...or as we say, "tires." Thanks for your post on using shellac to mount tubular tires. You mentioned that this is an old practice, but I have some reason to believe that shellac is still being used for track tires. Needless to say, like everything else that tradition-bound racing cyclists might do, there may be little benefit to using the "old way" when compared to modern alternatives. Nevertheless, shellac mounting is discussed in detail in a book called (as I recall) Bicycle Mechanics in Workshop and Competition. This is a great book that doesn't get much mention on this list, but that is truly bursting with in-the-trenches mechanical advice from Steve Snowling, a (former?) pro circuit mechanic. In fact, he was Tony Doyle's personal mechanic for six-day races.
Snowling's proceedure for gluing with shellac includes many layers of shellac on the rim, a process for removing residual latex from basetape, and hours in a worm, moist room to encourage the shellac to penetrate the texture of the base tape. Based on his discription, it sonds like one should only use this shellac if he knows the full and proper technique and is willing to put in a lot of effort. The entire process takes weeks.
There is also an interesting section right after the bit about shellac that describes how to use cloth patches between the rim and the sidewall to better secure the tire to the rim. This technique involves heavy canvas and upholstery glue, and is intended to keep tire mounted in the event of suppen pressure loss during a motor-pace event.
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