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Cleaning and scrubbing a new tyre.

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thirty-six

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May 27, 2010, 7:04:02 AM5/27/10
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Other than using a stiff naibrush and detergent on a new tyre to
remove most of the mould release, how do you prepare a race tyre for
the road or track preferably of minimal effort and maximum gain which
does not significantly risk damaging the treated tyre tread? I'm
thinking of acetone, hypochlorite or petroleum product along with a
powered scrubbing disc or using a scraper.

Lou Holtman

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May 27, 2010, 7:33:47 AM5/27/10
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Ride them for a couple of km. The mould release on the Michelin pro2
race tires is very visible and it's completely gone after a couple of
km. Tarmac is excellent sandpaper.

Lou

Sergio Moretti

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May 27, 2010, 9:29:27 AM5/27/10
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Saw a photo of race mechanic using a razor blade perpendicular to
tread surface, apparently to scrape Michelins clean.
Lou's suggestion is more practical.

- Sergio Moretti

Clive George

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May 27, 2010, 9:49:08 AM5/27/10
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On 27/05/2010 14:29, Sergio Moretti wrote:

> Saw a photo of race mechanic using a razor blade perpendicular to
> tread surface, apparently to scrape Michelins clean.

Sure it wasn't him being caught on the competition's wheels just before
the race start? :-)

Tim McNamara

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May 27, 2010, 9:58:11 AM5/27/10
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In article
<064260b3-1bfc-4cd3...@c11g2000vbe.googlegroups.com>,
Sergio Moretti <morett...@comcast.net> wrote:

> On May 27, 6:33�am, Lou Holtman <l...@planet.nl> wrote:
> > On 27 mei, 13:04, thirty-six <thirty-...@live.co.uk> wrote:
> >
> > > Other than using a stiff naibrush and detergent on a new tyre to
> > > remove most of the mould release, how do you prepare a race tyre
> > > for the road or track preferably of minimal effort and maximum
> > > gain which does not significantly risk damaging the treated tyre
> > > tread? �I'm thinking of acetone, hypochlorite or petroleum
> > > product along with a powered scrubbing disc or using a scraper.
> >
> > Ride them for a couple of km. The mould release on the Michelin
> > pro2 race tires is very visible and it's completely gone after a
> > couple of km. Tarmac is excellent sandpaper.
>

> Saw a photo of race mechanic using a razor blade perpendicular to
> tread surface, apparently to scrape Michelins clean.

Must be paid by the hour.

> Lou's suggestion is more practical.

Yup. The mold release is inconsequential and gone within minutes on the
first ride.

thirty-six

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May 27, 2010, 10:09:49 AM5/27/10
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It's not for my wheels. I remember frequently having problems with
new tyres when I was racing even though I knew I should have rode them
in first before expecting good cornering power. Youth tends to get
the better of good intentions. It is quite possible that most of my
falls were due in part to new tyres and/or overpressure and
overexuberance. I'd prefer not to pass on the experience of
unnecessary falling as it discourages high cornering speeds in most
riders.

The scraping was what I expected but in combination with what as an
aid to removing the greasing. Some sort of powder or solvent?

thirty-six

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May 27, 2010, 10:10:48 AM5/27/10
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On 27 May, 14:58, Tim McNamara <tim...@bitstream.net> wrote:
> In article
> <064260b3-1bfc-4cd3-bb20-6b72d9300...@c11g2000vbe.googlegroups.com>,

Ho Ho

Andy Coggan

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May 27, 2010, 10:33:32 AM5/27/10
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On May 27, 6:33 am, Lou Holtman <l...@planet.nl> wrote:

+1

My wife got caught in a bit of a bind at track nationals in '07 when
the trainer she used to warm up on for the track chewed up her
VeloFlex Record (brought the trainer and not rollers because we were
already flying with too much stuff). I quickly picked up a couple of
Michelins and mounted them before the next session, but was worried
about the mold release, so spent about 45 min out in the hotel parking
lot scraping the tires against the concrete every which way. By the
time I was done they were completely clean.

Andy Coggan

z, fred

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May 27, 2010, 11:00:39 AM5/27/10
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Why didn't you just ride around the parking lot for a couple of laps
with the bike leaned way over?

Andy Coggan

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May 27, 2010, 1:50:33 PM5/27/10
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It was a tight parking lot and I didn't want to crash into anyone/
anything due to the lack of brakes.

I did, though, use the cranks to spin up the rear wheel to a high
speed and then apply it to the pavement at different angles to stop
it.

