The Goldilocks Principle: Deflategate
The Rider is the best book ever written about Cycling. I don’t mean that figuratively, I literally mean that literally. I say this despite having had my hand in writing our own Book about Cycling. What makes this book great is not just the prose, which is immaculate, but the spirit of the Velominatus that permeates the work. My friend @ErikdR recently sent me a copy in the original Dutch and, to my amazement, the English translation loses very little of the subtext that most translations do. Still, some expressions as they are written in Dutch carry so much meaning that it is impossible to translate into a foreign tongue. This is the essential underlying art, the intangible essence that separates language from communication.
Early in the book, Krabbé rides a short warm-up and upon reaching his turn-around point, climbs off to answer the call of nature. As he remounts, he carefully wipes his tires clean before setting off back towards the start/finish line. I had never noticed that bit of the book before but the Dutch version used a particular turn of phrase that expressed, if not a love, then an unusual degree of care given to an inanimate object.
And I realized, at that moment, that Cyclists today don’t love their tires anymore; clinchers have desensitized us against the miracle of riding on a membrane supported only by air. Tubulars, on the other hand, make you work to appreciate their miracle. You have to huff some glue (technically that counts as a win-win), you have to align the tyre properly, you have to keep the glue off both the braking surface and the sidewall, which seems like a paradox to the uninitiated. Tubulars make you work for it, they help you appreciate that a tire isn’t a bit of disposable kit; it is a commitment towards mutual benefit.
I was raised like every other Merckx-fearing Velominatus: on a strict diet of Rule #5, long hours in the saddle, and 19mm tires pumped to the highest number the sidewall said to pump them to. Which was usually around 10 bar (150 psi). Simple physics: less surface area meant less friction, and everyone knows friction is an asshole.
Until the last few years, I’ve ridden 23mm tires at 8 bar, no questions asked. In the past few years, however, we’ve come to understand that lower pressures and wider tires provide some significant benefits, like being faster and more comfortable, to pick two. I have accepted this transition like a toddler “accepts” his vegetables.
Like Grandpa adjusting to color film in his camera, I have gradually moved towards wider tires at lower pressures. I’ve been experimenting with 25mm, 26mm, and 27mm tires for the last few seasons, pumped up anywhere from 6.5 to 8.5 bar. (On the cobbles in Northern Europe, I ride them at 5 to 5.5 bar, depending on the conditions.) Empirically, the difference in ride quality by tire pressure comes down first to the quality of the tire and its materials, the weight and riding style of the rider, countered by the road conditions.
Mileage may vary based on your weight and tire, but for now I’ve landed on 26mm tires at 7.5 bar. Now I’m just waiting for my order of Gianni’s Digital Lezyne pressure gauge to show up so I can really get down to business.
@asyax
You should try the HED/Pave combo at about 90-95.
For the record I’m currently running 25mm GP4000 clinchers & they never exceed 100psi. More likely start around the 90 mark & rarely get reinflated more than once a week.
They also get wiped at the same time I’m cleaning the brake tracks. Lay washcloth on hand ensuring it reaches the ends of both thumb & forefinger, wrap hand over wheel applying pressure on the rim with aforementioned digits, tyre surface should press in to palm, rotate wheel.
For me a set of Schwable 25mm ZR’s at no more than 90 psi. Great race tyre, roll beautifully and grippy. Just got some Ones for when these wear out.
@ Antihero
Ignore the sturm and drang about how gluing a set of tires takes 4 days and requires sacrificing a chicken and whatnot.
+1 for bringing in 19th century literary reference and ritual sacrifice in one fell swoop.
I’m still in clinchers on my Campy Record / Open Pro / Conti 4 Seasons 25mm wheels – but will go for a set of Tub wheels when I reach a stage of extra wheelsets.
@Nate knows what time it is. Heed him well.
@Mikael Liddy
HEDs invoking Neal Stephenson: you want to talk contact patches? I’m in touch with the road. Start like a bad day and stop on a peseta.
Disagree on the Gatorskins: bullet-proof and grippy.
Also: if you do clinchers (and I do), latex tubes. They’re like frilly knickers no one sees, but they make you feel good. But maybe I’m revealing too much…
@Steampunk
We’ll have to agree to disagree on the gators, I spent a winter on them (coincided with my return from a busted c/b) and I swear that delayed my descending confidence returning by at least a year!
@unversio
Vittoria (Corsa Evo CX, yum!) easily fall under that price-bracket online, as do Challenge’s open tubs. Schwalbe One also, if you prefer vulcanized – pretty decent tyre.
@VeloJello
no idea what conkers are, so I looked it up and I found this appropriate quote on using vinager for hardening your conkers. “Such hardening is, however, usually regarded as cheating.” Bit like doping in cycling: such hardening is, however, usually also regarded as cheating.
@Gianni
No, it just means cycling is not a case of simple physics.
In theory, the term for contact patch area cancels out in the case of rigid objects – friction (grip for example) is proportional to the pressure and the size of the contact area, but the pressure is inversely proportional to the contact area – so it’s pretty much a wash. I ran this calculation sometime in the first year of my BA.
