Hi! Im fixing up a vintage racebike i found by the side of the road. Among other things, it needed new wheels, which i found on facebook marketplace. All i need is outside tires.
[The wheels came with one tire, but it was so old that the tube and tire seemed melted together, and the tire had no information on it.]
The problem is the rim has very low edges, and local bike shops told me i got scammed and that they don't have any tires for this. To me it just seems like an old model, so I'm a bit conflicted.
Did i get scammed? Or is there some term for specific tires i need to google?
(the picture shows my old wheel on the left, which (hopefully) clearly has a raised edge; and the new wheel on the right, which is a lot flatter)
by gideon_supreme
15 Comments
These are for tubular tyres, you glue them on top
Is the wheel different than it was advertised? If no, it’s not a scam, you just didn’t look into what you bought.
Not necessarily scammed. Tubular instead of clincher/open tubular.
[https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/2318/5263/files/1.0-Gravel-Buyer-Guide-tire-type_1_2048x2048.jpg?v=1624555840](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/2318/5263/files/1.0-Gravel-Buyer-Guide-tire-type_1_2048x2048.jpg?v=1624555840)
The left wheel is for clincher tires, the right one for tubulars.
I personally would not ride tubulars, but you should be able to get some 😀
I wouldn’t call this a scam, the seller could have told you more about the tyres these use but it’s also the buyers responsibility to check. Maybe the seller didn’t know much either. These used to be the standard and can be common to see on really vintage bikes. You can get the right tyres/tubes for them and there’s lots of info online on how to glue them (people still do it!), but it’d probably be best to sell them and go for modern ones if you don’t want to deal with them for the lifespan of the bike.
Tubular rims…. the tire IS the tube. You use tubular glue to set the tire on the rim. Make sure you put the new tire on without glue first to stretch it a bit.
You’re in for an adventure
You brought the wheels to a bikeshop and they didn’t tell you they were tubular wheels?
EDIT: The one on the left is a normal wheel
You did not get scammed. You bought tubular wheels that require the gluing of a tubular tire aka sew-up tires. The seller did nothing wrong especially if they had pictures and described the wheel as being tubular. You can buy tubulars tires and glue but since you seem not to be familiar with tubulars, I would not use them. I only used tubulars for racing.
You bought a tubular wheel. It wasn’t fused together. It was a tubular tyre. The inner tube is sewn inside. You bought the wrong thing. Not a scam
Tubulars are sublime.
A pita to work with, but they ride like a dream.
Also, you look old school cool with the spare tyre wrapped around your chest in a figure eight.
😎
Your local bike shop appears to be disappointingly ignorant. As others have said, you’ve acquired wheels with rims for tubular tires.
From [https://www.sheldonbrown.com/tires.html](https://www.sheldonbrown.com/tires.html) …
“Tubular tires, also known as “sew-ups” or “sprints” differ from [clinchers](https://www.sheldonbrown.com/gloss_cl.html#clincher) in that they don’t have [beads](https://www.sheldonbrown.com/tires.html#bead). Instead, the two edges of the tire are sewn together around the inner tube. Tubulars are used on special rims, and are held on to the rims by glue.”
Tubulars are undesirable for most uses outside of a velodrome or races with mechanic support because they’re a major hassle to fix a flat at the roadside compared to other systems.
Now that you know these are for tubulars, do you have another (better) LBS to go to?
Find a new shop. You can definitely still buy tubular tires and while they’re different than clinchers, they can absolutely work for daily riding.
Scammed by who? The bike shop aren’t scammers, but they sure aren’t knowledgeable.