# Repairing tubular tires?



## KMan (Feb 3, 2004)

Is there a way to repair tubulars? Super glue the hole and some tire sealant? 

So far I've been flat free on my tubulars for 3 years. During my warmup at Saturdays Fair Hill, MD race I decided to see if bunny hopping a gully was faster than going around it - yup - big ole pinch flat. Luckily a friend had a spare wheel they let me borrow to race on.

Michael
www.MLKimages.com


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## RHankey (Sep 7, 2007)

Yes tutbulars are generally repairable, but a bit of a chore.

Cut the cloth strip on the underside of the tubular about 4-5" beyond the hole,then peel the tape back to about 4-5" beyond the other side of the hole. Cut away the exposed stitching without damaging the tire. Note the stitching method, as you will need to match this when restitching the tire. Pull out the inner tube out, and patch like any ohter like inner tube. Put tube back in tire. Make sure the inner cloth is lapped over the tire joint. Using a stout needle and a heavy duty non-stretching thread, restitch the tire back together using the same stitching method as was used before. Re-use the existing stitch holes. I usually use a pair of plyers to help slide the needle through the holes. You need to get the tention of hte stitches just right else you will feel a bump when riding. When done, I use tubular rim glue to reglue the cloth tape back in place. The wole job takes about 30-60 minutes.


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## thighmaster (Feb 2, 2006)

On cross tubulars I don't get fancy with the stitching, never could figure out the right way anyway. I glue the tape on using Barge brand cement, best stuff period. You can also send it to a guy who will do it for about $20 (sorry forgot the name). He puts in a butyl tube which may last longer, but you'll loose that tubular suppleness.


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## cogswell23 (Aug 15, 2007)

thighmaster said:


> On cross tubulars I don't get fancy with the stitching, never could figure out the right way anyway. I glue the tape on using Barge brand cement, best stuff period. You can also send it to a guy who will do it for about $20 (sorry forgot the name). He puts in a butyl tube which may last longer, but you'll loose that tubular suppleness.


The business is named Tire Alert, I'm pretty sure it's tirealert.com. Google it if you want to be sure.

You can supply him with a latex tube if you want latex specifically. I believe cyclocrossworld has them in CX sizes.


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## gewilli (Dec 18, 2006)

so anyone got a source for basetape? or is it something you can find at a fabric store?


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## crazyotto (Oct 24, 2002)

cogswell23 said:


> The business is named Tire Alert, I'm pretty sure it's tirealert.com. Google it if you want to be sure.
> 
> You can supply him with a latex tube if you want latex specifically. I believe cyclocrossworld has them in CX sizes.



It has been quite a long time, but I had a few road tubulars repaired by this company, and they did not hold up (lost air, flatted easily, etc.) I was not overly impressed.

If it is a small leak, I have had a lot of success using the Vittoria Tire Sealant. Actually saved a nice new tire that I only raced on 1 time.


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## Salsa_Lover (Jul 6, 2008)

I will cross post here my two cross tubular repair experiences so it could help people attempting it for the first time ( as it was for me  )

*--- REPAIR OF A CHALLENGE GRIFO -----*

Just to add a bit to this discussion

I tried to fix the tubie using a Vittoria Pit Stop with no success. In fact I used 2 Pit Stops, but the tubie still lost air ( this is getting expensive yes... )

I didn't want to throw away a Challenge Grifo after just one ride so I tried to repair it.

I could not find out where was the exact point of the puncture as the tubie lost air everywhere when I put the tubie in water.

So I just opened the tubie at the valve point










Yo can see the latex tube with plenty of the Vittoria Pit Stop inside

I then pulled the tube around introducing the vave inside the tube and carefully making it turn.

I found the pucture, in fact there where 2 holes there, I guess I rolled over a nail, that went through both sides of the tube, that's why the Pit Stop could not fix it.

I patched the tubes and let it dry overnight










Next day I rolled the tube back carefully so it didn't get twisted inside and sew it back

My sewing is not great but the tubie hold the air very well.










I glued back the cloth strip, but it didn't seem to hold well, I guess I need an special glue for it, or it is that by mistake I accidentally applied a bit of grease there and this is not letting the glue set in right.

So I cleaned up the grease and glued it back using tube repair glue.

The tubie is glued back to the wheel and will go and test it tomorrow, today it was raining a lot so tomorrow will be muddy.

If it fails again I'll throw it away.

*---- REPAIR OF A VITTORIA CROSS XN -------*

I read many times about pumping the tubular to 80psi just after setting it on the rim to set the glue right.

I wouldn't advice that.

I bursted a new Vittoria Cross XN doing just that.... 80psi = bam !

I tried to fix it with Vittoria Pit-Stop and then later 2 ounces of Stans Sealant without success.

Oh well, new tubie so I couldn't just throw it away, so I repaired it ( I am becoming an expert on this )

here some pics, this is the 220TPI version, the sidewalls are stiffer than the Challenge for sure.

open the base tape layer, fortunately the puncture was just close to the valve, be careful doing this, the tape broke when I just pulled it out.










locate the punture and fix it
















sew it back









gluing the base tape back on









voila !


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## KMan (Feb 3, 2004)

*Murphys Law*

Great post - thanks for the info on how to do it.
I guess it's Murphys law. If your going to get a flat, it will happen right after you freshly glue your tubulars.

Michael


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## RHankey (Sep 7, 2007)

gewilli said:


> so anyone got a source for basetape? or is it something you can find at a fabric store?


I wouldn't mess around with replacing the base tape with different tape. After all, if the adhesion between the tire and the base tape or the rim and the base tape fails, you are going to be rolling a tire off the rim at an undesirable time. Cut back as short a length as is necessary to facilitate the repair, and re-glue the strip when done. Also, the more base tape you pull back or replace, the more you have to attempt to center so you have a guide to center the tire back on the rim.


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## cmdrpiffle (Mar 28, 2006)

For what it's worth....I've always had great success using *dental floss (medium/waxed)* to repair the stitches after fixing the tube.


Cheers


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## DPCX (Nov 11, 2004)

Ron at Tire Alert does great work in my oppinion. He's very reasonable & has a quick turn around. I send a few tires a year to him & have always had good luck. I even had a Rhino that had an inch long cut in the sidewall but he stitched it up & its good to go. It looks kind of mean now, like Fankenstein. :thumbsup: 

DP


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