Tubs

Ok few noob questions

1. Should I put sealant in perfectly healthy tyre? I have tufo extreme.

2. Should I carry spare stretched glued tub AND sealant on a ride or just the spare if I have sealant inside tyres?

3. In case of puncture when I take the tyre off the rim how much should I bother with getting the glue off rim? If I dont would the pre-glued spare tub stick to it well?

4. I have 60mm rims and vittoria corsa cx (III I think) tubs and the shop said the valve core comes off with the tool (which I have) whats the difference between that and extensions? Is one better than other?

My 2 cents

1. I put Revo in my brand new Veloflexs - seems okay

2. With sealant in I carry a spare glued tub only

3. I take the punctured tub off and put the spare straight on - getting it back off at home shouldn't be a problem. Not sure you could remove any glue on the side of the road anyway

4. On my old corsa's I had two options (1) add an extension on the existing valve and (2) remove the valve and replace with a longer one. Don't think there is much between them but I felt more comfortable with the extensions as I wasn't too sure about messing with the valve/innertube interface.

1. I always wait until i have a puncture it gives you a good gauge as to the resilence of the tyre.
   
2. I carry both sealant and tyre, stretched but without glue, its messy and as long as your careful, there should be enough glue already on the rim to get home in safety.
   
3. Im not sure you can get the sealant into a vittoria tyre, as you cannot remove the valve and unscrewing the extension doesnt help, unless you have a tiny funnel?
   

1. Should I put sealant in perfectly healthy tyre? I have tufo extreme.
   You shouldnt put ammonia containing sealant in latex inners. But otherwise its up to you. This is pretty much all sealants except those from cafe latex AFAIK

   1. Should I carry spare stretched glued tub AND sealant on a ride or just the spare if I have sealant inside tyres?
      As Dammit says, if the sealant already in the tyre didnt fix Things. Then adding more probably wont. So just do one of these Things.

   2. In case of puncture when I take the tyre off the rim how much should I bother with getting the glue off rim? If I dont would the pre-glued spare tub stick to it well?
      You'll want to keep Things dry. But I wouldnt bother Beyond peeling anything loose off.

   3. I have 60mm rims and vittoria corsa cx (III I think) tubs and the shop said the valve core comes off with the tool (which I have) whats the difference between that and extensions? Is one better than other?
      Dunno. I only have Extensions.

Personally I wouldnt put sealant in nice new tyres, unless they were training/commuting tubs. For most rides I just carry some pressurised sealant. For epic stuff. Sealant + a pre-glued tub.

1. Should I put sealant in perfectly healthy tyre? I have tufo extreme.
   *You shouldnt put ammonia containing sealant in latex inners. But otherwise its up to you. This is pretty much all sealants except those from cafe latex AFAIK *
   
   

Very true - nor should you mix different sealants.

Revo is ammonia free and uses a synthetic latex so should be fine in the latex inners in the Corsas.

Revo is ammonia free and uses a synthetic latex so should be fine in the latex inners in the Corsas.

Did'nt know that.
As Revo is easy to buy up here thats great info.

I have my FMBs pumped to 50PSI, and aging in a dark cupboard.

I cant say I believe in the aging thing, as a polymer scientist. But as bike fanatic I like the idea of it. So its happening while my current tubs wear out.

Re: sealant in Tubs.

When I set my conti comps up I put in 60ml (ish) of revo in. After pumping up I stupidly tapped the valve core to let some pressure out. Obviously a load of sealant rushed out and covered me. Consequently now the valve is pretty caked up with sealand. Whenever the tyre needs topping up with air I have to battle with the pump and more often than not remove the valve core and poke about with a 2.5mm allen key to break the seal to let the air out.. so I can pump it up again. This is only on the rear tyre. The front is fine and can be topped up with air, whenever.

tl:dr: Don't tap the valve core to let air out once you have sealant in the tyre.

Ok few noob questions

1. Should I put sealant in perfectly healthy tyre? I have tufo extreme.

2. Should I carry spare stretched glued tub AND sealant on a ride or just the spare if I have sealant inside tyres?

3. In case of puncture when I take the tyre off the rim how much should I bother with getting the glue off rim? If I dont would the pre-glued spare tub stick to it well?

4. I have 60mm rims and vittoria corsa cx (III I think) tubs and the shop said the valve core comes off with the tool (which I have) whats the difference between that and extensions? Is one better than other?

