Boy did I just shoot myself in the foot. I had been riding on Grand Prix 3000 tires with Pyramid high quality tubes since I purchased my bike in March. 800 miles without any problems. About 3 weeks ago I purchsed new tires and tubes. Grand Prix Super Sonic and performance ultralight road tubes. I had two races coming up, an olympic and my first 1/2 Iron. The Super Sonics were lighter with higher psi so I thought I would try them. Everything went fine in the olympic but the following week in the 1/2 Iron at mile 38 my back tire went flat. I was afforded the wonderful opportunity to attempt my first tire change, I held it together and managed to change the tire and 38 minutes later was on my way. Well I managed to stay positive and told myself at least I was still in the race and my goal was to complete the race. 30 minutes later my front tire went flat. I changed my tire and was pumping up the wheel when the intertube burst. That was it. I was walking down the road when my brother who was watching the race came looking for me. He was driving my car and I happen to have one last intertube in the trunk. I nervously changed the tire and said my prayers that I would make it the last 8 miles. I did and finished the race after an hour and twenty minutes worth of delays. Needless to say I never want to go through that again. Was this more of a tube problem a tire problem or both? Should I just go back to what I originally had or use the Super Sonics with the high quality tube. Thanks Norm
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Re: Tires,Tubes and Woe [NormM]
[ In reply to ]
I'm afraid I can't comment on your current tyre choices because I hate Conti and as such have never ridden them - however, if your front tyre blew when you were pumping it back up there's a very good chance that you pinched the tube during installation - very easy to do in the heat of a quick change, and especially after having already blown out once before. I'd blame the installation over the inner tubes in this case.
If you're looking for new race tyres I'm sure you'll get a tonne of opinions on this board - but for the record I'm extremely impressed with Vredestein tyres, and am currently experimenting with Panasonics. Next will be Tufo tubular-clinchers. Not because I'm in any way unhappy with my Vreddy's, but because I like trying new toys on my bike and tyres need to be changed anyway - which makes the experimentation relatively inexpensive.
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If you're looking for new race tyres I'm sure you'll get a tonne of opinions on this board - but for the record I'm extremely impressed with Vredestein tyres, and am currently experimenting with Panasonics. Next will be Tufo tubular-clinchers. Not because I'm in any way unhappy with my Vreddy's, but because I like trying new toys on my bike and tyres need to be changed anyway - which makes the experimentation relatively inexpensive.
<If you're gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough>
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Re: Tires,Tubes and Woe [NormM]
[ In reply to ]
I agree that this sounds like a pinch flat from trapping part of the innertube between the tire and rim during installation. Easy to do when in a rush. It's definitely worth the extra 20 seconds to check the entire circumference of a tire before inflating to avoid this. As far as tires go, I like the GP3000's a lot as training tires. I put 3K miles on my first pair without a single flat. I've got about 1k on the current pair with no problems so far. For racing, Michelin Pro Race all the way.
Re: Tires,Tubes and Woe [NormM]
[ In reply to ]
I agree with Khai that it sounds like you pinched the inner tube against the rim. Tires don't just blow immediately upon installation unless they are not sitting properly.
Ever since I got myself a Crank Brothers Speed Lever I have been able to change tubes much quicker with no worrying about pinch flats. It's probably the coolest little tool I've ever used.
I also stay away from light latex tubes. They leak. Lowers one's confidence in condoms the way those things leak... I don't race on clinchers, but I have had good results with Cheng Hsin and Continental inner tubes, which come to think of it are probably both made at the same facility.
Ever since I got myself a Crank Brothers Speed Lever I have been able to change tubes much quicker with no worrying about pinch flats. It's probably the coolest little tool I've ever used.
I also stay away from light latex tubes. They leak. Lowers one's confidence in condoms the way those things leak... I don't race on clinchers, but I have had good results with Cheng Hsin and Continental inner tubes, which come to think of it are probably both made at the same facility.
Re: Tires,Tubes and Woe [itchyghost]
[ In reply to ]
If i read this correct you got a flat on the back then later had a flat in front?Maybe the rim strips were changed when you had the tires installed,and the strips let the tube touch a spoke or sharp edge on the rim.Did you install the new tires?Plus practice changing tires so in a race you do not flip out and lose time,the thickness of some strips can effect how easy some tires come off the rim.
Re: Tires,Tubes and Woe [NormM]
[ In reply to ]
My biggest complaint about conti tires is their sidewalls. I wanted to try them this year cuz everyone seems to like them but have torn 3 sidewalls. Now granted I've hit a few rocks and small branches with them but I hit the same stuff with my michelins too. I even had a sidewall tear on a sprint race and had to use the dollar bill trick to fix the flat.
Supersonics are even lighter than the GP3000 which make them a great race tire but the roads should be perfectly clean to use them. While changing the tube make sure you check the tire for anything poking through it, check for a pinch and check the sidewall for any type of cracking or splitting. If there is any problem with the sidewall throw the tire away.
Good luck
jaretj
Supersonics are even lighter than the GP3000 which make them a great race tire but the roads should be perfectly clean to use them. While changing the tube make sure you check the tire for anything poking through it, check for a pinch and check the sidewall for any type of cracking or splitting. If there is any problem with the sidewall throw the tire away.
Good luck
jaretj
Re: Tires,Tubes and Woe [Khai]
[ In reply to ]
Vredestein - definitely. They are pretty light, you can pump them up to 145psi (if for some reason you'd want to do that), they have very good puncture resistance and they handle extraodinarily well.
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I've not used Conti Supersonics, but I have used the Performance LunarLite tubes with the same results. They Suck. To completely eliminate this problem, I have changed over to Tufo tubular clinchers. No tubes, no rim strips, no problem, so far. Do yourself a favor and try them. For $21.99US per tire at Glory Cycles http://www.glorycycles.com/tufo.html , how can you go wrong? Want higher psi, try the more expensive Tufos. The Giro Twix rates to 220 psi!
Sean
Sean