I've been gluing on tubulars for several years, and the interval multi-day clean up process required when changing tires has always been dreaded. But when I had to change a flat recently on a wheel my team mate had mounted with the tape, I was blown away with how easy the whole process was. The tire I removed and the one I replaced it with stayed firmly mounted thru all my summer racing. But the best part is how easy the swap out was. No more long hours and blistered fingers to get the rims cleaned up. This is a great product.
I have been riding tubular tires for20 years and I love their feel, light weight and cornering ability. Many of my friends would like to ride tubulars but have hesitated because of the gluing process previously required.Once I discovered how easy it is to glue a tubular to a carbon rim using the Tufo Gluing tape, I have been able to convinced several of my friends to switch to tubulars. The Tufo tape is very easy to apply and if done correctly, leaves no mess and allows immediate riding with no drying period. This is especially important when you are in the mountains and don't wish to descend on a tubular that hasn't been properly attached as was the case with the older process of gluing the tire onto the rim.
Makes installation a breeze. So far I've only had to pull off oe tire for repair. I didn't have any problem removing a Vitoria tire using my hads only, no tools. Cleaned rim using a plastic picnic knife anda little mineral spirits. So far, I have not noticed any issues while riding but I am not that aggressive in the corners.
Initially I was pleased with this product, but after riding on some warmer days in Michigan I noticed my tires starting to move around the rims. Especially on hot tarmac. It was incredibly scary on fast descents and I had to slow way down and limp home. The tape is a great idea in concept but in practice does not seem to work unless it's colder out.
The tape crystalized and lost it's glueing power. Rolled the tire off the rim after 6 months of being on. I will never use tape again. GLUE!
This holds my road tubies fine. I have absolutely zero concerns of rolling the tire, and it would have happened by now if that were a possibility after 3 cat 4 crits. My only complaint is that if you don't mount the tire perfectly aligned, you're going to have to totally redo the installation, so be really really careful to keep the tire straight when you pull off the pink backing strip!!
Easy to install, holds strong.
Can get expensive if doing multiple wheel sets but over all its worth it.
I did a road race on an Indy car track that involved a sharp turn going close to 40 miles per hour. Tires stayed glued. I would trust them to do anything after that. I use them with zipp tires.
Awesome product! Makes an intimidating job easy. Being new to the world of tubulars I was apprehensive about gluing my own, esp after readinghearing all the horror stories. While getting the old glue off was a bit of a chore (don't know how to get around that, and one of the old tires had been glued with tape so I got the best of both worlds, the tape MAY be just a little harder to remove), the Tufo tape made installation of the tires a breeze and have had no problems with them since, except a couple of flats, but that is not the glue tape's fault! Found some great assistance on YouTube. Will definitely use again.
Follow the instructions and it works great. One side benefit that they don't mention You can rebalance the tire around the circumference so there is no flat spot on the side away from the valve where you may have had to put some effort into the stretching to get it over the last bit of rim.
One problem The tape sticks so well, i don't know how i am going to be able to pull the tire off the rim unless i literally cut the tire and peel it off.
I like how fast and easy it is to mount the tire compared to glue. When I change tires the glue tape comes off with the tire, leaving minimal sticky stuff behind to clean up before mounting a new tire. This is nice until I want to change out a flat while on a ride. If the tire has been glued there will be enough glue residue to mount a fresh tire and at least get home (no fast corners though). If the tape comes off clean with the tire there's nothing there to hold the tire on. Up goes the thumb! Just remember to use your Stans and don't get a flat.
Tufo gluing tape is the easiest way to mount your tubular tires. I am a recreational rider, with little experience in mounting tubular tires, and have no problem using this product. Highly recommend it.
I'm new to the world of tubulars having bought my first set of carbon wheels last season. Now that it's time to replace the tires I decided to (try) to do it myself, but was very apprehensive after hearing all the horror stories. While removing the old glue was just as much of a hassle as I'd heard, (I hear Goo Gone or Goof Off, or something like that works), it did come off with a little mineral spirits, acetone, and a lot of elbow grease and patience. However, the installation of the tape and tire was a breeze! I found nice video on YouTube. No word on durability yet of course, but tires very secure on rims so far. Very pleased with this product so far.
Yes, it's heavier, and yes, it's weight at the rim, compared to glue. But if you want quick roadside repair and immediate strong tire to rim adhesion as you roll out from changing your tire, you gotta go tape over glue. Because it is a compromise on weight versus glue, I give four stars instead of five, but it's a compromise I feel is fully justified.
After using glue for so long this is a nice change. The ride quality is the same and it is not messy at all.. glue can be. It is more expensive but worth it if you want to save time and a bit of a mess.
TUFO gluing tape is the reason I switched back to tubulars. I use it to glue Continental GP 4000s (seamless) tires to Reynolds and Bontrager carbon wheels. You have to install the tape properly. TUFO has videos that show how to do it. You engage the adhesive after mounting and inflating the tire, so is easy to get the tire on straight. Your rims should be clean and free of old adhesive. There are several layers to the tape. If you remove the old tape carefully (no oil, water, or fingerprint-grease) it will leave a thin adhesive strip that will stick to a new layer of tape. If the rim-layer gets dirty, the best way to remove it is to warm the rim up in the sunshine to soften the adhesive and then just rub it off with your thumb. I don't understand why you would want it to adhere any better because I have trouble getting old tires off. I regularly ride long technical descents that really heat the rims up and have never seen any signs of the adhesive coming undone. I think people who don't recommend this tape have either never tried it, didn't install it correctly, or are just superstitious.
Of course the attraction of the tape is not having to use glue. The concern is will it hold - so far I have not had any issues, multiple tyre types (conti, tufo, vittoria), over a variety of race types (road, crits, TT's) and tubs (zipps, bontrager) I've had no issues. I cannot comment on rolling resistance or weight penalty comparisons to gluing - just don't have the data.
You do have to take your time on removing the outer layer of tape once the tyre is, moreover getting the tyre on initially can be a pain if its a tight fit as the tape is slippy - I had to resort to using sticky tape wound around tire and rim to hold the tyre in place in order to get that last part on the rim - still easier and about 2 days quicker than gluing.
what can i say it's easy, quick, and holds well. no mess, no glue sniffing, no pita old glue removal, no waiting. if it were a bit cheaper it would even be economically feasible to switch tires back and forth for particular purposes.
I had sworn off using TUFO extreme tape after have two incidents of the tubes rolling off - went back to gluing then eventually did away with tubulars for awhile. But the last bike I bought had ZIP 303 tublar wheels so I needed a decent way to put on spares on the road and decided to give them a shot again after reading that Tufo had changed thier product. Not disapointed, the tires I taped are holding really well, almost too well as it took me twenty minutes to work a tire off the wheel last time I had a flat out on the road.
This is the easiest and cleanest way to put on your tubulars,have not ridden them enough to see how they will stand up yet.
This product made mounting my tubulars a snap! It has a very firm hold, as long as this product is available I'll never glue again