1. No.
   
2. No, but see answer to 1.
   
3. None at all - the glue is there to bond to the glue on your spare tub. The pressure in the tub will form a partial bond between tub tape and glue, and loose glue and glue that wasn't displaced when you removed the tub.
   
4. There are fixed and free valve extenders.
   
   

For the fixed extenders you remove the valve core, add the extender, then put the valve core in the extender. If you use these you must have them in place before you mount your tub. It can't be done after the fact. They leak, too, unless you use plumbers tape on them. I think they are shite.

The free extenders, like the Topeak ones which I recommend, simply screw down on to the exiting valve stem. A nifty little insert inside them interfaces with the core allowing the extender to open and close the core. You screw down the extender, use the extender to unscrew the core, pop the pump on, do your business, pop the pump off, use the extender to close the core then remove the extender. You only need one, and you carry it with you on your ride.

I used tape, not glue. Less mess. Seems ok.

The free extenders, like the Topeak ones which I recommend, simply screw down on to the exiting valve stem. A nifty little insert inside them interfaces with the core allowing the extender to open and close the core. You screw down the extender, use the extender to unscrew the core, pop the pump on, do your business, pop the pump off, use the extender to close the core then remove the extender. You only need one, and you carry it with you on your ride.

How do these work With this...

Well - given they form an airtight seal that can work with a pump you'd hope they'd work with pitstop / other pressurised sealant of choice.

I didnt know if it clogged up the clever gubbins, and made it difficult to re-Close the valve.

Might order the topeak for when I swap my tubs over. Carrying a extra tub is a bit overkill up here. I am pretty Reliant on the sealant doing its job.

1. There are fixed and free valve extenders.
   
   

For the fixed extenders you remove the valve core, add the extender, then put the valve core in the extender. If you use these you must have them in place before you mount your tub. It can't be done after the fact. They leak, too, unless you use plumbers tape on them. I think they are shite.

The free extenders, like the Topeak ones which I recommend, simply screw down on to the exiting valve stem. A nifty little insert inside them interfaces with the core allowing the extender to open and close the core. You screw down the extender, use the extender to unscrew the core, pop the pump on, do your business, pop the pump off, use the extender to close the core then remove the extender. You only need one, and you carry it with you on your ride.

There's also the extenders like the Zipp ones which are just a tube. You jam open the valve nut on the valve stem, and then fit the extender on the threading for the valve cap.

Then there's the fourth option, which is the Vittoria red valve. You take the whole of the valve off, leaving a threaded stub on the tyre with a silicon sealing ring, and replace it with an entire new, longer, valve. Not all Vittoria tubs have the red valve system - the Corsas do, the Pistas don't - they have standard removable cores.

IME the key to any of them is to make sure they seal. I've never had a problem with the Vittoria red valves not sealing, and for the others I use a bit of Loctite 542 sealant on the threads. I've never used a Topeak extender in anger, but I do carry one in my saddle bag in case I need to use my spare tub.

Re: sealant in Tubs.

When I set my conti comps up I put in 60ml (ish) of revo in. After pumping up I stupidly tapped the valve core to let some pressure out. Obviously a load of sealant rushed out and covered me. Consequently now the valve is pretty caked up with sealand. Whenever the tyre needs topping up with air I have to battle with the pump and more often than not remove the valve core and poke about with a 2.5mm allen key to break the seal to let the air out.. so I can pump it up again. This is only on the rear tyre. The front is fine and can be topped up with air, whenever.

tl:dr: Don't tap the valve core to let air out once you have sealant in the tyre.

I bought a pack of spare valve cores, and swap the old ones out when they get like this- then drop them into a little jam-jar of acetone, seems to clear them out.

FWIW I put sealant in my Gators, as the mesh/vectran layer holds them together and means that any puncture is only a pin-prick in the tube, which Revo seems to tackle well.

I don't put sealant in my Ultremo's, because RaceBiek, I carry a spare (full-size) pre-glued Ultremo though.

The Veloflex Roubaix are lovely tyres, and I have two "fixed" with sealant, but I'd probably NOT seal them in future, rather I'd change them at the roadside as soon as they puncture.

I need a spare tub for an epic sportive. A mate has a veloflex carbon that is pretty New, but has been repaired With sealant. It has quite a big cut which I could probably glue. He also has a Schwalbe one, which was repaired With sealant, but was ridden a little while flat so has some side wall damage (which leaked sealant apparantly). The hole in this one is tiny.

I'm going to pump both up and see that they hold air. Then take the one that holds air best. If both are fully Sealed, I'll take the glued veloflex.

Is my thinking sound?
Is a tub With sealant in a bad idea for a spare?