Andy Coggan

pastor...@lanaifaith.com

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May 27, 2010, 4:46:56 PM5/27/10
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"thirty-six" <thirt...@live.co.uk> wrote in message
news:4b9020dd-d66d-4357...@u7g2000vbq.googlegroups.com...


Use a cleaner called greased lightning - works pretty good. But will dull
aluminum so wash off right away.


thirty-six

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May 27, 2010, 5:53:54 PM5/27/10
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On 27 May, 21:46, <pastorgreg...@lanaifaith.com> wrote:
> "thirty-six" <thirty-...@live.co.uk> wrote in message

Greased Lightening One minute Wheels is £15, I'm preparing these
wheels as a favour and looking to use something I've already got. I
don't mind spending a up to £5 if it saves a lot of work or risk and
I'll actually use the stuff for myself, but I'm seriously not eating
through my tyres now so I dont think I'll need anything for myself
this year.

thirty-six

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May 27, 2010, 7:35:24 PM5/27/10
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It seems petroleum products remove waxes, IIRC waxes are there to help
increase the useful temperature range of a tread rubber and would
possibly not be in a track specific tread. But I wont be handling
record setting tyres so whatever tyres turn up might have waxes
included in the rubber mix. Does it matter if some waxes are removed
from the surface, wouldn't this improve a tyre over 'just clean'?

Anton Berlin

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May 27, 2010, 7:52:40 PM5/27/10
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> Andy Coggan- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

WTF guys? Almost every rider I know keeps a bottle of rubbing alcohol
in their kit bag. Cleans wounds, sweat and tires.

thirty-six

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May 27, 2010, 7:59:07 PM5/27/10
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Is that methyl alcohol? How precisely do you use it to clean a new
tyre?

AMuzi

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May 27, 2010, 8:18:10 PM5/27/10
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One effective abrasive is concrete. Another is asphalt
mixture. Both abrasives are commonly found, in very long
strips, just about everywhere. Technically, we call these
abrasive strips "roads".

--
Andrew Muzi
<www.yellowjersey.org/>
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

thirty-six

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May 27, 2010, 8:31:04 PM5/27/10
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On 28 May, 01:18, AMuzi <a...@yellowjersey.org> wrote:
> thirty-six wrote:
> > Other than using a stiff naibrush and detergent on a new tyre to
> > remove most of the mould release, how do you prepare a race tyre for
> > the road or track preferably of minimal effort and maximum gain which
> > does not significantly risk damaging the treated tyre tread?  I'm
> > thinking of acetone, hypochlorite or petroleum product along with a
> > powered scrubbing disc or using a scraper.
>
> One effective abrasive is concrete. Another is asphalt
> mixture. Both abrasives are commonly found, in very long
> strips, just about everywhere. Technically, we call these
> abrasive strips "roads".

This doesn't help. In my experience it can take over 200 miles to get
a tyre safe for hard cornering without specific method to remove the
greasing. If I didn't scrub new tyres with detergent, twice, I'd end
up on my backside(most probably) if it rained within the scrub-in
period.

Betty Munro

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May 28, 2010, 5:25:40 AM5/28/10
to
Anton Berlin wrote:
> WTF guys? Almost every rider I know keeps a bottle of rubbing alcohol
> in their kit bag. Cleans wounds, sweat and tires.

And it provides the dedicated LIVEDRUNKARDS with something to add to
their water bottles.

dusto...@mac.com

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May 28, 2010, 1:04:39 PM5/28/10
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<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubbing_alcohol>

Says isopropyl or ethyl alcohol in the USA. English stuff is
different.

Lemon juice? Ordinary dish soap, gentle application with a scrubber
sponge (3M green or lighter)?

Brake cleaner, said a motorcycle site. "Bra-Kleen", which they
probably should have named "Brak-Kleen" or something.
--D-y
--D-y

thirty-six

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May 28, 2010, 11:12:26 PM5/28/10
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A few further thoughts on preparing a new tyre tread for road/track
racing.

On 28 May, 18:04, "dustoyev...@mac.com" <dustoyev...@mac.com> wrote:

> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubbing_alcohol>
>
> Says isopropyl or ethyl alcohol in the USA. English stuff is
> different.
>
> Lemon juice? Ordinary dish soap, gentle application with a scrubber
> sponge (3M green or lighter)?

I've got IPA in an aerosol for degreasing and can remember it being
the preferred choice for tape heads because it doesn't dissolve the
varnish used to cement the head components together unlike what ethyl
alcohol may do. This looks promising. If no black comes off when
using it I'll be happy, probably use a stencil brush with it.

