Tubulars tires mounting and maintenance

Tubular tires are gaining popularity back.. 1- If using a brand new rims, aluminium or Carbon, sand the rim surface (where the tubular will be glued) with a 350 sandpaper, just enough to remove the clear finish so the gluing is more efficientIf you use a rim which was already used, just remove the extra glue, no need to remove the older glue entirely. Just make it even surface.Stretch the tubular before mounting by pulling it 10cm by 10cm (put it under your feet and pull it, be careful of the valve!) This helps to relax the tubular for easier mounting.Mount it on the rim without glue to check if it fit without too much effort.2- Apply glue on the rim (remove the tubular first!)It is difficult to quantify how much glue you need to put, but too much or not enough are not good. Too much will have a result that you get glue on the rim side and all over the tubular, not enough is more dangerous as you might end up loosing your tubular while cornering (Remember Mayo!?)Try to avoid filling the spokes holes.Leave the glue to dry, depends of the glue you use, usually between 10 and 15 minutes is fine. You need to have a sticky feeling.. 3- It is not gepulsory to apply glue on the tubular ruban. However, should you decide to do so, you need to leave the glue dry on th etubular too.4- Inflate the tubular a little bit, insert the valve and start to fit the tubular inch by inch (or cm by cm) while pulling equally on both side of the tubular (keep a rather high and equal tension to make sure tubular fit well)Keep both hands symetric while pulling down.Make sure the valve stays straight until the end.You must mount the tubular by HANDS only, no tools!!The best way to mount the tubular and have power is to stand with the wheels front of the legs, vavle on top side and mounting the tubular as you go down.5- check the tubular is well centered by looking at the side wall of the tubular. Re-adjust if necessary.Inflate up to 3 or 4 kg maxi. Leave it to dry 24 hours (some glue are very fast drying, like Panaracer and Continental, which needs only 3 to 4 hours!)Additional tips:- Check you tubulars before and after each rides- Remove air while not in use if the Tubular has a Latex chamber when not in use (usually on high end tubular)- If you mount 2 different tubulars sizes on the same bike, always fit the lightest at the back for a more efficient performance.- Leave 2 spaces of 3 cm whithout glue on the opposite side on the valve, so it will be easier when you decide to remove the tubular by starting pulling it off there.- You will get better result with a tubular that you keep to dry few months in a cool and dark place (Some guys stock lots of tubulars several years!!)- A dry tubular will have less pucture than a brand new made one.