TriSports.com Blog

Tires – Clincher vs Tubular

Today’s Tech Blog will cover tires, what you should be aware of and when to change them. Road/Triathlon bike tires come in two flavors, clincher and tubular. Tubular tires were the first widely available tires for road bikes. Most tubulars (despite the name) do not have an inner tube to inflate (some do have a latex tube inside the casing). Rather, Tubulars are completely enclosed and are glued/taped on to Tubular wheels. Clincher tires are the much more widely used and available tires today. Clincher tires require tubes in order to properly inflate. Clincher and Tubular tires are not interchangeable with each other.

Here's a cut away of a Clincher Tire

This is the cut away of a Tubular Tire

In order to determine if a tire needs to be replaced, take a damp rag and wipe the tire down. This will enable you to view the rubber clearly. Take the wheel in your hands by the axel and spin it at arm’s length while looking over the tire as it spins. Does it have a flat spot in the middle or is it egg shaped? If there is a flat spot, it needs to be replaced. Flat spots indicate a reduction of rubber on the tire and make it easier for thorns, etc. to get thru. Check the tire rubber for cuts and abrasions. Cuts are normal but if you can see your inner tube thru the tire, it needs to be replaced. Next, take your finger nail and scrape the sidewall of the tires. Does the rubber or material flake off? If so, your tires are suffering from dry rot and should be replaced immediately. Try not to replace your tires any sooner than 2 weeks before a big event. You want to give the bead of your tire time to stretch on the wheel. If you replace your tires the day before an event, you may be in for bad surprise if you flat. It may be very difficult to disengage the tire bead from the wheel as it hasn’t had time to stretch out.

As far as recommendations for tires go, I prefer Continental tires for quality and durability. If you need a good flat protection tire with lots of durability, I’d recommend the Continental Gatorskins. For everyday use with good flat protection, I’d recommend the Continental 4 Seasons tire. The Continental 4 Seasons offer great durability and cornering with some flat protection. For pure performance, hands down, I recommend the Continental GP4000 , the Vredestein Fortezza TriComp , the Zipp Tangente or the Michelin Pro Race 3. All four of these tires have incredible handling, minimum weight with some flat protection. Keep your tires happy and they’ll keep you rolling.

Proper Bike Chain Lubrication

Today’s tech tip will focus on proper lubrication of your bike. Chain lubrication on road/tri bikes should be done with a waxed based lubricant such as White Lightning or Pedro’s Ice Wax.

White Lightning Chain Lube

The chain has the most exposed surface area of any moving drive train component your bike has. A petroleum based lubricant will only attract dust and dirt like a magnet to your chain which causes the lubricant to lose viscosity and cause premature wear. A waxed base lubricant will not lose viscosity and will actually flake off some excess. To properly lubricate your chain, shift your bike into the small/small combo (high rear, low front). Place the lubricant over the high gear and spin the cranks backwards as all links are coated. A very critical step is often overlooked here and that is that after 15 minutes, you take shop towel, wrap it around the lower part of the chain and hold the rag in place. Spin the cranks backwards and you’ll see all the excess lubricant on the rag. If you omit this step, the grime will build up and your shop will charge you more for cleaning it. Now, petroleum based lubricants are to be used but only one drop at a time. You can place one drop at all the pivot points of your front and rear derailleurs, as well as the pivot points on your brake calipers (taking care not to drip any on the brake pads). Proper lubrication of your chain and components will result in a smoother working bike.

Speedplay Maintenance and Service

Speedplay pedals are some of the easiest to use pedals on the market. However they do require some care and maintenance. Below are a few quick tips to help keep your pedals up and running.

Lots of Speedplay options.