Ah, forgot about citrus. It might be in order to get some goopy hand
cleaner as an alternative to dish detergent. Don't really see it as
being more effective, I imagine it will still need scrubbing. I've
thought about the pan scrub material mounted on a spat and while it
should be good for smooth treads it may not be as effective as the
stiff brush when used on ribbed tyres.

I've used dish detergent and household soap in the past, they need
quite a bit of work with scrubbing and warm water to make them
effective at removing the grease. There was a soap bar called
Sunlight which would probably do nearly all the work, but it does not
seem to be available locally any longer. Although it would require
the use of water and brush (it could be left to dry and scraped/ridden
off) I am pretty certain that Sunlight soap is otherwise ideal.

I've found a nylon brush for use with a drilling machine but the
catalogue says it has abrasive particles attached, I think it's for
metal cleaning.
Hang on a mo'. That'd be just like a road.
No solvents mean no risk of compromising grip or wear rate due to
dissolving of waxes.

>
> Brake cleaner, said a motorcycle site. "Bra-Kleen", which they
> probably should have named "Brak-Kleen" or something.

While probably not problematic because is is designed for use around
tyres it is still a spirituous solvent is it not? Could this be an
improvement on IPA etc, presuming the IPA will shift whatever greasing
has been used.

Thanks for your help so far, it looks like there are still a few
avenues to consider. I was hoping for some definitive answers which
took account of the problems of dissolving the actual rubber and
leaving the surface deficient in waxes and filler.

and on it goes

Tested IPA on a used tread and after thirty seconds I got quite a bit
of black from the tread. This could be at least mostly dust in the
surface so I tried it again and it was reduced the second time but
seems still to be dissolving the rubber. Would need to have new tread
to test. I suspect I wont get these wheels/tyres till the last minute
so the IPA is the backup whatever it does to the rubber.

I've also got flux cleaner (for rosin) in aerosol form. I dont know
the actual contents but it seems to clean a used tyre quite well with
much less black removal and leaves the surface slightly tacky,
unfortunately I dont have a lot due to leakage. Serves me right for
picking it up at discount. It's probably not otherwise economically
viable. Methylated spirits (9X% ethanol, rest methanol) has a quick
evaporation time and leaves the tread ultra sticky when wiping off
after 15seconds. I suspect this has upset the tread compound.
Tried again, rubbing with cotton wool the whole time and drying off as
soon as the black residue on the pad started to increase in rate.
Result, no latex like feel, I still have a rubber surface. This is a
bit messy on a ribbed tyre but certainly quicker than the detergent
method.

Nail polish remover (mostly acetone) evaporates too fast and seems to
be on a par with the flux cleaner. The forced short contact time and
high evaporation rate probably preventing deep tread damage. It is my
preferred choice for inner tube preparation when used twice to
dissolve the surface rubber. Smooth tread good, probably not for
ribbed without using a brush and constantly cleaning it.

Tried the IPA again but with only 15 seconds contact time, this
removes much less black and does not make the tread ultra gummy (like
fresh dried latex) so I expect that more of the stabilisers remain.

It seems that apart from the Flux Cleaner, all the spirituous
substances tested do dissolve the rubber reducing filler and wax
content at the surface if left in contact for more than about 12
seconds.

I have some hydrochloric acid at 30% but suspect this will dissolve
the rubber without compromise even at safer dilutions.

Just been reminded why not to use spirits, I've dried my hands out
even with a little bit of testing, so vinyl gloves seem to be in
order.

I'm still wondering about using a powder or paste. Portland cement
is used to soak up oil I wonder if a casing of paste made up straight
with a little water and leaving to dry will draw off the grease
without harming the rubber. Should just take a couple of minutes to
put on with a spatula and can be ridden to remove the shell when dry.

One last thought on this for now is whether hand gel cleaner would do
the job. These seem easily obtainable id different strengths so like
the flux cleaner may be less exacting in their use.

Tom Sherman °_°

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May 28, 2010, 11:22:36 PM5/28/10
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On 5/28/2010 10:12 PM, thirty-six aka Trevor Jeffrey wrote:
> [...]
> I've got IPA in an aerosol for degreasing[...]

