[CR]No longer a tubbie virgin! But questions!

(Example: Production Builders:Cinelli:Laser)

From: "Dr. Paul Williams" <castell5@sympatico.ca>
To: <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
Date: Sun, 15 Jul 2007 14:57:09 -0400
Subject: [CR]No longer a tubbie virgin! But questions!

Okay, thought that might grab some attention!

This morning for the first time in my 47 year life I rode a set of tubular tyres on my 81 Ilkeston Raleigh. What a joy they were to ride and it was great to have this bike back on the road after being out of action for about three years. The wheelset is one I got from John Barron a few years ago - Mavic GL330s laced to a LF Campag rear and a SF Campag front - maybe not the authentic set-up for the particular bike but looked good anyway. I even managed to cope with the straight-seven Sachs-Maillard freewheel block 12-19 with a 42-52 SR crankset. Mind you I mostly stayed in the lower to lower-middle gears. Had some problems with the gears slipping under load though - but that is another story and one I will have to address before my next ride.

Anyway, I was happy that the tubbies did not roll off the rim and seemed to have stayed put (and no apparent bumps). Not only was this my first ride with them it was also my first experience gluing them up and I did the three layer job! No-one told me what a messy job this is. I had one question though for the gang as a tubbie newbie - I noticed that there was a ticking sound (mainly from the front wheel) which seemed to come from the tyres themselves - sort of like when one pulls apart something sticky or tacky - is this to be expected? Was this from the tyres seating themselves? Or maybe some glue on the tread surface (although I was careful to try not to get it everywhere)? Or was it the fact that these were new tyres?

Cheers,

Paul Williams, Ottawa (but temporarily in Kingston) Ontario, Canada