I have a Litespeed Blade Tri bike. I have 650 Zipp 404s on the bike with tubulars. On short races, I have not bothered with carrying a spare or repair kit. Now I am prepping for longer races (50+ miles on the bike) and also training on long rides with my Zipps (they ride so nice!).
I am new to riding with tubulars since my training wheels are usually clinchers. With my clinchers, I carry a spare inner tube with me which is small and flexible a CO2 cartridge and a screw-on valve with some basic tools for tire removal and installation.
What is the best way to prepare for a flat with tubular tires?
Carry a spare tubular tire? I tried folding a spare and it is still really big to carry. It does not fit in my saddle bag. I am considering an X-Lab saddle holder or Bento bag if I need to carry a spare tubular tire.
I have seen some CO2/Sealant product that seals the puncture while it inflates the tires (sort of like Fix-a-Flat for car tires). Does this work? Are the containers big? Can I carry this on the bike easily?
I have seen patch kits with glue and rubber patches. Is this the best way to fix a road-side flat? These look small and pretty easy to use but I am thinking these kits are for the soft rubber inner-tube for clincher tires?
Sorry this is such a newbie question. I just don’t want to be stuck out in the middle of nowhere without good preparation.
Here is my advice - Don’t train with your tubulars unless you can afford 50 bucks for a new tire.
If you must, just carry another tubbie- Use packing tape or zip ties and fold it as tight as possible. If you never inflate a tubular you can get them pretty compressed but it takes time to get them folded and taped to the bike. If you have a spare water bottle holder, shove it in there or tape it to the back of the seat post.
okay, like others said, you’ve either got a)guts, b)a fat wallet to fix flats, c)really good roads with zero glass to ride around on tubulars for training.
Actually when they do flat you can send them in and have a company patch them, I think it’s like $20 per tire.
CO2 sealant thingies work okay, best not to completely depend on them as they aren’t going to work every time and being stranded sucks! Main benefit is they are fast although with practice you can change a tubbie about 2min…
patch kits will only workon the road for tubes/clinchers not tubular tires. you can later unstitch your tubular patch them if you’d like or send them in to get fixed
I carry a single blade razor taped to the top tube.
If I flat, I cut completely through the tire right down to the rim on the side oposite the valve. Then I stick my finger in the tire and peel it off like a snake.
I carry a single blade razor taped to the top tube.
If I flat, I cut completely through the tire right down to the rim on the side oposite the valve. Then I stick my finger in the tire and peel it off like a snake.
That is a nice, extremely fast way for removing a flat tub - perfect for race day. But it precludes any chance of being able to fix that tyre for future use.
Do a forum search for “Pit Stop” it’s made by Vittoria and is a latex foam based sealant+inflator that usually does a good job at fixing punctures during a race. Just like fix a flat, quick and fast but won’t work on larger slices and is sometimes hard to get into a disk or a wheel with tight access to the valve like a H3. I think Hutchinson makes a similar product in Europe but might be more geared toward mountain bikes.
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**IMLP Race Report. short! PICS (one of Belinda’s bike) ****Quote | Reply **
Showed up in Lake Placid on the Wednesday before the race. The pre-race days were filled with last minute tasks, eating, drinking, and just keeping the feet up.
Here’s a shot of some STer’s. DawnT, Swordfish, Me, Chris_G, and Record10Carbon. Really nice to grab a beer (but only one right…) with some new faces. After i left the average age of the group shot up by about 20 years.
Here’s Belinda’s bike two days before she smacked down the pro field (and all but 4 men). Was hoping to spot a TT01 for the first time but she rode a BMC Pro machine in tri-config.
Love the super clean spare tubular attachment. makes mine look plain silly!
one last pre-race bike shot.
Sean
I found this today doing a search. I had to leave the first pic in…good pic of some STers
Hi, I am also a clincher user…but willing to use tubular in the future (for many reasons discussed on this forum)
So I understood that during race day, if you get a flat you just cut the tire with a razord blade and remove it…then replace it with the spare tire you carry on your saddle
I though that tubular had to be glued, correctly ???
I am 85 kg, and would prefer the tire to stay put while cornering in a fast downhill for example…
How much time would you say to replace a tubular during a flat? I have never gotten a flat during a race…but in case, I know it would take me 3 min max to change the tube (clincher wheels)
I fear the very first day I will race with tubular, I will get a flat and will not be able to fix it, finish the race…
I carry a single blade razor taped to the top tube.
If I flat, I cut completely through the tire right down to the rim on the side oposite the valve. Then I stick my finger in the tire and peel it off like a snake.
That is a nice, extremely fast way for removing a flat tub - perfect for race day. But it precludes any chance of being able to fix that tyre for future use.
How much time would you say to replace a tubular during a flat? I have never gotten a flat during a race…but in case, I know it would take me 3 min max to change the tube (clincher wheels)
With a little practice you can change a tubular in under 60 seconds.
You pre-stretch and pre-glue the tire before rolling it up. The combination of glue on the wheel, a coat of glue on the tire, and pressure from the tire being inflated keeps it nice and snug, but should still use caution if you are cornering hard. However that is rarely, if ever, a concern in a triathlon.