India Pale Ale? ;)

--
Tom Sherman - 42.435731,-83.985007
I am a vehicular cyclist.

thirty-six

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May 28, 2010, 11:30:04 PM5/28/10
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On 29 May, 04:22, Tom Sherman °_° <twshermanREM...@THISsouthslope.net>
wrote:

> On 5/28/2010 10:12 PM, thirty-six aka Trevor Jeffrey wrote:
>
> > [...]
> > I've got IPA in an aerosol for degreasing[...]
>
> India Pale Ale? ;)

That's in the brown bottles next to Northern stout.

IsoPropylAlcohol.


z, fred

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May 28, 2010, 11:50:38 PM5/28/10
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Tom Sherman �_� wrote:
> On 5/28/2010 10:12 PM, thirty-six aka Trevor Jeffrey wrote:
>> [...]
>> I've got IPA in an aerosol for degreasing[...]
>
> India Pale Ale? ;)
>

My thoughts exactly.

z, fred

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May 28, 2010, 11:54:28 PM5/28/10
to

Not that the issue at hand is the same, but due to dust and the surface
layer of the plywood track in Frisco, TX, it was recommended to use MEK
to clean their tyres so they would grip on the banking.

Frederick the Great

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May 29, 2010, 3:39:00 PM5/29/10
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In article <ja0Mn.36013$Ak3....@newsfe16.iad>, "z, fred" <No...@not.ca>
wrote:

Whenever I suspect India pale ale is
about to be aerosolized I clear the area.

--
Old Fritz

Betty Munro

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May 29, 2010, 3:47:01 PM5/29/10
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Frederick the Great wrote:
> Whenever I suspect India pale ale is
> about to be aerosolized I clear the area.

Pity Ryan's on sabbatical. I'm sure he'd have wanted some lite beer in
an aerosol spray.

thirty-six

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May 29, 2010, 4:16:20 PM5/29/10
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On 29 May, 20:39, Frederick the Great <rub...@pacbell.net> wrote:
> In article <ja0Mn.36013$Ak3.9...@newsfe16.iad>, "z, fred" <N...@not.ca>

> wrote:
>
> > Tom Sherman °_° wrote:
> > > On 5/28/2010 10:12 PM, thirty-six aka Trevor Jeffrey wrote:
> > >> [...]
> > >> I've got IPA in an aerosol for degreasing[...]
>
> > > India Pale Ale? ;)
>
> > My thoughts exactly.
>
> Whenever I suspect India pale ale is
> about to be aerosolized I clear the area.

Even when hopped with best East Kent Goldings?

Tom Sherman °_°

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Jun 2, 2010, 9:33:39 PM6/2/10
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Around here, "IPA" could also be Iowa Pale Ale:
<http://www.millstreambrewing.com/Warsh.html>.

The label is cute, if a bit precious:
<http://www.millstreambrewing.com/images/Iowa-Pale-Ale.jpg>.

thirty-six

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Jun 3, 2010, 8:09:01 AM6/3/10
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On 27 May, 14:29, Sergio Moretti <morettiath...@comcast.net> wrote:
> On May 27, 6:33 am, Lou Holtman <l...@planet.nl> wrote:
>
> > On 27 mei, 13:04, thirty-six <thirty-...@live.co.uk> wrote:
>
> > > Other than using a stiff naibrush and detergent on a new tyre to
> > > remove most of the mould release, how do you prepare a race tyre for
> > > the road or track preferably of minimal effort and maximum gain which
> > > does not significantly risk damaging the treated tyre tread?  I'm
> > > thinking of acetone, hypochlorite or petroleum product along with a
> > > powered scrubbing disc or using a scraper.
>
> > Ride them for a couple of km. The mould release on the Michelin pro2
> > race tires is very visible and it's completely gone after a couple of
> > km. Tarmac is excellent sandpaper.
>
> > Lou

>
> Saw a photo of race mechanic using a razor blade perpendicular to
> tread surface, apparently to scrape Michelins clean.
> Lou's suggestion is more practical.
>
> - Sergio Moretti

Hand gel sanitizer seems to have sufficient cleansing power without
deteriorating the rubber. The tyres requiring cleansing are
Challenge Criteriums which are currently in the process of being glued-
up. Spot tests indicate that spreading on the hand gel and leaving it
for thirty seconds, before scraping off while wet removes unwanted
oils on smooth rubber, Criterium's tread is patterned and needs a
brush as well. I dont see any way around using a brush as washing in
soapy water also requires it.

thirty-six

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Jun 4, 2010, 7:41:29 PM6/4/10
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Got the tyres squeaky under my fingertips using the alcohol hand gel
and a nailbrush. Anyway, they're on the bike and I'm hoping it rains
tomorrow.

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