New tires for IMMD

steveculver

I want to put new tires on my bike for IMMD on 9/20.  Any suggestions on the fastest yet relatively puncture resistant tires I might use?  Also, I have ridden Bontrager Race X Lites  in 700 x 23's on the front and the back.  Any suggestions on sizing here for the front and the back?  If so, can I put a 22 or a 25 on the same wheels I have?

Coach Rich

Posted By Steven Culver on 19 Aug 2014 10:57 AM


I want to put new tires on my bike for IMMD on 9/20.  Any suggestions on the fastest yet relatively puncture resistant tires I might use?  Also, I have ridden Bontrager Race X Lites  in 700 x 23's on the front and the back.  Any suggestions on sizing here for the front and the back?  If so, can I put a 22 or a 25 on the same wheels I have?

Vitoria Open Corsa or Conti GP4000S, these are the lowest CRR clinchers you can buy. And use latex tubes, also faster. 

Brad Marcus

X2 on the Conti GT 4000s - have been bulletproof for me and said to have superior performance. I've been riding 700x23 on front and rear but the folks at Zipp suggest 23 on front and 25 on rear and told me that I'd gain a couple watts doing so with their wheels. Who knows?

davidpettigrew

I tried the Conti 25mm and they didn't fit my frame, so had to go to the 23mm. Just something to be aware of...

MattAaronson

In the front I use a Bontrager R4 Aero (22mm). In the rear I use the Vittoria Open Corsa CX EVO III (23mm). I used latex tubes for the first time ever in my last race and to my massive surprise they felt totally different (and awesome).

steveculver

Thanks.  I am leaning toward the Conti GP4000S II.  Any thoughts on this vs. regular Conti GP4000?  Also, I need 80mm stems for my wheels.  Do you know of anywhere I can get 80mm latex tubes?  I cannot seem to find them and I have never used extenders before, so they make me nervous.  Finally, any thoughts on the use of 700 x 23 on the front and 700 x 25 on the rear like some of the things I am reading and if this is a good idea, can I use the same wheels I have now?

MattAaronson

I'm not sure you'll find 80mm latex tubes. Honestly extenders weork just fine...I've used both the ones where you remove the valve core, as well as the "tube" style where you leave your valve unscrewed. I've never had problems with either of them and frankly the "leave open" ones are the most simple. Just get a little teflon tape and they'll work just fine. In terms of 23 vs. 25, honestly I'm not sure why folks are using 25mm tires. Unless they magically work with the rim to be uber-aero I was always under the impression that 23mm tires have lower rolling resistance and are more aero. In fact many of the "aero tires" marketed by companies for triathletes are 22mm.

steveculver

How far ahead of IMMD should I put new tires and tubes on my wheels?

MattAaronson

I put on tires that were literally brand new for Racine 70.3 this year, although reading through forums and other dubious sources will say that ideally a tire has a ~50 mile "break in" period. I asked the same question a while back and got good responses...check the Gear forum, I think it was in there.

Brad Marcus

I'd personally put the new ones on 2 weeks in advance. One thought is that the tires stretch a bit and are easier to change if you flat during your race. But I had an incident earlier this year with a defective tire that popped off the rim while I was racing. Maybe if I had more riding time on the tire pre-race, it would've been discovered earlier. Though this is probably a rare occurrence, I'd do anything to avoid it going forward.

Peter Greagg

I put my new tyres on spare rims for a month or so before using them to stretch them to make them easier to fit and change if I get a flat.
I also only put them on my bike in the last week before my A race.