Matter of personal preferrence.

Anyone that goes to the race start to do their final bike check - without a pump - is gambling and in my own honest opinion - careless. Particularly when the bike check in is the day/night before

fully inflated tires sitting in a hot sun can blow due to the increase in tire pressure. any race with good tech support will have pumps, but it always helps to have your own handy.

Typically, the bike shop (inside out?) is running around the transition with pumps. Or, you can just rip one out of the hands of your neighbor (who stole it from the other guy). Bring your own and hand it over the fence to a loved one when finished.

I don't like to fully inflate my tires the day before because I can't control the heat that the bike will be exposed to throughout the day while it's racked. I do, however, leave a bit of pressure and then check for that in the morning (for obvious leaks) before pumping to race pressure.

What I don't understand is why one can stand around a transition area in the evening and hear tires exploding and hissing. Why does that happen?

-jeff

In my years of experience with the transition area in Kona, I've never heard tires exploding or hissing at night. Sometimes we'll find one or two that appear to be flat but won't know until the next morning when the owner pumps the tire up.

When we do hear tires exploding is on race morning when nervous, over-adrenilined athletes are over-pumping their tires, or when the swim is going and the sun is warming the area up and the tires expand. On average each year, the tech support guys repair over 24 flats in the transition area in addition to other mechanical problems before an athlete even hits the Queen K Hwy.

Oh, my suggestion is to always bring your own pump with your race number and name on it somewhere. Running around trying to find a pump is a waste of time, they don't always work right, you're too nervous, etc....try to coordinate with anyone else you know who's racing to have one pump between a group of you. Hand the pump to someone outside of the transition area or take back to your car, depending on the event.

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Have you hugged Your Mom today?

This theory was disproved some time ago, on an old thread. The increase in volume due to the likely temperature increase is minor.

One advantage to pumping tires up the day/night before is that if you have a slow puncture you will spot it in the morning when you check it before the ride. If you wait until the morning to pump them up, you'll spot it after 30 miles instead.

Depending upon your tire, there is a decrease in pressure. Many folks don't use plumber's tape for their extenders and/or have issues with their valve stem.

Sheeeesh, I have all sorts of stories about race-morning bike tire issues. I was late to the swim in IMFL in 2002 and heard a tubular pop at 6:45. The InsideOut guys replaced the tire w/o the racer knowing it. THAT is service! Wonder if they left the bill with it?

Perhaps worthy of a "what can go wrong with tires" thread.....

Another common problem I see if folks with valve extenders which the valve stem and rattled shut. "My tire won't take air!!!!!" You need to pry it open and/or slightly bend the stem to keep it open. The other culprit for tires not taking air is some people don't understand you need to release the pressure. Perhaps trivil for ST, but it happens all the time....

Yeah, they either blow from the tube being pinched/tire bead not seated properly. Or when sitting in store windows I could imagine the sunlight reflecting through the window can get the rim MUCH hotter than air temp.

By the way Uncle Phil, I got some TYR Socket Rockets. They're great !! Take a while to get used to but they didn't leak a drop !!

At IM events does Inside Out Sports even replace tubies that burst? or are all the bursts/flats on clinchers tires.

E

I've seen I/O replace blown or severly leaking tubulars at races.

Also, my tubulars always seem to leak a lot of air, even if they're just sitting there. Why is this? Due to having value extenders?

Anyway, I always bring a pump with me...I figure it's best to be self-sufficient and if better options appear on race day then great, I'll take it.

At the last couple of IM Kona races, it's been 80% clinchers, 20% tubulars. Tech support is supposed to use the athlete's spare tube/tire first but we still fun out of the supply of tubes we have on hand. It amazes me how many athletes are unprepared for a flat on the the race course, assuming a tech support van is going to be right there. It's a big course, think again.

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______________________________
Have you hugged Your Mom today?

You probably already know this, but some tubulars have butyl innertubes and some have latex. The latex ones will leak air, and you will need to pump them up much more often. This is not a flaw with latex tubes; it's just the way they are. Tubulars with latex tubes include Vittoria, Veloflex; those with butyl tubes include Conti, TUFO.

Richard

Inflating my tires the night before the race is the way I do it. That way I can find any possible leaks by morning and ensure I'm not at 100 % max psi on race day. I've heard plenty of tires popping off after a race as the bikes sit on the pavement or asphalt. 5-10 lbs of psi are not going to make that much of a difference in performance above 110 lbs psi anyway. An ounce of prevention......

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Someone once accused me of being swimfan. I miss that guy.