This is what was in the docket for last Friday. It’s a really nice Italian build (except for the Enve wheels). Beautiful spec’d setup. It’s also the newest 2015 F8 frameset. Check it out!
Here are some more photos of building up the bike this morning and then some photos of afterward. There were many good concepts behind the hidden cable design and mounts as well as possibilities for having Junction A externally mounted beneath the adjustable Garmin mount on the front of the handlebars. Some of the setup for the front brake is difficult and I have to trim the cable several times and re-sleeve it before it actuated correctly and smoothly. The routing over the the steerer tube of the brake hoses and Di2 wire was well thought out and (while tight) came together great. The addition of the carbon waterbottle cage (included) with the SWAT tool and mounting bracket below the cage was a nice touch. We immediately went for Supakaz Black Kush tape instead of the stock white and also replaced the white Power saddle with a black one to stealth it out. All in all, it built nicely and looked good in the final photos. Final weight with the cage and SWAT (no pedals) as stock build for a 56cm was 17.57 lbs. I am just going to display all the photos below right after each other so you can see the details. Message or comment with any questions!
Hey everyone! We’ve just got the one of the first Specialized Venge Vias bikes in the shop. More photos of the completed bike to come later today! It definitely looks sleek with the aero brakes and curvy handlebar. The 64SLX Rapide wheels seem really light and also quite aero. I’ll try to have a few photos of actual weights for the wheels and the complete bike with Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 11 speed. While the brakes look tucked into the frame, they seem easy to work on and I noticed all the little bits in the packaging made sense with flexible brake noodles leading to the brakes and the wires and junction tucked away nicely in the stem and under the bottom bracket. One thing I really liked the concept of was the control unit and charging port located under the bottom bracket shell in a nice protective case (Junction A). This means Junction B is placed up at the stem (hidden away), which is reverse of how you would normally install them. More to follow!!!
I am sure that many people have great techniques (as well as poor ones) on how to glue tubulars, but I thought I would provide my take on it. I have glued well over 500 in my career thus far and not one has ever come back where it “rolled” off the rim. I take this as a good technique proven over time because if it is one thing I can pretty much guarantee, it’s that someone who rolls one will definitely make sure the ‘gluer’ knows that it happened. If you perfect the consistency of your method while gluing, then you will have predictable results that are positive.
That being said, let’s dig in. If you are a bike shop mechanic and haven’t tried gluing, practice on a set of ones first and have them inspected about a week later by someone who has glued. If the tire is quite difficult to pull off, then you’ve done it right. Recently, I have come across several cases where a poor gluing was easily reflected in the difficulty (or ease) of pulling the old tire off. Either the glue had been applied in spots on the rim or almost none at all in the center. Let me express that you don’t have to have glued a ton of tubulars to get it right. You just have to follow a method that is proven and makes sense. If you are a cyclist that doesn’t have access to a shop, then follow this guide because you’ll know your wheels better because of it and you’ll always have the opportunity to be race-ready. The process can be done in a day with the right tubulars or over several days for ultimate quality and aesthetics.
The first thing I do is to obviously remove the old tubular. If it has been glued correctly, this will be the second hardest part. Below you will see a series of photos detailing the removal. I usually start by taking my index fingers and thumbs and rock the tire side to side in different places on the rim to try to peel the edges of the tire off. If a particular section starts to peel well, I will focus there. I take a plastic tire lever and run its edge along the part of the tire that is glued. This kind of ‘cuts’ the glue to start the removal and ensures that the base tape does not rip off the rest of the tire. Then, I begin to pry the edge of the lever under the center of the tire until it gives way to the opposite side. Push either forwards or backwards along the rim flexing the lever upwards to peel more of the tire off. Once you’ve done this for about a quarter of the radius of the rim, take the lever out and use your hands to peel the rest of the tire off. Then, put the wheel in a truing stand if you have one for inspection. Here are the photos of me removing a Vittoria Corsa Evo off of some Campagnolo Bora Ultimates.
After peeling the tire off, inspect it and compare the base tape to the new tubular being glued. Many times, indentations around each rim hole for the spoke nipple will be seen. Glue that is hastily applied will seep into these holes in the rim and create havoc for future truing and for broken spoke nipples to exit the rim in a spoke replacement. Note any areas that are lacking in glue. More importantly that this is to check the rim bed (the area where the tire contacts the rim) for leftover glue and any inconsistencies. Check these two photos out:
In the left photo, you can see that glue never really even made it to the right side of the rim and the indent in the center of the rim bed holds roughly the same thickness of glue as the left side. From a better perspective, the right photo shows the area on the rim I found when peeling the tubular. My best guess is that a layer of glue was on the tire and then a bead of glue was drawn onto the center of the rim bed before mounting it. Don’t ever use this method. That tire is not secure at all for racing — much less around the parking lot for a test ride. I recommend at this point to mark non-glued tubulars on display models with a symbol on the valve extender with a silver Sharpie marker.
This is how to glue the new tubular.
