Road Bike Racing - ag2r using clinchers for racing?

I think I saw pro race 2 on their wheels. Can anyone vouch for this?

Yeah, pretty sure they're using the "special edition" Pro2 Service Course in the fugly turquoise color.

Yeah, pretty sure they're using the "special edition" Pro2 Service Course in the fugly turquoise color.

HEY i got them in turquoise!

HEY i got them in turquoise!

Yeah, but they look good on your bike!

I guess your supposed to ride your sponsors tire even if they dont make one you want.

I guess your supposed to ride your sponsors tire even if they dont make one you want.
what does this mean? Also, ugly bike not ugly tire
http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2007/tech/probikes/calzati_btwin07/IMG_0293.jpg

what does this mean? Also, ugly bike not ugly tire
http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2007/tech/probikes/calzati_btwin07/IMG_0293.jpg


Correct me if I'm wrong but ag2r is the only team in the main peloton that is running clinchers, I'm guessing that they would prefer to be riding tubs.

Pro tour teams using clinchers, at least in certain applications, is a bit of an emerging trend. The decreased rolling resistence canmake clinchers make sense.

http://www.velonews.com/tour2005/tech/articles/8566.0.html

Holy crap that bike is ugly. I only saw it on the race, it's worse when it's not moving.

I like how that bike looks.

ag2r rolls on mainly mich clinchers though there have been tubies sighted here and there (prolly something like a Dugast with a mich casing over it).

http://www.ag2r-cyclisme.com/images/album/2007_02_tourmediterraneen/2007_02_med_02_Q.jpg

They have Michelin sponsorship, and Michelin don't make tubs anymore. They are also keen on not just putting tubs with new labels on. Rolling resistance at low pressures won't come into it :)

Yeah, pretty sure they're using the "special edition" Pro2 Service Course in the fugly turquoise color.

The limited edition of the PR2s can only be found in that light blue. I think that ugly turquois is the signature colour for Michelin, just like Celeste is signature Bianchi :D You can tell the difference between the limited edition and the regular ones by the black stripes (or lack thereof) on the centre tread:

Service Course Ltd. Edition:http://www.worldclasscycles.com/michelin_special_edition3_rs.jpg

Regular: http://www.gambacicli.it/coperture/mich_prorace2.JPG

Pro Grips look like that too. They are the coolest tyres!

I like how that bike looks.

they're even uglier in person.

They have Michelin sponsorship, and Michelin don't make tubs anymore. They are also keen on not just putting tubs with new labels on. Rolling resistance at low pressures won't come into it :)


That means nothing. HealthNet has the whole "presented by Maxxis" thing going on and they ride Vittoria Corsa CX tubs....

"They (Pro Tour teams) are all on tubulars. We know it because either directly (under Vittoria) or indirectly (private label) we supply a lot of them. Since almost all of them (Pro Tour teams) ride on tubulars, they use latex inner tubes. Some tire manufacturers claims that the team use clinchers, but this is a pure marketing move. In fact they put the wheels with the clinchers on the car - but on the bikes used by the riders they have tubulars."

really intersting, how true is this?

Fred Guesdon won Paris-Roubaix in 1997 on clinchers.

Nothing new.

"They (Pro Tour teams) are all on tubulars. We know it because either directly (under Vittoria) or indirectly (private label) we supply a lot of them. Since almost all of them (Pro Tour teams) ride on tubulars, they use latex inner tubes. Some tire manufacturers claims that the team use clinchers, but this is a pure marketing move. In fact they put the wheels with the clinchers on the car - but on the bikes used by the riders they have tubulars."

really intersting, how true is this?

That article is 2 years old.

ag2r rider crashed in the sprint in today's Giro stage. It was a clincher and it looked like it lost its bead and came off the rim-as per the Eurosport crew.

ag2r rider crashed in the sprint in today's Giro stage. It was a clincher and it looked like it lost its bead and came off the rim-as per the Eurosport crew.

And, that is the reason that clinchers are BAD. Flat, you can't ride them for very long, like you can with tubs. You would never want to flat out on a descent at 50+ MPH with clinchers.

And, that is the reason that clinchers are BAD. Flat, you can't ride them for very long, like you can with tubs. You would never want to flat out on a descent at 50+ MPH with clinchers.

You cant ride tubs at 50mph downhill either, that point sucked.

I doubt the clincher rolled off the rim in the sprint, it probably rolled off because of the crash.

My bad. It was Yohann Gene who rides for Bouygues Telecom not ag2r.

You cant ride tubs at 50mph downhill either, that point sucked.

I doubt the clincher rolled off the rim in the sprint, it probably rolled off because of the crash.
you can ride them long enough to slow down. There's a point in one of the Team Disco dvds' where George yells to Johan over the radio that he has a flat. Johan tells him to keep going because they can't help him from where they are.....he was on the cobbles at Paris-Roubaix. Try that on clinchers.

And, that is the reason that clinchers are BAD. Flat, you can't ride them for very long, like you can with tubs. You would never want to flat out on a descent at 50+ MPH with clinchers.
You don't really want to do it on tubs either, but you have a slighgly higher chance of staying up right.

you can ride them long enough to slow down. There's a point in one of the Team Disco dvds' where George yells to Johan over the radio that he has a flat. Johan tells him to keep going because they can't help him from where they are.....he was on the cobbles at Paris-Roubaix. Try that on clinchers.