In practice, it’s not rigid and it doesn’t cancel out, and the balance of grip (good friction) and rolling resistance (bad friction) is dependent on far too many things than just size – though all things point to tyre size being an important indicator of rolling resistance, whether causally or just because it indicates other properties.
@tessar
Sounds like the properties of the rubber compound itself would be the largest factor with “grip” and transferring kinetic energy. And then how much surface area of the rubber compound is acting on the road — and the surface conditions of the road itself — and then how much “belief” is there that demands that any given tire is awesome — or that the tire simply sucks — and then there is the color of the tire too.
@KogaLover
Didn’t the Top Gear guys play conkers with caravans at some point? Fond memories. Not sure if vinegar entered the picture at the time, but knowing Clarkson, Hammond and May, it probably did (along with Piss)
@tessar
Five minutes ago, I still considered myself modestly intelligent… Ah well, illusions are there to be shattered, I reckon.
@Oli
I’m planning to commune as often as possible.
@frank
I have been doing my best to tune out the popular American sports for years now. Football is just platform to sell people more big trucks, more cell phones, and really shitty lite beer.
Sorry about my moaning. None today, it’s Friday and it’s a long weekend. AND the college championships for my first favorite sport are this weekend. Possibly more obscure than cycling and also only followed by real enthusiasts.
The VMH is keen on doing more road riding these days. For her July 4th birthday I’m gonna set her up on some Veloflex Masters in 25 with latex tubes. Will be a nice improvement over the GP4000s with butyl tubes.
Now I just wonder if she’ll notice the ride quality difference or if I’ll have to tell her how it’s better…
@Ron
You are a good husband sir.
@Ron
LAX?
@Ron
This is an interesting blind test that I would be interested in learning the outcome of, particularly as I am considering the same switch. Please do report back, post birthday ride.
@Nate
Are you asking me to come visit you? I thought you were further north in California?
But, if you mean lacrosse, yes. One year of that awful game of baseball, then 15 years of lacrosse. Even was able to bike over to UNC-CH the other week and watch my alma mater blow it in the 1st round.
Been listening to the “lacrosse is really growing” nonsense since I was a kid. Sure it is. And sure it’ll never be much more than a niche sport. Yes, pockets here and there, but it’s a NE sport. Go figure, considering I grew up playing Iroquois teams.
@Nate
We closed on our first house yesterday; that really makes me a good husband!!!
Now…resist all other bike purchases and save up to build a 1st rate bike barn. We’ve got a 1 acre backyard, huge considering we live right downtown in a city.
@Ron
Hey thats right I am a norcal guy.
Definitely a NE sport, yup. But it seems to be getting popular out here too. My impression of it is a bit prepschooly in general but very cool that you played against the people that originated the game. I like John McPhee’s writing on it also.
@Ron
Congrats, you are a real grown up now! I bought last year and have put off thoughts of spending real $$ on bikes…. indefinitely.
@Bespoke
You don’t have to wait, my friend. I made this switch a few years ago. Was on the GP 4000s with butyl.
Now am on: 1) Open Pro rims, Record hubs, Vittoria Corsa SC tires in 25mm with Vredestein latex tubes. What a ride! 2) Mavic SuperLight wheels with 25mm Veloflex Masters with Vredestein tubes. Sure, they’re not tubulars. However, the ride quality is far superior. No question. I’d never go back to other tires.
Latex tubes take a bit more care in installing, but they’re worth it for me. I also have no problems with tire lifespan or punctures either. No more, and probably less, than when I was riding Continental GPs.
@Ron
Ron is right. It’s an interesting blind test on a presumably nonobsessive subject. You, however, are a Velominatus and should heed the call of the Veloflex now.
Nate – I KNOW! I have been dragging my feet in grad school and riding my bikes just to delay adulthood. Damnit, I think it’s finally here. In actuality, things are really great overall for me/us, so I can’t complain. Plus, I’m still on a bicycle seven days a week, so that is a good way to stay young and young at heart. And thank you. It feels pretty incredible to have a place to settle in. And, I’m looking forward to not moving for years and years. Moving is terrible. Congratulations on your settling down too!
I need a new wheelset, but that’s really all I want these days. Been on mismatched OP rims on my Casati for five years. Don’t blame me, blame the original owner who had them built up. I’m just trying to set things right!
McPhee has done a nice job. Yup, lacrosse does have the unfortunate prep school aspect. I played with a lot of them in college. But, in New York State it is a huge sport and all the public schools field girls and boys teams. The only “prep” schools that have it in NY are the Catholic schools. But in MD and NH and MA and NJ the big-time, big $ prep schools take it seriously. Upstate NY is a hotbed and Long Island even more so, with their insane population density. Look at every good college team and they’ll have 25-50% of the team from NYS. Look at the best college player this year, he’s from Onondaga Nation, which is near Syracuse.
