Dumb tubular tire question
 

I bought a used road bike. I removed the tires. To my surprise, the tubes were glued (sewn?) to the tires.

The tires are Continental Ultra-Sport 700x23. They were NOT glued to the rims (ALX-220's). The tubes have "Kenda 700x18/25" (or something like that) printing on them.

The tires and rims are NOT high-end, of course. I did a little Googling, and could find nothing about a tubular ALX-220 or Conti Ultra-Sport, only clincher. And, I mounted my preferred clincher tires on the rims, which I presume I wouldn't have been able to do if the rims were for tubular tires.

What do I have here, someone's home-made tubulars?

Sometimes they stick. Pull harder.

Never considered that ... :lol::lol:

Yep...I highly suspect that this is a case of "natural vulcanization" ( a term I just kind of made up...but it works) When tires roll on the ground, they create heat which in turns causes a natural bonding between the rubber in the tire casing and the rubber in the tube. Add in the fact that there are natural rubber binders in the tire casing, condensation, and heating/cooling cycles, over time they will bond. One way to keep this from happening is to add a light layer of talcum powder on the inside of the tire when you install it and the tube. Also, this will allow the tube to move freely of the tire while riding. It's a technique that mechanics have used for years. Tubular tires are built the same way, for the same reasons. And, just for information sake, your tube patch kit works the same way, although the glue causes a chemical reaction that does the same thing, quickly.

That being said....you never really know what is going on in someone's brain...they may have actually glued the tubes in!!!!!!! lol

They just vulcanized to the inside of the tire. you can prevent that in the future by using some talc on your tube when you install it.


.....no you did not discover an amazing new tubular design. :thumb:

Yeah, but if you're going to use baby powder for talc, real the ingredients first. Sometimes baby powder can be mostly cornstarch, not talc. Cornstarch makes a good glue when moistened and allowed to dry.