Conti tubular sizing
 

I finally ordered some new tubulars to get my Super Corsa running. I ordered Conti Giro's from performance for 25.00 (I hope that's a decent price) Upon removing them from the box I see that the tire size says 27X1. the performance site had them as 700x22. I checked the conti website and all their tubulars are 27" what gives? I'd like to know that these are the right size before I gunk them up. this will be my first time installing tubulars, I doubt it will be pretty.

Also has anyone used these tubulars before? any comments or tricks in mounting them?

You're fine. That's just the way Conti does it. No worries. I'm not sure about the width labels (22 vs 1) but the diameter will be the same as your rims.

Also, you can stretch out tubulars on a clincher rim too - put it on there and press it up to 140 or so for a couple days and it'll be a lot easier to install when you're ready to glue it.

nice, thanks

g-funk,

Super Corsa? Cinelli or Bianchi?

There are a lot of tubular tips if you search but my VERY short list would be.

- Pre-stretch the tire by standing inside tire and gently yet firmly pull up on it, rotate a bit and repeat until you have gone all the way around.

- Put on dry rims, inflate a tiny bit, straighten, inflate to 120 lbs or so. Leave on rims for a week or so.

- Clean the old crap off your rims, rough them up with sand paper or steel wool. Clean with Acetone.

- **BEST TIP EVER** , not mine but out of the archives, Mask off the side walls of your rims with masking tape!! I use strips about 10 inches long in a straight line and overlap them around the rims. Then take a sharp blade and run it around the rim and trim off the edge above the rim.

- File or sandpaper the base tape to knock off the latex gloss and rough it up.

- I use disposable flux brushes that you can buy at Home Depot/Lowes to spread the glue.

- One light even coat on the rims and let dry.

- Inflate the tires until they start to roll inside out and then carefully glue the base tape from edge to edge all around the tire.

- When the tires are completely dry put another coat of glue on ONE rim, deflate (I leave a little air in) the tire and mount it as straight as possible. Inflate till slightly firm and adjust the tire on rim so that the sidewalls are even on both sides and then inflate to 120 lbs or so and give them a spin. If they look wonky, deflate a little and straighten again.

- When straight, inflate to 120 lbs or so and leave them for at least 24 hrs.

cool, I will start stretching the tires tonight.
It's a 68 Gitane Super Corsa

Tubular tips are often controversial, in terms of what is absolutely essential versus what's a nice added touch. I think VIP's brief gluing instructions are superb and all of his points are necessary, with the possible exceptions of the importance of pre-stretching and of rim cleaning. Excessive stretching force can damage the cotton or nylon carcass of the tire. Rim tire seats do need to provide an even gluing surface, but it does not HAVE to be clean roughed metal. Once a layer of glue has established a good adhesion with the rim seat, why remove it? It does make sense to remove lumpy build-ups, just so the tire has the best chance of running true. Plus, acetone is not a particularly healthy solvent to be using. I use an old butter knife and pointy-nose pliers to push and pick off any particularly nasty glue blobs, then just go ahead and glue it.

I would limit stretching to putting the tire on a tubular rim and inflating to full pressure for a while. But I have installed unstretched tires without breaking any fingers or using any levers, so IMO stretching is not absolutely required.

Roughing up new or already cleaned surfaces is a great idea, as is the masking tape on the braking faces.

Road Fan

How'd it go?

the tires are on the rims with no glue at the moment. They are pretty straight, but around the valve stem the tire doesn't seat flush against the rim. I'm letting them sit and hoping that the tire will stretch and seat better. Am I crazy? does the glue hold this more flush? I took them for a spin around the court, they feel nice. I wasn't railing any turns though.

New tires are always a little stiff around the valve, it's normal and they always smoosh down after you glue them and ride them for a while.

I encourage you to use only Continental rim cement with the Giros. I used a different brand (don't remember which) and the solvent in the glue loosened the glue that holds the base tape on. The edges of the base tape are loose and puckered now. Possibly a health hazard. YMMV

I saw something like this with Giros of 10 or 15 years ago, but the current ones seem to have bare cotton outer layers, and at least so far no such issues IME. How old were these tires?

Road Fan

Can't say how long ago the tires were manufactured, but I bought them about 3 years ago and the bike store's only existed for 4 years. Don't know whether the bare cotton outer layers are relevant or not since the base tape still has to be attached to the tire by the manufacturer with some sort of adhesive. Looks like the adhesive I used on those tires is red rather than my usual clear. I'm certain some adhesives other than Continental will work without problems. The question is which are okay, and which not?

They are brand new. I have conti cement. Thanks for the tips.

i've read that putting too much glue on the tire can cause this.
not sure if it was all cements or just mastik one, but too mcuh cement on the basetape cause the cement to seep all the way to the glue holding the basetape to the casing and caused some kind of reaction.
that might be the reason your basetape is loosening up.

i use latex or nitrile gloves and just spread the glue with my finger.
i don't clean off the old glue. just one fresh coat of glue on the rim.
a basecoat on the tire and a tack coat before i mount the tire.
sometimes a tack on the rim too.
i leave tires on clean rims aired up until i'm ready to mount the tire.
sometimes i will stand on the tire and pull it with my hands to stretch it a little before i put it on a lcean rim. be careful though. i make sure the valvestem is in between my hands if i do this.
i've mounted a a few continental tires without prestretching.

The story goes that some glues use solvents that are incompatible with base tape adhesives of other brands of tires. I've never seen it happen, not sure if it's true. Never had any problem with Continental glue on Conti, Vittoria, Michelin (a really old spare!) or Yellow Jersey tires.

I use a baggie over my finger for spreading the glue - I tried latex gloves once (keep em around for dealing with greasy chains) but the finger got a hole in it... not sure if it was the glue or the friction but it made a mess out of my finger.