Cleaning Tubular wheel rim of gunky basetape latex stuff

petemadoc
petemadoc Posts: 2,331
edited July 2013 in Workshop
Quite frankly if this is what you have to deal with every time you need to put a new tyre on then I've got better things to do with my life and I'll be switching back to clinchers.

After removing a Veloflex tyre I am left with patches of yellowish stuff then has come away from the tyre itself. I've googled and found stuff about asitone, spirits, alcohol, scraping, heating bla bla bla. After some experimenting the best method of removal seems to be a blunt knife, lots of elbow grease and lots and lots of time.

I've got half way round the rim and it's taken me nearly an hour. I'm self employed and I've got 2 kids, my time is precious and this is pi55ing me off.

Surely it's not always like this, is it the tyres, is it something I've done wrong, is there an easier way?

Rims are carbon, tyres are veloflex, glue is vittoria mastik, I won't use tape as I race crits and need complete confidence.

Help

Comments

  • sungod
    sungod Posts: 17,357
    if you want to leave the glue intact i think scraping is the only option

    to strip a rim the very best method is to use...

    http://www.bike-discount.de/shop/a61712 ... 100ml.html

    ...get a few to save on delivery

    gloop it on, leave 30-45 minutes, remove glue with rough cloth (schwalbe recommend a pressure washer!), works amazingly well, one tube will do 2-3 rims

    use white spirit to take off any lingering traces if you missed a bit, then acetone for final degrease

    it's really annoying that veloflex put the stuff on as it builds up fast on the rim, after two tyres there's so much i used to find i needed to strip the rims to avoid the squidgy mess it causes, i'd happily pay extra to not have it on the basetape

    these days i scrape it off the basetape before prepping a new tub, it's a hassle, but it saves time in future as you can go through several gluings without needing to strip the rim, once you've got a few tubs in the use/repair cycle it's much better
    my bike - faster than god's and twice as shiny
  • petemadoc
    petemadoc Posts: 2,331
    Thanks Sungod

    I'll try some of that stuff next time, I've nearly finished this rim.

    I've just bought a vittoria Corsa SC tub which looks identical to the veloflex it replaces, same latex cr4p on the basetape and I suspect when it comes to remove I'll get the same problem.

    Do standard Vittoria CX tyres have this mucky stuff on the basetape too?

    I went for veloflex for the Italian thing and to get the tan sidewalls but new priority is how clean they leave the rim after removal.
  • sungod
    sungod Posts: 17,357
    i think the cx has it too

    fwiw i scrape the stuff off with a dinner knife, blade is the right shape but not sharp enough to damage the basetape, takes about 20 minutes, having been reminded by your posting i just sat in the sun doing one, passes the time
    my bike - faster than god's and twice as shiny
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,312
    Pete, tubulars are not a clean job, they are performance tyres, they are not there to look pretty. leave the residue where it is and just reglue on top... if you want your tyres and rims to look always new, probably clinchers are a better option.
    left the forum March 2023
  • petemadoc
    petemadoc Posts: 2,331
    I appreciate there is a bit of work required with tubulars and I was expecting to have to clean them every 3 tyre changes or so. This isn't glue residue it's the stuff that is stuck to the bottom of the tyre and has left large "chunks" which I would not be confident just sticking a new tyre over.

    Wheel is now clean and new tyre glued on so I'm good to go for a while at least. I'll be looking for a specific glue remover next time.

    The previous tyre that was on the wheel caused no problems, it was a tufo elite.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,312
    PeteMadoc wrote:
    I appreciate there is a bit of work required with tubulars and I was expecting to have to clean them every 3 tyre changes or so. This isn't glue residue it's the stuff that is stuck to the bottom of the tyre and has left large "chunks" which I would not be confident just sticking a new tyre over.

    Wheel is now clean and new tyre glued on so I'm good to go for a while at least. I'll be looking for a specific glue remover next time.

    The previous tyre that was on the wheel caused no problems, it was a tufo elite.

    The idea would be to try and minimise these tyre changes. Tufo leave no residue because they are crap tubulars...
    left the forum March 2023
  • sungod
    sungod Posts: 17,357
    yeah, tufo are pretty grim, i use one as a spare, it's such a difference vs. the normal tyre

    pete - you can glue over the latex, it's still safe, though the rolling resistance goes up a bit (ref. afm's figures)
    my bike - faster than god's and twice as shiny
  • petemadoc
    petemadoc Posts: 2,331
    Thing is Ugo, I bought these wheels for racing but they ride so nice, smooth and fast that I can't help taking them out for sunny long rides too. I'm pleased with every aspect of tubs except for this gunky glue mess, if I can make this job quicker and easier then I'll be a happy bunny.

    Glue removed must be worth a shot next time I need to change. I'll let you know how that goes....
  • mamba80
    mamba80 Posts: 5,032
    A scotch brite pad and petrol will remove it all, say 10-15 mins ? - some cheap brands of 'pad will dissolve, so experiment - i wear gloves for this.
    The same but with Acetone - (from a hair dresser supplier) if you dont have the sealant over the base tape, its there to protect the tape and provide a non porous base for mastik etc - so only needs one coat of glue.

