I guess Big Mig was right about preferring clinchers in the mountains:
Uh…yeah.
Only one tiny little point: Indurain always used a clincher on the rear, and a tubular on the front.
“Rogers’ brother, bike shop proprietor Deane, was interviewed this morning on ABC Radio and said he believed there was an issue with the tyre and rim that had contributed to the fall; indeed, in the still images from the video highlights, the front wheel of Rogers’ bike shows the tyre has started to peel away.”
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In all fairness, I don’t think a triathlete would ever take a corner at the type of speed that the top riders in the Tour de France or any professional road rider would do in a race. Furthermore, it’s a rare triathlon course that would have descents and turns of this severity.
“Rogers’ brother, bike shop proprietor Deane, was interviewed this morning on ABC Radio and said he believed there was an issue with the tyre and rim that had contributed to the fall; indeed, in the still images from the video highlights, the front wheel of Rogers’ bike shows the tyre has started to peel away.” \
Ya, an issue of not enough glue, or glue that had not dried. The other 180 riders seemed to have no problem, I attribute a tire rolling off the rim to pilot error, not the fault of the equipment… Was he the first or second rider dwon in that crash, I don’t remember??? Also, the act of crashing can loosen a tire, after the fact, not before. Without a really good slo mo video of the entire turn, then they will never know if it was a cause, or result of…
In all fairness, I don’t think a triathlete would ever take a corner at the type of speed that the top riders in the Tour de France or any professional road rider would do in a race. Furthermore, it’s a rare triathlon course that would have descents and turns of this severity.
Exactly!
He was first down, and I’m with you; the only person who knows what the heck happened is Rogers, and he ain’t blaming the equipment!
He went front-end first into the guard rail, and I have seen crashes like that peel the tire off before - heck, I’ve had it happen to me.
For what it’s worth, I have rolled tires more than once (always in cross races,) and it was a failed glue job at fault every time; old dead glue on a couple of occasions, and Tufo tape in a really rainy cross race… turns out that crap is water soluble…
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He also may have heated up his rim cement through hard braking enough on the descent to lower the level of adhesion.
He was first down, and I’m with you; the only person who knows what the heck happened is Rogers, and he ain’t blaming the equipment!
Umm…to be clear, he only said this:
"I don’t really know what happened, I was going through the corner and then found myself on the ground…
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He also may have heated up his rim cement through hard braking enough on the descent to lower the level of adhesion.
Exactly…and all-carbon rims get hotter due to poorer heat dissipation than with aluminum rims.
Uh…yeah.
Only one tiny little point: Indurain always used a clincher on the rear, and a tubular on the front.
Hmmm…that’s the first I’ve heard of that. Everything I’ve seen points to it being the opposite (i.e. clincher front, tubular rear.) Source?
After all, if the reason for running a clincher is the concern about rolling a tubular, wouldn’t it make sense to do it on the front wheel if you’re only going to change one?
In all fairness, I don’t think a triathlete would ever take a corner at the type of speed that the top riders in the Tour de France or any professional road rider would do in a race. Furthermore, it’s a rare triathlon course that would have descents and turns of this severity.
I couldn’t agree with you more. So why is it that ‘safety’ is so often touted when the tubular vs. clincher debate comes up on here??
Just as an aside, I flatted a clincher in a race a few weeks ago and rode it flat for about 3K until (I thought) I could get a wheel change out of the crosswind. Reading this forum, I’d have thought that feat would be impossible.
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He also may have heated up his rim cement through hard braking enough on the descent to lower the level of adhesion.
Exactly…and all-carbon rims get hotter due to poorer heat dissipation than with aluminum rims.
…and this happens with front wheels how often? Anything is possible, but I have never seen anyone get a front rim hot enough to melt off a tubular. Rear wheel - sure. Heck, I’ve seen rear clincher wheels get hot enough to blow the side walls out, but front wheel?
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In all fairness, I don’t think a triathlete would ever take a corner at the type of speed that the top riders in the Tour de France or any professional road rider would do in a race. Furthermore, it’s a rare triathlon course that would have descents and turns of this severity.
I thought that Triathletes don’t use nearly as much glue on their tires as roadies. Especially roadies that have a car full of replacement wheels.
"Hmmm…that’s the first I’ve heard of that. Everything I’ve seen points to it being the opposite (i.e. clincher front, tubular rear.) Source?
Sources are numerous - it was fairly common knowledge when he was racing, and he was rather vocal about this preference.
After all, if the reason for running a clincher is the concern about rolling a tubular, wouldn’t it make sense to do it on the front wheel if you’re only going to change one? "
You’re kidding, right?
Rear wheels are where the issue lies; the vast majority of prolonged braking is done at the rear wheel on this type of descent, and the heat buildup at the rear rim is a significantly greater problem than at the front. As I wrote in an earlier post, I have literally never seen a front tire fail from braking heat, and I have seen many rear tires (and rims, and brake calipers, and Disc pistons, and fluid lines, and reservoirs, and - you get the idea.)
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Tom A…you should delete this post. The title is completely false and your reasoning is incorrect. Please do everyone a favor and get this crap off the forum. thanks.
Fredly, I think you’re riding your mountain bike and your cross bike too often.
I have almost 4 years on a set of rear brake pads–because I never use my rear brake. Descending a long mountain pass in a group of sketchy guys (something I’ve had the misfortune of doing quite a bit over the last couple of months), I’m not sure I actually used my rear brake at all. Rear brakes don’t actually work on road bikes, as I’m sure you know.
I have a front 404 tubular with a tire that’s been glued on forever, that would be perfect for the mountain stages in short stage races, and I won’t use it for exactly the reasons Tom stated. Throw in the fact that the air temperature is already 90-105 degrees, and my tendency to spend as much time hiding in the pack as possible, this involves a LOT of braking at high speed/temps. I’m with Big Mig, I just feel safer on a clincher.
Last year I did a training camp in Napa, and there are some serious steep downhills,(15% to 20%) with bad roads… I blew two clincher tubes from heat, one rear, one front. The rear was first, and then I shifted more work to the front, and it blew. Heat will kill either tires, and braking is a balanced combo of both brakes, depending on the lenght of the straights, the severity of the turns, and the quality of the roads…Outside temps have an influence too, it was 100+ that day…
In all fairness, I don’t think a triathlete would ever take a corner at the type of speed that the top riders in the Tour de France or any professional road rider would do in a race.
in all fairness, perhaps you would not take a corner at the type of speed that the top riders do, but for all others i think it would be quite hard for you to know every case. growing up at the base of a very solid 1,000 meter climb over just 10 km of pavement, plus a few years on a motorbike can do wonders for your bicycle descending skills. for me it depends only on the race course, the road, the surface quality, and how bad i want to go fast. downhill is pretty damn easy, you don’t have to pedal nearly as hard as uphill.
We don’t know what happened - was the tub off as a result of the crash or the cause of the crash. So why pontificate on it ?
Sources are numerous - it was fairly common knowledge when he was racing, and he was rather vocal about this preference.
OK…so quote one or point to one. A quick google on the subject showed me a LOT of references to the FRONT being a clincher for Big Mig and NONE for the opposite. Ball’s in your court…
You’re kidding, right?
Nope. Of the two tires to roll and loose control of, which would you prefer? The front or the rear? I’ll take the rear, please.
Also, as roady pointed out, on descents such as this, you’ll be braking hard with both brakes PRIOR to entering a turn and with the weight transfer your front brake will be dissipating much more energy than the rear. The proper technique is to get the majority of your braking accomplished BEFORE the turn and then release the front (to ensure control) and feather the rear through the turn. This is sometimes referred to as “trail braking”.