goose70

I made the mistake of asking my wife to drop off my wheels at the lbs. That never goes well, because she learns what biking things actually cost. This time, she called wondering why my lbs will charge $120+ to remove my old tubulars and glue new ones on a pair of wheels. That does seem higher than I've paid in the past, but I can't recall for certain.

That's a long way of asking, what's the going rate to remove tubies and glue on new ones?

P.S.: Yes, I could try it myself, but I don't really have the time right now and am not sure I trust myself to do it in a way that won't result in my death during the first crit of the season. All of that probably explains why an lbs can charge what it does.

tom25

That's a bit excessive. "IMHO"
It comes down to what's your time worth. I find them less trouble than advertised, to mount. You tube will show you how, and trust me they wont fall off.

Trsnrtr

Depends if they are removing the old glue before installing the new ones. My shop would get $120, I'm sure if they were cleaning the rims first.

RNAV

These prices include replacement tires, right? I'm a clincher / tubeless guy, so the concept of paying someone $120 just to remove and replace tires is ludicrous to me. Hence, I'm assuming tires are included in the price. Right?

bt

you wanna play you gotta pay

FIVE ONE SIX

+1

K.Katso

It's not that hard, just do it yourself and save the money. You can be safe just using the method on the little tag that comes on Vittoria tubulars. I race crits and mountain cyclosportives with tires glued like that, and I've never had a problem. Using that method it takes me roughly an hour to clean, an hour to glue, and then 24 hours of waiting. You could probably ride them safely a lot sooner than that but I am following the directions and never had an issue. Don't watch that Zipp video on YouTube, they'll have you waiting 5 days before you can ride.

Of course you can always just use the tape too, that is super easy, but it is a bit more of a pain to get off and then the tires are pretty much ruined afterward. I've used it a lot with good results when I was feeling lazy or short on time, but I do prefer the glue.

milkbaby

From 2009: https://www.bikeforums.net/road-cycli...ml#post8609522

I only run clinchers, but if I did tubulars, I'm too anal about doing it just right the way I prefer to let anybody else do that for me. However, if I wasn't so picky, I'd pay for somebody I trusted to do it.

LAJ

Doing a professional job costs money. Just because the shop may be able to do it faster than you doesn't negate the worth of the work.

lopek77

That's right!

ThermionicScott 

Well, if you're not willing to learn how, you're at their mercy. What's your plan if you get a flat while out riding?

drider85

2-3 hours of work over a few days. If they charge shop hourly rate that sounds about right. That is the going rate in town here. It might not be rocket science but it does take time.

Lazyass

There's a difference between playing and getting bent over. It costs less to have two car tires mounted. I've never had a shop do any work for me, but I've pretty much given up on them. The last time I spent money I let myself get ripped for $50 for two water bottles, one brake cable and a length of housing for the internal top tube. A few months later I went to another to look at new bibs. The cheapest ones were $135. Same bibs were $89 online. It's all the internet for me now.

island rider

Actual response to actual question, that's about 20 more than the going rate, more or less.

FLvector

You'll likely get a better answer in the racing forum, since I'd suspect most in the 41 are riding clinchers, or those newfangled tubeless tires. Or even better, call a few other local shops and see what their going rate is.

Silvercivic27

For me, dealing with tubulars is such a PITA that it would be worth every penny.

Lazyass

I'm not sure why people think changing a tubular is difficult. I would do this for $60 per wheel all day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wu7oSEFiYdg

goose70

Thanks. It sounds like their rate might be a little high, but not too far off. I like this shop, they do a first-class job so didn't want to give them a WTF!? call unless/until I verified that this was a rip-off. They will be cleaning off the old glue, and I do get that it's labor intensive (which is why I'm not doing it).

Fortunately, these are pretty much my race-day wheels. I've occasionally used them on group rides and carry a can of Pit Stop just in case, but fortunately, the front has lasted three seasons and the rear tire usually lasts at least a full season.

Black wallnut 

You have not priced many tubulars have you?

Considering time and materials plus the knowledge on how to do it I'd say the price is fair. I'd not pay that but then I generally don't pay others to do what I can do for myself.

garysol1 

You guy who think that price is ludicrous have evidently never scraped old glue off of a wheel. It can take hours and many layers of skin. A shop can't charge enough to make that job worthwhile... Huge P.I.A.

bbattle

Exactly. Though I'm sure if you told the dentist to drill your tooth more slowly he'd be happy to oblige.

caloso

Seriously.

Trsnrtr

These are tubulars, a whole other animal that many shops don't want to mess with or share in the liability. not to mention the mess.

I mounted my own tubulars for about 12 years and I've seen times that I'd paid somebody to do it.

Brian Ratliff

Ding ding ding. If the wheel is carbon, you are pretty much left with mechanically removing old glue. This is usually by hand, which takes an extremely long time. If the wheel is aluminum, they should be able to use solvent to remove old glue, which means less time and cheaper job.

waters60

Why do you want to remove the old glue? New Vittoria will stick just fine to the old. There is way too much superstition and hand wringing over gluing on tubulars. Ive ridden them for many years and when I put on a new one it may take 1/2 hour labor time per wheel. Get a flux brush ( dirt cheap ) and your trusty tube of Vittoria rim cement. Put your new tire on the rim and inflate it to 100 lbs. or so to see if there are any major flaws. Let some air out, remove from rim and inflate enough so the base tape rotates around to the side for easier access to glue. Apply a thin layer of glue to the base tape and a layer to the rim. Let them dry for a 1/2 hour or so. Let the air out of the tire and put it on the rim. The trick is to stretch evenly as you are putting it onto the rim so the valve stem staye perpendicular to the rim. It takes a little elbow grease to get the tire on the last part of the rim. Inflate to 60 lbs. or so and tweak so the center of the tread is in the center of the rim. Ride the next day. Period. I have never rolled a tire or even come close, even when riding 80 miles on my spare.