    I cannot see how you could possibly lay glue over this sealant, its loose/flaky and would not react with the cement, to bond with the old mastik.
  • smoggysteve
    smoggysteve Posts: 2,909
    And thats why I use tape. So much cleaner and tufo tape is reliably sticky to the tube and comes off a lot easier than glue
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,312
    SmoggySteve wrote:
    And thats why I use tape. So much cleaner and tufo tape is reliably sticky to the tube and comes off a lot easier than glue

    And it only takes half an hour to fit if you puncture on the road.... :wink:
    left the forum March 2023
  • smoggysteve
    smoggysteve Posts: 2,909
    ugo.santalucia wrote:
    SmoggySteve wrote:
    And thats why I use tape. So much cleaner and tufo tape is reliably sticky to the tube and comes off a lot easier than glue

    And it only takes half an hour to fit if you puncture on the road.... :wink:

    Not really as I use sealant.
  • thegreatdivide
    thegreatdivide Posts: 5,807
    I use this on my Zipp carbon rims

    http://www.diy.com/nav/rooms/indoor-cle ... kies=false

    It gets ride of Mastik glue and Vittoria base tape residue easily. Just soak the glue in the liquid and go and do something else for half an hour to an hour. Come back and wipe the glue off (still needs a a wee bit of elbow grease but then so does any solvent remover. Use pure acetone to finish off the job.

    That Schwalbe stuff is a rip off because it only does two wheels - a good citrus solvent remover lasts years!
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,312
    SmoggySteve wrote:
    ugo.santalucia wrote:
    SmoggySteve wrote:
    And thats why I use tape. So much cleaner and tufo tape is reliably sticky to the tube and comes off a lot easier than glue

    And it only takes half an hour to fit if you puncture on the road.... :wink:

    Not really as I use sealant.
    Until the day the cut will be a tad too big for the sealant to work... then you will spend half an hour with the tape... or half an hour at the phone trying to get a taxi... :wink:

    I am weary of sealant... it is half a solution... I hardly ever puncture on tubs, but when it happens it is generally a pretty big tear, the kind that cannot be sealed... not sure what I would do with a can of sealant.

    That said, I have been in Germany recently and you are unlikely to puncture... roads and paths are superb
    left the forum March 2023
  • smoggysteve
    smoggysteve Posts: 2,909
    ugo.santalucia wrote:
    SmoggySteve wrote:
    ugo.santalucia wrote:
    SmoggySteve wrote:
    And thats why I use tape. So much cleaner and tufo tape is reliably sticky to the tube and comes off a lot easier than glue

    And it only takes half an hour to fit if you puncture on the road.... :wink:

    Not really as I use sealant.
    Until the day the cut will be a tad too big for the sealant to work... then you will spend half an hour with the tape... or half an hour at the phone trying to get a taxi... :wink:

    I am weary of sealant... it is half a solution... I hardly ever puncture on tubs, but when it happens it is generally a pretty big tear, the kind that cannot be sealed... not sure what I would do with a can of sealant.

    That said, I have been in Germany recently and you are unlikely to puncture... roads and paths are superb

    Exactly. German roads are so much better. I was back in the uk not long ago, a pair of ultremos I had used in Germany with barely a scratch on them after a good 800km use were annihilated in 2 days riding around Dorset. I now know why so many complained about ultremos before when I never had a problem, the Germans just don't expect such bad road surfaces to be ridden on.
  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,312
    SmoggySteve wrote:
    ugo.santalucia wrote:
    SmoggySteve wrote:
    ugo.santalucia wrote:
    SmoggySteve wrote:
    And thats why I use tape. So much cleaner and tufo tape is reliably sticky to the tube and comes off a lot easier than glue

    And it only takes half an hour to fit if you puncture on the road.... :wink:

    Not really as I use sealant.
    Until the day the cut will be a tad too big for the sealant to work... then you will spend half an hour with the tape... or half an hour at the phone trying to get a taxi... :wink:

    I am weary of sealant... it is half a solution... I hardly ever puncture on tubs, but when it happens it is generally a pretty big tear, the kind that cannot be sealed... not sure what I would do with a can of sealant.

    That said, I have been in Germany recently and you are unlikely to puncture... roads and paths are superb

    Exactly. German roads are so much better. I was back in the uk not long ago, a pair of ultremos I had used in Germany with barely a scratch on them after a good 800km use were annihilated in 2 days riding around Dorset. I now know why so many complained about ultremos before when I never had a problem, the Germans just don't expect such bad road surfaces to be ridden on.

    Off topic, but I recently did the Taubertal Radweg from Rothemburg ob der Tauber... what a magnificent cycle path... it runs for 100 Km on perfect tarmac always 100 metres away from the main Romantic Strasse, wide enough to ride three abreast, absolutely stunning
    left the forum March 2023

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