I once rode a flat tubular for 5 miles. Averaged around 11 MPH. Rear, obviously.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2007/tech/probikes/calzati_btwin07/IMG_0293.jpg

Pull the wheels and some bits off and it looks like something Han Solo would us to chase stormtroopers down corridors of the Death Star.

I once rode a flat tubular for 5 miles. Averaged around 11 MPH. Rear, obviously.


Abraham Olano won a world title on one......travelling considerably faster than 11mph. :D

I once rode a flat tubular for 5 miles. Averaged around 11 MPH. Rear, obviously.

I rode a flat Tufo Tubular clincher (rear) for 10 miles, because my girlfriend was unfamiliar with the roads that I was on, so I had to go 10 miles to the nearest mall. :rolleyes:

A couple of weeks ago, during hill repeats, I was motor pacing a small car down a hill--probably 35 MPH. I was so close to the little car that I didn't see a metal bracket in the road. Ran right over the sucker. Both tires flat at the same time, the front, almost instantly. I was able to stay upright and slow down to check it out. The rear had a pinhole, but the Tufo sealant allowed me to pump it up to 60 psi. The front had a gash in it. There was no sealing it. So, I limped along at 10-14 MPH on a flat front tire for about 5 miles until I got help from another cyclist with a bike rack on his car who just happened my way.

I once rode a flat tubular for 5 miles. Averaged around 11 MPH. Rear, obviously.

A while back I was riding tubulars when I flatted my front. I decided to ride about 6-7 miles to the shop that sponsored my team to borrow a wheel. A mile or two later I saw two guys riding pretty fast across a T intersection - and I had to turn and follow them to get to the store. I took the turn, worked super hard, caught them after a mile or so. I sat on and watched them do a rotation. My bike was really sketchy so I declined to pull. They got a bit upset as they were working kind of hard (we were going around 30+mph on rolling/flat road). I pointed out I had a flat tire and didn't want to take them out. Both of them actually sat up to check it out. lol. They turned off before the shop, I got to the shop, it was closed, so I had to ride home on it anyway (less than 10 more miles). I'd never ridden that fast on a flat front tubular and probably never will again. I have no idea what I was thinking.

btw I read somewhere Indurain used a clincher front and tubular rear in the mountains - apparently he was concerned about rolling a front tire. The article didn't say whether or not he rode tubulars normally.

usually trains on clinchers, usually races on tubulars,
cdr

^ I can see a rear tub being more of an advantage than a front.

I rode a flat tub about 5 miles back to my car because I didn't have the strength to get the tire off.

And I have seen Michelin PR2 tubulars...there was a photo of them on the WW forum last week.

And I have seen Michelin PR2 tubulars...there was a photo of them on the WW forum last week.

Prototypes or one-offs?

Prototypes or one-offs?
My guess it some team issue one-off. But I can't find the photo now.

That Bouygues Telecom rider's tire was coming off before he went down.

My bad. It was Yohann Gene who rides for Bouygues Telecom not ag2r.

and it was definetly a clincher, go to Pez photos to see.

Patriot races for AG2R?

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m106/Cypress818/btwin.jpg

ag2r rider crashed in the sprint in today's Giro stage. It was a clincher and it looked like it lost its bead and came off the rim-as per the Eurosport crew.

I saw a picture of the guy wheeling his bike across the line. Looks like the rim broke. I didn't see any footage of the accident but blowing out the side of a carbon rim would definitely cause a clincher to "unseat". If they're using Campy carbon clincher rims, I believe they have a low pressure limit - like 118 psi (see manual (http://www.campagnolo.com/pdf/Hyperon_Ultra_UK_0407.pdf)). If the racers had more air in them and then impacted something...

cdr

Prototypes or one-offs?
Ok digging up an old thread...cyclingnews.com did me the favor of getting a nice photo of the Pro2 Race tubulars:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2007/tech/features/tour_tech_607/Bouygues_Telecom_mystery_tubular.jpg


This is not a Michelin Pro² Race clincher. In fact, it's not even a clincher at all, but rather a cleverly disguised non-Michelin tubular.
Photo ©: James Huang/Cyclingnews.com

^ I can see a rear tub being more of an advantage than a front.

Actually, to me it's the opposite.

I'd rather have a well glued tub or tub-clincher on the front rather than a clincher/open tubular. The pictures shows what happened last Saturday from rapid decompression of the front tire (Michelin Pro2 Race/inner tube) while executing a right hander. Because it was a regular clincher, the rim touched pavement and slid the front end out almost as if on ice.

By Sunday morning, I remounted my Tufo clinchers and re-retired the Michelins/inner tube combo's.

NOTE: The picture is not of me, but the road rash is in the exact same place and is the same size if not a little bigger.

Ok digging up an old thread...cyclingnews.com did me the favor of getting a nice photo of the Pro2 Race tubulars:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2007/tech/features/tour_tech_607/Bouygues_Telecom_mystery_tubular.jpg



That's not ag2r, though. At least we know some of them use clinchers. I can't remember (was it the Giro?) one of their rider was carrying his bike over the finish line because his front clincher split open.

That's not ag2r, though. At least we know some of them use clinchers. I can't remember (was it the Giro?) one of their rider was carrying his bike over the finish line because his front clincher split open.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2007/giro07/giro079/25.jpg

They are likely using re-branded Veloflex tubulars.

There aren't very many Carbon clinchers that a team would use in the TdF.