audioslavery

$22 PER tire!? (Incycle in SoCal)

seemingly outrageous.

any comparisons at your LBS?

urbanknight

I wouldn't trust most shops around here to know how to glue a tire, and if you can't do it yourself then $22 is worth it to be safe... if you can trust the shop, and Incycle is one of the few shops around here I think can properly glue a tire (Open Air is the only other one that comes to mind). Then again, I learned how to do it myself and did it for free. Messy, but I never rolled a tire.

By the way, does the $22 include the glue? That's like $6 of it right there. If it doesn't and you don't like the price, learn to do it yourself. It's not that hard, but shops probably charge a premium because (a) they know few other shops are willing to do it, and (b) they run a liability risk every time they do it.

umd

Sounds reasonable, especially if you didn't stretch it for them first...

I've started gluing my own now

audioslavery

I ended up taking it to Steve at Open Road. It was my first time at his shop, but I've only heard great things so I'll report back with my findings tomorrow when I return. My tires also needed valve extenders since the original valve was far too short. I also needed some rim strips on there as well so we'll see.

Pasadena Cyclery only wanted $10 per tire. Not sure if there was a catch there but I dropped my bike off at Open Road regardless, what a sweet little shop.

mikearena

?? For a different set of wheels, right?

urbanknight

That's what I meant. Open Air was some other shop in Ventura or something.


I sure hope so.

texascyclist

If I was mounting conti tires with conti glue, that would be a bargain.

Have you ever mounted tubulars? It is a tough job depending on the tire, rim, and prestretch.

I honestly would not trust a shop to do it unless I knew for sure they know what they are doing. You should at least familiarize yourself with how to test a tubular for a good bond.

patentcad

I stretch and glue my own now. 10 minutes to stretch it and mount it, 5 minutes to glue it the next day once you know what the F you're doing. $22 is ridiculous.

Psyclismo

And how exactly do you go about doing that?

texascyclist

Look here

audioslavery

I'll test it once race season is over, I got a great deal on some handmade tubulars (Challenger) so I figure I need a cheaper materials for any experimentation.

cedricbosch

My LBS charges $40 per tire. People will pay that because they think its a dark art that requires cauldrons and alchemy.

Cdy291

The shop I work for charges $25 per tire and they were discussing a few weeks back whether they needed to up it.

sced

Only young girls and sissys don't do their own. It is very easy.

iab

$6 for the glue + $60 hourly rate = $22. I'm guessing your hourly is at least $175. What's the problem?

datlas 

Back in my racing days, I used tubulars but not anymore....anyway, my feeling is that if you are "serious" enough to ride tubulars you should be "serious" enough to do them yourself (or "good" enough to have your team mechanic do it for free).

Super Guanche

It's a job I wouldn't trush anyone else with. If I were you I'd do it myself.

nitropowered

Its completely reasonable. Do a quick google search and you'll find some prices nationwide. Lowest I've seen online is $10/each, most of prices are $20-30/each, most around $50/each

Yeah learn to do it yourself or find a friend/teammate that can do it. Gluing tires is pretty easy, often simpler than doing clinchers. If you are having a friend do it, don't make time demands or show up with multiple pairs of wheels that need to be glued for your race this weekend.

Quijibo187

we charge $30 for an install. $5 extra to remove a tire.
We just don't like doing it so we just bumped the price up a bit.
When we usually do a few a year. There's just not many tubular riders out here.

pelikan

Calling around a couple shops in San Francisco last year the rates were #30-60.

mr_tom

Sounds totally fair. Round here it's £15 to get an inner tube changed.

datlas 

I would hope that anyone who is cyclist enough to be on BF is cyclist enough to at least change his/her own tubes.

michelito

Wow that is really expensive to glue a tire. I remember when I bought my first road bike with tubulars (Vittorias Corsa CX on Nisi Aero rims - I should take that bike back out again) - I was 18 - the first thing I learned to do was how to glue and mount the tires myself. As previously said, I wouldn't trust anyone but myself to do this.

mr_tom

Well, exactly.

DrPete 

Think it costs too much? Do it yourself, or spend a couple hours calling around to shops to find out who can do it cheaper. Then remember that it may or may not be a shop you trust or have ever been to.

Not really intended to be mean, just saying that if you don't know how to do it and you're paying someone who does, you're not really in much of a position to negotiate unless you have some alternative.