Since there was little glue on the rim to start with, I elected to ‘paint’ over the existing glue using Vittoria Mastik One tubular glue. It is rated the best — it holds the best (I have heard recently of using this in conjunction with gluing tape for cross tubulars and the methods I was described sounded great and sound). The first step is to start spreading glue on the tubular since the base tape will soak up the first layer. I like to focus on getting about 95% of the base tape covered in a nice layer of glue. This means no thick spots or globs. Use an acid brush (hardware stores — very cheap and perfect for the job) to steadily spread the glue in long sections several inches at a time with short strokes. I usually spread a bead of glue (as pictured below) around a sixth to a quarter of the circumference at a time. This helps to ensure that the glue doesn’t begin to thicken and dry or drip down onto the rubber of the tire. While a little glue may touch the rubber, a lot is difficult to fix and results in poor treatment of the rubber to clean. Take your time and be thorough. Each coat takes about 10-15 minutes for a beginner and about 5-7 minutes once acquainted. Check out the progress below.
One important thing to note with layers of glue on the tire is that you want to build a little extra glue right around the valve where it meets the base tape. This will help prevent damage from pumping it up as well as rough valve holes and a secure fitting when stretching onto the rim. Like this.
Next is the rim. I apply glue the exact same way as the tire. Do two coats on the tire and two coats on the rim. Spread it evenly and take care to both cover rim edges around the spoke drillings and the areas between. Spread 2-3 small half-dime size dots of glue between each spoke drilling approximately a quarter way around the rim at a time. Start at the last place you dripped glue and spread upwards in directional slow strokes. Angle the brush to drag excesses of glue along the rim to areas where application didn’t sufficiently cover. The speed of this process is a lot of what experience will give you. The more you do, the quicker and more efficient you will become. The idea here is that you follow the steps precisely so that you get glue where it should be. The aesthetics will come with time. Tubulars that stay on the rim are always cooler than pretty ones that don’t. Here is the glue process.
You can see in the right the bead drops of glue and spreading them out in the left photo. Let each layer dry completely to touch and then it will be time to mount the tire onto the rim.
Take the tire and apply a very very thin layer of glue over the middle 70% of the basetape. This will aid in activating the glue on the rim and in allowing a bit of positioning. Check the tread and make absolutely sure that you will be stretching it on the correct direction. Nothing is more terrible than realizing you just put the tire on backwards. Check the tread one more time.
Insert the valve into the valve hole with only some ‘pliable pressure’ in the tire. You should be able to stretch it with moderate effort. Begin with a hand on each side of the valve and pull the tire away from the valve in the direction of the rim. Check the base tape on each side to make sure it is being placed evenly along the rim. Once you get to the final six inches of the tire, wedge the axle of the wheel against something and pinch the tire while pulling it onto the rim. Some cases and combinations of tubulars and rims are exceptionally difficult and some are wonderfully easy. Vittoria happens to be a tubular that rides incredibly well and stretches easily onto almost any rim.
I hope this helped clear up the process of the gluing. I may extend the article soon and include some photos of actually stretching the tire. Feel free to comment and suggest any methods that are well proven. Thanks for reading!
– SNC
Interbike 2012 was a great success this year. We had ten people from five stores attending and applied all our our power to cover the event as much as possible. From “The Lab” with new technologies not yet on the market and original concepts to the main floor of the Sands Expo with thousands of booths, tables, bikes, gear — you name it. All of the top companies attend, of course with their best limited edition bikes tricked out with every bell and whistle you could imagine.
One of my favorite finds was the Sworks Allez that Specialized had on display. A beautiful aluminum frame with deep dish carbon clinchers, carbon this and that, and Dura-Ace. If marketed, it is sure to be a hot bike in demand. Hutchinson released a tubeless cross tire that shows good promise for those still no clinchers.
In the Italy section, Pegoretti had some stellar track bikes painted with his unusual, yet flashy style. It was built with sheriff star Campagnolo Record hubs and a Campagnolo track drivetrain. Campagnolo was in full force with EPS shifting taking the highlight along with a time trial Bora Ultra carbon crank.
One of my favorite booths was the Paul Components display. Simple wooden tables with the most precise machined components polished to perfection. Paul was a really cool guy to talk to, as well as his collegues. They had their brand new road hubset on display, which uses an Industry Nine ratcheting pawl system combined with CNC machined hub shell and freehub body. It is both 10 and 11 speed Shimano and Campy compatible.
White Industries was also in full force with their styled CNC machined components, including the popular ENO hub, which I have ran through the ringer for years without any single issue.
Meetings were scheduled with some our major brands, including Continental, Geigerrig, Ortlieb, Thule, and Optic Nerve. Several of our normal reps were there to run through exciting new items, programs, and technology advances. Prominent in many brands were the replacement of buckles for helmets and saddlebags with rare earth magnet clasps that worked exceedingly well and operating and keeping closed when it should.
QBP showed us all the new tech in helmets and Salsa Cycles, which uniquely had display models of all the employees bikes, so they were covered in a little road / trail use.
The hippest place in the show had to be the Chrome exhibit. Picnic tables, on-demand bag making with sewing machines and limited edition photo styled Citizen messenger bags, fresh screen printed T-shirts, a DJ spinning tunes at 4pm every day. The reps were great to talk to and it was nice to associate behind the people that handmade the bag you’ll use day in and day out.
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