He is switching all his stuff to "race day" parts the night before the race.

Have you seen/heard what caused the flat? Maybe he ran over a 3" staple, which would have flatted a butyl tube just the same.

I highly doubt it was an installation error like some people are terrified of when it comes to latex tubes.

Maybe he was riding so close to the lead motto that the exhaust fumes blew up the tire. It's all speculation at this point.

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Alex Arman

Strava

All I can add to this thread is that one has to wonder at what point Frodo will try road tubeless. Not saying it's better, just saying I'd imagine the flat thing is in his mind by now and he's probably willing to experiment.

Given the current market (i.e. tire choice) and Jan's racing dynamic: you think road tubeless would be a good choice?

Do pros not know how to change a tire? I know getting a flat doesn't exactly help their race, but the top 5 spots were separated by 8 minutes.... Did he really need to spend 15 minutes changing the flat?!

He addressed the cause (and critics) on instagram.

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just your average age grouper . no one special . no scientific knowledge . just having fun.

In my experience riders who flat more often than the average just aren't as attentive to debry, holes and cracks in the road. Just sayin'

What clincher tire was Frodo riding, Zipp? I assumed he rode Conti but don't see a Conti logo on his website

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Toro Performance

Continental. It's a prototype, basically the TT rubber thickness with the GP4000s "shark fin" tread pattern.

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Alex Arman

Strava

Glukos Energy posted a picture of his rig on facebook a few days before the race with (training) Zipp 404 wheels and Conti GP TT tires. It would make sense he'd race on the same tires but that's just my guess.

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Madison photographer Timothy Hughes | Instagram

Can someone enlighten the rest of us about what other races Jan has flatted in and compare his flat stats to others, most notably other top pros? To those using the same equipment set up? Without a pure analysis of how many times he flats compared to others, this thread is a bunch of slowtwitchers criticising a 2x ironman world champ/gold medalist/140.6 WR holder/all other accolades on what he's doing "wrong"...

Doesn't make much sense to me. Shit happens. Including flat tires.

He is confusing tubular with tubeless...

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ishi no ue ni san nen | Perseverance will win in the end. | Blog | @nebmot | Strava | Instagram |

Kona 2014, cost him a win. I remember another, but can't think of it now.

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Team Zoot So Cal

It's a tire... not a bulletproof vest haha what do you expect?

I mean this in the least dick way possible...but if you can't think of it you don't really remember it.

I'm just trying to get a handle on how this debate has started and what it's based on. Did the flat tire truly "cost" him 2014 kona? Undeniably there are no other variables that could account for him not being in 1st place? You never know what would really happen if something did or didn't happen. Race dynamics, the way people adaptively react or change performance based on where another competitor is (10 mins back or running 2 feet behind them...).

Maybe the new Vittoria. TomA has mentioned a "repair technique" that's "much faster than changing a tube". That said it appears Jan had a sidewall cut so it likely wouldn't have made a difference.

I was just kind of broadly speculating that flats might have gotten into his head and he might try something different. Based on his Instagram comments, it appears he is confident in his equipment choices.

Watching Kona in 2014, I "believe" the flat cost him the win. No one will ever know.
Would Sanders have won anyway on Saturday? Maybe? He sure had a great race.
In my original post, I asked for more info. I got it. He cut a sidewall which is not tube installation and is just bad luck.
I asked if I was just being a arm chair quarterback- I was.
Thanks for paying attention and not trying to be a dick.

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Team Zoot So Cal

Hah yeah I hear ya. I brought it up bc this came up in the other Ocan side thread i think and I just wondered where the "Jan loses lots of races bc of flats" talk is coming from. I follow the sport closely but hadn't heard this or noticed it myself.

Kona 2014, and also Frankfurt - twice in same race- said it was cobbles :-) (2014/2015?). He finished both of those races, but it is easier to make up time in a full.

In saying clinchers are faster? I don't think so.

Clinchers are faster.

Tubeless is clincher ffs... no shit clinchers are faster...

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ishi no ue ni san nen | Perseverance will win in the end. | Blog | @nebmot | Strava | Instagram |

I echo the new Vittoria G+ series. They have Graphene which is supposedly insanely puncture resistant with low rolling resistance. But thats manufactures claims...

Yeah about that... BRR puts its puncture resistance slightly worse than the GP TT. In the real world tubeless might be more "flat" resistant (not puncture resistant!) due to sealant.

Which, of course, can be achieved in a tubed tire as well. Not gonna help sidewall cuts though.