FWIW I put sealant in my Gators, as the mesh/vectran layer holds them together and means that any puncture is only a pin-prick in the tube, which Revo seems to tackle well.

I don't put sealant in my Ultremo's, because RaceBiek, I carry a spare (full-size) pre-glued Ultremo though.

The Veloflex Roubaix are lovely tyres, and I have two "fixed" with sealant, but I'd probably NOT seal them in future, rather I'd change them at the roadside as soon as they puncture.

Sensible. I only have Sprinters which seem quite durable, but even so my thinking is I'll only try sealant as a final, get me home at all costs, fix. I always carry a spare unless I'm doing a local training ride.

It's interesting what a different animal the CAAD9 is with tubulars at sensible pressures compared to the GP4000 clinchers I ran over the winter. Much grip & comfort. 200km on a K:1 saddle not an issue etc.

Sorry to ask another question with the one above still unanswered - but maybe someone could deal with both simultaneously!

I bought a track bike with tubs, and the shop built it all up for me. They taped the rims. London Velodrome says that tubs should be glued not taped on its online specs for bikes. Is taping dangerous for an indoor velodrome, and should I have them glued? I should add I have no idea how these things work and have never ridden tubs before, or indeed even seen inside one, as my existing track bike has clinchers.

As I understand it, there are two types of tub glue. There's the stuff you use to mount road tubs and there's the stuff you use to mount track tubs - a hardening glue but Shellac is also used I believe.

Compared to both tape and road tub glue hardening glue is brutal stuff. Road tub glue is formulated to allow a roadside repair - removal and replacement of the tub. hardening glue is not.

[indoor] Velodromes expect racers to use hardening glue because it reduces the chances of a rider rolling a tub and subsequently causing a crash that damages the surface of the track.

So if you want to use your tubs on the track you'd need to get them rebuilt with hardening glue. Lucky you.

This is why it makes sense to leave your track tubs at the track :)

I need a spare tub for an epic sportive. A mate has a veloflex carbon that is pretty New, but has been repaired With sealant. It has quite a big cut which I could probably glue. He also has a Schwalbe one, which was repaired With sealant, but was ridden a little while flat so has some side wall damage (which leaked sealant apparantly). The hole in this one is tiny.

I'm going to pump both up and see that they hold air. Then take the one that holds air best. If both are fully Sealed, I'll take the glued veloflex.

Is my thinking sound?
Is a tub With sealant in a bad idea for a spare?

It's probably a slightly bad idea as you don't know if they will work when rolled on. Big cuts that have been repaired with sealent are likely to spew out again when riding. It happened to me at the furthest point from home it could be once :(. The schwalbe one sounds like it will be alright though.

I'm moving away from tubs and have some spare stuff. If memory serves me correct, I have a brand new gp4000 tub and also a slightly used, but punctured, but professional repaired by Pete Burgin (RIP) corsa cx tyre that is all nicely wrapped in a sandwich bag all ready for spare tub use. If either of these interest you, send me PM.

Cheers for the kind offer. But I can have that schwalbe gratis. Plus it's here in town. FWIW my mate had a lot more faith in the schwalbe too. it's heavily worn but will last the ride.

As I understand it, there are two types of tub glue. There's the stuff you use to mount road tubs and there's the stuff you use to mount track tubs - a hardening glue but Shellac is also used I believe.

Compared to both tape and road tub glue hardening glue is brutal stuff. Road tub glue is formulated to allow a roadside repair - removal and replacement of the tub. hardening glue is not.

[indoor] Velodromes expect racers to use hardening glue because it reduces the chances of a rider rolling a tub and subsequently causing a crash that damages the surface of the track

So if you want to use your tubs on the track you'd need to get them rebuilt with hardening glue. Lucky you.

This is why it makes sense to leave your track tubs at the track :)

Thanks very much. Bah.

Ordered 4 pieces of Rally 23mm from the pX

My everyday/training wheelset (rims) are dying. I am toying with going tubular as every flat i've got till date was a pinch due to being a knob with tyre pressures etc. I know what I will gain/lose by going tubular.

So my options are get tubular rims and get a wheelbuilder to re-lace the novatec hubs to it which will cost about £80 for the build plus rims OR sell the wheelset and get a new novatec wheelset built for about £50 more.

The big question is what rims? Reflex although light get mixed reviews for being too fragile .. crono are nice (and pricey) BUT have anodised braking surface which I dont want .. what else?

They will mostly be laced to Novatec hubs.