0

Just tried it - my trekking clincher rim was too deep, so have to use 4 layers of tape to keep side out of rim, but then tubular started to travel forward even during slow acceleration.

Would you try to use glue on all 4 layers + tubular, some special tape or change rim ?

No surprise seller told me it is possible...

7
  • 4
    Change rim. Or change to using clincher tires, which is easier and cheaper. It is possible in an emergency to ride a tubular tire on a clincher rim, but I recommend against it.
    – Adam Rice
    Jul 25, 2019 at 20:06
  • 4
    Why would anyone do that?
    – ojs
    Jul 25, 2019 at 21:59
  • 3
    That sounds dangerous. Having a tire roll off a rim in a corner will put you down on the road hard. Jul 25, 2019 at 23:23
  • 2
    When you ride in Superman position, the distance to fall is shorter. It's a win-win situation.
    – ojs
    Jul 26, 2019 at 11:58
  • 3
    I've reopened this question - not sure how Community decided it was a dupe. This is a good question because it is about a bad idea, and asking it allows others to realise why this is a bad plan.
    – Criggie
    Nov 2, 2019 at 11:49

3 Answers 3

5

Would you try to use glue on all 4 layers + tubular, some special tape or change rim ?

Change rim

The more layers of tape and glue you introduce the less firm the tire is attached and the more weight you add to your wheel. You want your tire firmly affixed to your rim for turning, braking, acceleration (on a rear wheel) performance.

No surprise seller told me it is possible...

Sellers say lots of things are possible.
Possible does not mean "safe", "performs well", "is recommended", "is best" etc.
Sometimes sellers do not have your best interests at heart.

It is also possible to use and angle grinder to cut down the walls of the rim. Then you would need less tape. Please don't do that. But, if you do we'd like video.

0
3

I'm linking two arbitrarily selected images of clincher rim and tubular rim profiles. The first one is from m2endurance.com. Your clincher rim has little hooks on the edge of the rim. Those grip the beads on the side of your tire.

enter image description here

This image is from sdeals.com, and this is what a tubular rim looks like in profile.

enter image description here

Tubular rims have a curved gluing surface. Tubular tires are round. You glue the bottom side of the tires to that curved surface. If you don't glue them securely, they can roll off, and you will crash. You mentioned tape, and maybe you were using tubular tapes. Same principle, tubular tape will adhere to the curved surface.

I'm not sure what you did exactly. If you put four layers of tubular tape on top of each other, then the tape is only glued to the base of the clincher rim, where a tube would normally sit. I don't trust the bottom layer of tape to adhere sufficiently to the clincher rim's surface. It is likely sticking to a smaller surface area than it would on a proper tubular rim. I'm not that sure how well tubular tape adheres to other tubular tape.

Whatever the case, everyone is expressing alarm because tubular tires, glues, and tapes are not designed to work with clincher rims. There is no way to get sufficient adhesion. If you ride that, you will crash. The seller was completely irresponsible, or perhaps their English is really poor and they had no idea what you were asking.

Edit:in the interest of completeness, there is one tire, Tufo's tubeless clincher, that's a tubular tire with bead blocks that fit into clincher rims' channels. These tires are mounted without glue. I've heard that they don't ride very nicely.

4
  • 1
    This guy is completely wrong or a liar. Also, clincher construction has improved greatly, and modern high-end clinchers are equivalent to tubulars in most respects. Professional cycling teams mainly use tubulars, but they have a bunch of mechanics to glue the tires properly (to tubular, not clincher rims!!!!), and tubulars can stay on the rim better if you puncture at speed. You can often ride some distance safely enough on a punctured tubie.
    – Weiwen Ng
    Jul 26, 2019 at 18:23
  • 1
    Judging from OP's discussion style, I'd guess he just pestered the salesperson until he got "Okay, it's incredibly stupid idea but technically it is possible to install the tire. Just don't ever ride it."
    – ojs
    Jul 26, 2019 at 18:49
  • 1
    Bad judge - wanted to try switch from original 700x35c to tubular, but did not wanted to change rims, etc. - not worth just to try - I am riding 40km a day on straight asphalt, except 5(?) short or a bit dangerous downhills/turns, but in case it is easier to buy better tyre & tube or something like this tufo.com/en/tubular-clincher Placed naive question if he had experiences with tubular and later if he ever tried that. He confirmed street bike, but cautiously confirmed also trekking anyway as a lawer - knowing he lie and did not wanted to be catched ;-)
    – Jan
    Jul 27, 2019 at 9:28
  • 1
    It may also be that the seller didn't know anything about tubular tyres. I've seen people confuse them with tubeless
    – Chris H
    Nov 2, 2019 at 14:19
3

I've just spend time learning about tubulars over the last several weeks. The advantages of a tubular seem to be very slightly faster over a comparable clincher.

The downsides are a lot more preparation work, and that a flat is very bad because they take a lot of effort to fix.

So if you've got a team car right with you, which is carrying spare wheels then that's great. But for the great mass of cyclists, the minor advantages of tubulars are outweighed by the massive downsides.

A clincher and a tubular use fundamentally different interfaces with the rim and therefore are built differently.

enter image description here

You can see the tubular is a tube that wraps a permanent inner tube. The clincher is a "bowl" that wraps 3/4 of an easily-swapped inner tube.

This is better explained in a picture:

Variation of image sourced from https://thetriathleticyou.com/cycle/wheels/clincher-vs-tubular-tires/ which they got from https://pexels.com/

Left is a normal clincher, middle is a normal tubular, and right is what I think you've done.

I suspect your tubular tyre has multiple layers of tubular tape trying to fill the void that is the clincher's wheel well or Valley.

You may have become confused between Rim tape and Tubular tape which are very different.

Additionally, Tubular glue is often spread in multiple layers with four on the rim and two more on the tubular. Tubular tape is used in a single layer.

Further downsides to this idea:

  • Your tubular tyre is only making contact with the rim in two thin stripes. Its going to wear through the cotton pretty quickly.
  • There is some "give" in each layer of adhesive tape, which will allow the tyre to move around the rim, eventually tearing where your valve stem meets the inner tube.
  • This give will also allow the tubular tyre to squirm off the clincher rim, probably when you least expect it and likely while leaning/cornering.

In short, use the right rim for the tyre you have.

3
  • I've not commented on this Tufo "tubular clincher" product, because I've not seen one in person, but that seems to be a tubular with an extra hook system to be used on a clincher rim, and is probably not what OP was using.
    – Criggie
    Nov 2, 2019 at 12:54
  • 1
    As to rolling resistance versus clinchers, I'm not 100% sure that tubulars have lower rolling resistance today. This used to be true, but clinchers have come a long way. I think some of the lowest rolling resistance tires may be clinchers. That said, pro road racers still use tubulars because they have the infrastructure to do so (trained mechanics, team cars following), and because tubulars can be ridden for some distance when flat.
    – Weiwen Ng
    Nov 2, 2019 at 13:04
  • @WeiwenNg concur - there's a growing pool of "old" information out there, somewhat exacerbated by sites like Sheldon Brown etc. As for the infrastructure - I am my team mechanic :)
    – Criggie
    Nov 2, 2019 at 23:02

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.