It’s still very much a traditional game in the sense that the same high schools and areas have been producing the best players for years and years. And, most of the best players have a father or uncle who played. Syracuse has two players on the team who are the sons of coaches. My uncle played in college and gave me a stick when I was 8. His college teammate started the program in my town. His other college teammate…Bill Tierney, 4 time national champ, and the guy who has made Denver a powerhouse, though their program is quite new. The guy is an excellent coach. And yeller, he’s comical to watch berate the refs and his players. I’ve bumped into the Duke coach walking around town (well, he was walking, I was cycling) and spoken with him. He coached two of my brother’s high school teammates at Hofstra. Very small world in this sport, which is a lot like cycling in a sense.
It’s a great sport, I just worry it’s going the way of surfing; more about the gear and ‘tude than the soul and passion.
@Nate
Okay. It shall be done. Forthwith!
@RobSandy
If I may, gator skins are the worst tires I’m presently aware of. Their approach to puncture resistance is to make them very tough, whereas a more supple tire generally can flex around whatever is about to cause a flat.
9 times out of 10, the rider in the group with a flat is one with the gator skins.
Try the Conti Four Seasons instead; very good tire and durable.
@freddy
Sadly, I had to take the 27mm FMBs pictured off as they were rubbing the frame. That said, FMBs are very big; their 25 is more like a 27 and their 27 is really a 29…
@antihero
I run fast and loose with this too. I have no qualms whatsoever riding tires I glued on minutes previous. Just don’t hang ten in the corners until they’ve sat a day or two.
I love that it’s not easy to get a run on straight and without bulges. You have to work at it, massage it.
A well glued-on tire is something to be proud of.
@KogaLover
Totally.
@unversio
Gommitalia Calypsos are great, and come in at $80 for a pair.
http://www.excelsports.com/main.asp?page=8&description=Calypso+K+Tire+Pair&vendorCode=GOMMI&major=1&minor=27
@Bruce Lee
Spot the fuck on, mate.
@Nate
Based on the air seepage, yet indeed.
@Nate
This talk of 90kg and 85psi for regular road riding gives me the heebie-jeebies.
@frank
Not to mention that they corner like utter shit.
@frank
Sounds like you got the good Ones.
90kg/85 psi might be a bit low but I would still encourage Gianni to let his pressure down into the 90s.
@Mikael Liddy
This.
@all y’all’s
Pontificating on PSI and/or recommending pressures without knowing the riders weight is like judging a riders bike fit from a photo of the bike leaning against a wall.
In other words, it is insanity.
@unversio
Excellent, except that Gatorskins do actually suck. That’s not a “belief”. @Steampunk, you are wrong about the Gators, Pedalwan.
I only have one thing to add to this. Clement LGG tubeless tubs. the concept is so mind-blowing that I had to try them on my first stint on tubulars. I can’t see a reason why they should work flawlessly.
@frank
But Emperor, I’ve already turned. You’re too late. I’ll trust in Veloflex like my father before me. [Deep inner voice ] “How the hell did Frank know I had Gatorskins on my Open Pros. Dang!”
@RedRanger
I ride their tubeless tubs on my graveur; love them!
@frank
Veloflex Corsa 25c 205g — Gatorskin 25c 310g
@Nate
To commit quickly, just purchased Veloflex Corsa 25 Open Tubular pair at 52% off — probikekit. And still interested in their upcoming 27mm.
[ Father Sarducci voice ] “So… I’mma gonna need some latex tubas ??? Not like a brass hor’rna.”
@unversio
You realize than “open tubular” is a euphemism for “clincher” I hope.
@frank
Tubeless tubulars? Does not compute. Either that, or I must unlearn what I have learned.
@Nate
Its exactly what it sounds like. Its a tubular that gets glued to the rim. its a sealed rubber tub. I added a bit of stans sealant through the valve stem for some extra protection.
@RedRanger
I would not normally do that, but it is a good idea for this year’s Heck of the North.
http://clementcycling.com/las-tubular
@Teocalli
Agree. And I sold my tubeless wheel set and tires. Tubeless on road bikes? Nonsense. Mtn Bikes? Perfect.
@Steampunk
This post alone will have me finally trying latex. That’s funny. And of the bazillion or so wheel set/tire combos I’ve tried I’ve never bothered with latex figuring that seriously, an extra couple of bucks for a tube? That loses air? BUT, for frilly knickers ?!? And in pink too yes? As in pink frilly knickers? I have to try ’em now.
I’m convinced that my pump consistently reads 15+psi lower than actual given the difference between the tire pressures @all y’all reference and what I use. And I say that w/no idea how much @all y’all weigh. Cheers y’all.
@RedRanger
Sounds like the worst of both worlds. Sealed rubber tub = Rolling resistance nightmare. Might as well run sealed rubber clinchers, that way you don’t have to throw the thing away after a puncture.
@wilburrox
A couple of things though about tubeless rims with tubes 1) When you do puncture they deflate slower as the only way the air gets out is through the puncture 2) When deflated the tyre seems to be more secure than clincher as it stay seated on the shoulder profile. Net even though I run tubes now I would still stick with the tubeless rims as I’m much less fearful of high speed punctures.