I haven’t ridden a clincher all year on my bikes or those in on long-term test.
Can’t forget the Ridley Double Flat Tastic though.
Double Flat Tastic
The other exception is the Modal in Fixed mode with Campy Moskva 80s and Michelin Pro Service Courses. The Pro is the version before Michelin started numbering them. I’m not one for retro or nostalgia and mostly into the new. However, that setup worked and rides so well, that I locked it in and made it fixed.
A big dose of bike geekery here
How I’ve been riding all year with no flats is with sealant. My tires are filled with the milky substance (not Propofol) and I carry a can of it with me. There has been a catastrophic failure and a sidewall tore in a race from a nasty pothole, but no flats.
In a long thread on G+, that started with me asking to get schooled in FMBs, we eventually got to sealant and Chandler Snyder decided he was going to blog again about the topic and disclosed a sealant secret
We made our own sealant for the shop and sold it. I feel safe giving out the “recipe” now that the shop has been sold to new owners and is a totally different place now. This stuff worked so good, people would come by it from the other side of town. Now, please don’t think I’m going to rewrite the book on anything here or blow your minds. Sometimes its the simple things that make a HUGE difference. With that in mind…here’s the recipe for the Secret Sealant:
Sealant of choice: Stans or Caffelatex
Glitter…that’s right Glitter: as fine as you can buy at your local craft store That’s it! Seriously. Glitter is great stuff! It helps to clog the holes faster, hence using less sealant and not allowing as much air to escape. Caffelatex wasn’t around then, but now that its here and doesn’t use Ammonia as its anticoagulant, which will degradate latex tubes over time. Instead they use CO2. Stans is great stuff, and my personal choice if asked, with the exception of the latex rule.
Take whatever amount you use for the tire setup, road, cross, mtb…etc and pour it in a cup before you put it into the injector. Pour in the glitter and give it a good mix, then put into the injector you’re using. Ive found that the syringes used by EMT’s/Firefighters that are full of saline and have a screw on/off needle tip, work the best. The only thing is, you have to have a tire/tube with a removable core. The Caffelatex injector doesn’t require removing the valve core, which for using sealant by itself works great. You can custom widen the opening/tip so that the glitter moves through easier. Then gently, and firmly press the injector on, make sure theres a good seal, and plunge away. This is where you’ll know if you found the smallest glitter possible. There’s super fine stuff out there, just ask your local club kid friends! Once its all in, give the injector a couple of pulls and pushes on the plunger so the sealant doesn’t backfire on you when you pull the end off. Wrapping the coupled valve and injector with a rag while pulling off helps to keep from making any mess as well.
Put glitter inside your tires? Go for it. That’s a good a tip as hacking Hed and Mavic wheels into a Hevic…
Just-built pair of Hevics
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