Alternative to carrying a spare tubular

Triathlon Forum
1

Anyone have any luck with a tire repair product as an alternative to carrying a spare tubular tire? It takes up so much space during races.

2

I always carry a spare tire with me…normally in front under my jersey :slight_smile:

jaretj
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3

Can of pit stop…works everytimem
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4

Can of pit stop…works everytimem

I’ve been hoping that actually works since it’s my current flat fix plan. Do you have experience with this? Any idea whether PitStop works better than FastAir?

5

Taped to your guts?

I always carry a spare tire with me…normally in front under my jersey :slight_smile:

jaretj

6

I have used the Caffelatex product and I’m 2 for 2 with it. I also carry that for racing because the flexible tube should work better with a disc.

Just make sure:
No air in tireValve openRemove quickly and expect a latex foam shower (not as sexy as it sounds)
If you have a large puncture, I have heard that you can put your thumb over the hole and use sealant and it will work. Also note that if your tires have latex tubes, CO2 + latex = flat tires fast. My tires were dead-flat a couple hours later and I thought the sealant failed. Pumped the tire back up and it still holds air a year+ later.

7

I don’t carry a spare of any kind during races. If I flat, it’s over.

8

I have seen some leading pros. have a bag or just tube under the seat and a hand pump, not co2 , cant fail. i have ridden past many people who didnt have this as a back up. if it works for them it works for me.

9

It was just a joke to bump the topic to the top of the page.

The old spare tire on my mid section = belly fat

10

Taped to your guts?

I always carry a spare tire with me…normally in front under my jersey :slight_smile:

jaretj

Lawlz.

woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooosh

11

I don’t ride tubulars anymore, but when I did I rode the following: http://www.thomasgerlach.com/2011/10/gold-standard-gear-best-tubular-spare.html

Can’t beat a tubular that weighs as much and is the same size as many of the tubes people carry.

12

When I rode tubulars I would carry a bottle of Vittoria Pit Stop/Hutchinson Fast Air/Caffelatex Repair Cartridge, a couple of CO2 cartridges, inflator and crack pipe (if I was riding a disc). When I did Ironman WI, however, I did carry a spare tubular folded up as small as possible. It all depends on how much risk you are willing to take.

13

How hard is it to get the “flatted” tubular off the wheel if it has been glued all the way around the wheel? I asked my bike shop to leave a section un-glued as I had read that is how you rip it off, however, they would not do that as they said it was too risky. Is this a pre-requisite to being able to change it on the fly (while racing)?

14

Now you are getting into partially why I left tubulars in the first place. If you want the low RR from the gold-standard gluing method that Al showed then you tires are going to be on there pretty good and the easiest way to get them off is to bring a razor blade with you. You slice the tire in half and then pull up at the slice and it is pretty easy to get the tire off. However, that requires a razor blade and some good slicing technique. If you don’t glue them on as well, then they may be easier to get off but you are giving up some RR at the point. Regardless, clinchers are the better way to go IMO.

15

using a sealant in the tires like cafe latex and ensuring it has not hardened with time with greatly reduce flats. Carrying just a c02may allow you to add enough air to the tire for it to self seal.

the pit stop seems to work well, but sometimes it just won’t.

If dropping out isn’t OK, then bring a spare tire. Running sealant and carrying a pitstop is next best, but that can is pretty big.

Remember, you can ride a flat tubular for a ways.