.

Thanks, Chris
BS ChemE 1984,
University of Missouri

PromptCritical I have done two wheels...the first was pretty straight forward using Acetone. The second is a bear...I have tried Acetone, mineral spirits, Goo Gone, and VM&P Naptha. Mineral spirits works the best but that is relative. I have several hours into it and still not clean. I will probably try n-butyl acetate which I only found online and it is a bit pricey.

The wheel I did a while back I taped and it seems to have worked pretty well...but I have not ridden it much. I have stayed on my clinchers which have 45mm vs the 33mm of the tubular.

I've had good luck with Citristrip--paint it on, wait, scrape it off, re-apply. Some of the hardened bits are scraped off with a small flat blade screwdriver.
My can of Citristrip is in a real can. They may have changed the ingredients since that purchase but in TX you should have access to real good stuff for things like this.

My method: Wet multiple pieces of thick paper towels in mineral spirits, enough to cover the circumference of the rim, keep them connected to one another. Also lay out a long strip of plastic wrap on the floor. Again, enough to cover the circumference of the rim. The paper towels don't need to be dripping wet. I twist the paper towels loosely to make a sort of solvent rope and set it in the tire channel around the rim. Then put the rim plus solvent-rope on top of the plastic wrap. You could also lay out the length of paper towels on the plastic wrap and roll the rim on if you prefer. Anyway, run some tape around the rim between the spokes to hold the wrap and "rope" in place, then tightly wrap the rim in the plastic wrap to hold the paper towels in place. Wrap some more masking tape or whatever around a few other sections of to seal it all up some. After soaking for an hour or two the glue should wipe right off with very little coaxing.

I know people stress over the pollution aspect of gas, but I use gas in a tray outside to clean off old glue before taping.

I fill a metal tray just enough so it covers the rim but not enough so it covers any stickers on the inside of the rim which would destroy stickers.

Usually less than 2 full cups of gas. Tray is placed in the shade so gas doesn't evaporate. I do it when I'm working outside anyway. Turn wheel about every twenty minutes or so, wiping as I go. Brings it right back to the bare metal and then I wipe it with rubbing alcohol on a rag. On goes tape.
I figure if I drive to grocery store I'd use more gas, and once wheels are taped and new tires installed I'll bike for glsmall grocery orders which saves gas.

Also, I don't know if anyone suggested this before but I use my old VAR truing stand to install tape. Easier to center tape using that.

Gasoline is too flammable for my taste....even out side.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone!

I'll try the "mineral spirits rope" idea first.

Hoping you have a stash of Mineral Spirits. Next time I drive to visit family in TX, I'm picking up another gallon.

Not sure the nuances of California’s omnipresent regulatory environment, but I used odorless mineral spirits on my wheels. Again, probably more nuanced than this, but I understand that charcoal grill lighter fluid might do a similar job. Until they come for the charcoal grills anyway. (I’m surprised they haven’t between the high fire hazard and smoke emissions).

Would you use gas on carbon rims?

I don't like using gas as as solvent because it's so dangerous. But if I were going to use it--which I suppose I might in an isolated outdoor area--I'd use "white gas" (usually sold now as Coleman fuel), formulated for use with portable stoves. It doesn't have the detergents and other additives found in automotive gas. When it evaporates there's no gasoline smell left behind.

AKA Naphtha
which is a fine solvent - also good for cleaning brake tracks.

It used to be possible to buy naphtha from Amazon in the UK, but health and safety stopped that.
But they do sell Colemans
Which is Naphtha + antirust stuff.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00KDUJMO2

Regularly cleaning his brake tracks with gasoline is how a friend rolled a tire in a criterium. I would not do it with sew-ups.

Gasoline also attacks the bond between the tubular and its basetape. I know people who have used gasoline to clean up glue after mounting a tire, but it is ill advised.

I have tried VM& P Naptha which is available from Home Depot and Lowes and it did not work for me. Psimet2001 used it on one of his YouTube vids.

I use Carogna Remover from Effetto Mariposa to clean and prep my rims before taping new tubular tires.

Carogna Remover

Safe, non toxic, and it has a pleasant odor. Also it is formulated for both carbon and aluminum rims.

Surprisingly, Mineral Spirits are available at Home Depot in California (San Diego).

A friend helped mount a pair of Conti Sprinters on a pair of rims for my 650c Zunow that I plan to use at the opening race of our season out here, a 10mi time trial.

Will post the build once itʻs ready for a sighting ride.

So, I tried the “rope” method (with an upgrade to actual rope) with mineral spirits. It worked fantastic!

Using tape to install the new tubular was super easy !!!

Yikes! Soaking Carbon rims in solvent?

What I have found is that the stuff we used to call mineral spirits--mainly naphtha--is NOT available in California retail stores. The replacement product is mainly acetone. Check the MSDS for the exact ingredients. Acetone may or may not be the ideal solvent for cleaning rims; that depends on what's on the rim. Traditional rim cement is not very soluble min acetone but it is in naphtha. I can't say what works best for recent rim tapes.

One legal place to buy naphtha, and cheap: Your sporting goods store. Coleman white gas fuel, as someone from the UK said earlier.