Disk and 404/Stinger owners

Triathlon Forum
1

I raced SOMA with a Renn disk (borrowed from Pooks) this weekend and have a couple questions for disk and Deep Section rim (ie, 404/Stinger) owners.

I test rode the disk on Saturday with no problems. When I got to my bike on Sunday morning the tubie was flat. Bummed, I looked at the valve stem and it was unscrewed so I figured maybe that’s how the tire went flat. The mechanic on site aired the tire up, we checked for leaks (tire was wet from grass) and didn’t find anything. Thinking the problem was solved, i went on to the swim.

Of course when I got back from my swim, the tire was almost flat again. So, i suited up and ran my bike to the mechanic and the two of us (yes, maybe I was cheating by getting help) changed the tubular with my spare. Unfortunately, I had valve extenders on my spare because I usually run a deep section rear on the back. thank goodness the Mechanic stayed cool and got his pliers to remove my valve extender. Which leads me to my questions:

  1. When racing and carring a spare tubie in this situation (Disk/Deep Section Combo), how to you handle the valve extender delimma? Do you just use the kind of extenders that screw on over the valve stem and take it off your spare if you have a flat on the disk? I personally prefer the “Tufo” style valve extenders.

  2. The next morning, I noticed that MY tubie had lost a significant amount of air and once again, the valve extender was halfway unscrewed. Is this a delimma of running a disk wheel? (I didn’t cover up the valve hole in my haste to get back into the race) Has anyone else run into this?

I do realize that Pooks tubular and my spare (due to changing the valve’s out) didn’t have "cauking’’ tape and that may be the reason for losing air. I’ll check the tubies tonight or tomorrow. The mechanic removed Pooks valve by hand.

Oh yeah, T1 time was 5:21 - Not bad considering :wink:

Thanks,

Mike

2

I usually remove the valve extenders from my stinger deep or 404’s after airing them up. never carry spare, but then again I usually only race short course. I don’t do anything fancy w/ my tubies. Glue the tire on, put on the extender, pump up and ride. No caulking, no tape no core replacement.

3

I have a rear disc and front carbon deep dish. I use a regular tubular as a spare and have a basic little value extender that just screws on. If the front goes flat I leave the valve extender on - if the rear goes flat I take it off and put the tire on the disc.

I had my disc go flat at IM-Wisco over night like you did. it was very exciting to change the tire at 6:15am.