caloso

Re flats: I am a belt and suspenders guy so I will usually have a tube and a patch kit, a CO2 and a frame pump.

This morning was a z1 shakedown ride with openers. Felt good and strong like I really wanted to keep hammering, which I take to be a positive sign. Planning to race twice tomorrow in Folsom: 35+ 3/4 for sure and one other, depending on teammates and spousal time constraints.

Racer Ex 

People laugh at my frame pump. Then they stop laughing and ask to borrow it.

I run tubeless. I carry a spare tube, a boot, and a patch kit. The patch kits are much lighter/smaller than a second tube and give you a bunch of "do overs" if you miss the piece of glass or wire when you do the replacement.

chasm54

People aren't too bright, taken as a whole...

Like shovel, I favour the Lezyne. Big pressures, robustly constructed, reasonable aesthetics, free air...

Racer Ex 

And as far as frame pumps go I have two Blackburns. The second one I had to buy when I switched frames and my old one was too long. Very happy with both.

AzTallRider

I had a couple of CO2 failures early on which were inconvenient, to say the least, but not since I switched to the Portland Designs inflator. I now just have a ziplock bag with a tube, tire levers, a boot, a CO2, the inflator, and gloves. I cycle through tires rather than try to stretch their useful life and endure increased chance of flats. My worst occurrence was when my only spare tube was bad (valve) and I was miles out in the boonies, but that turned into a positive experience with a good Samaritan. I switched tube brands after that.

Cleave

Stopped using CO2 late last year when I finally used up all of my cartridges. Now I use this:

https://www.lezyne.com/en/products/ha...bon-road-drive

I purchased the pump at much less that the suggested price during a holiday sale. It works very well.

I carry two tubes and a homemade boot (piece of an old tire). Interestingly, I had to boot my front tire on Sunday after I gashed my front tire on something just as I was starting to roll after a red light. It was the first time that I used the boot in years.

sarals 

I have two seat wedges. One stays on the L'una. The other floats between the other bikes (it stays in the car when I do a race, but I do have it available). Inside them both are 2ea CO2 cartridges (except for yesterday), the CO2 dispenser, two tire irons, a new tube stuffed inside of a sock (which I can/do use as a rag), and a multitool. All of that is enclosed inside of a Zip-Lock bag and shoved into the seat wedge.

I'm going to buy a frame pump. I really like the one Cleave showed us. That said, I liked AzT's CO2 dispenser, too. Maybe I'll go after both.

BOTH tires on the OpenPro rims are going to be replaced. They've been just bullet proof until now, but enough is enough.

sarals 

Shovel, is that the pump Cleave showed us?

caloso

I hear that. I was super happy with a set of Michelin pro4 Endurance tires and then I got a rash of flats. That's fairly normal. The trick is to replace them just before you get a bunch of flats...

sarals 

C, I hear that! These are Conti Gatorskin 25's. They've been great (although a little slippery - ask Ex), but it's time that they go to The Great Tire Place in the Sky...

AzTallRider

If I get even one flat, I look really hard at the tire to see if it's worth continuing to use. The GP4000S 23's don't have a whole lot of rubber, and when it wears thin, they are more easily punctured. That said, the few flats i've had in the last year or so (2? 3?) have been something that would have gone through any tire that hit it. Interestingly, the slick that came on the stock wheels of my TT bike has never flatted, outliving the front, which was replaced quite awhile ago. Given I have 3 hours of pace on that TT bike tomorrow, I may go ahead and change it after posting this and angering the goat heads.

sarals 

Yes - you know what happens when you Anger The Goat Heads...

revchuck 

2:34 at endurance pace with 3x10' tempo intervals towards the middle. Felt pretty good in spite of 90%+ humidity. Had some fun standing and pushing up some rollers. TSS 174, IF .82, 1604 kj. My NP was 5% higher today than at last Saturday's road race. Don't know what my problem was last Saturday, I had some serious suckage going on.

shovelhd

Same one, but not carbon. Prime winners can't be choosy.

AzTallRider

3 hours of pace on the TT bike, with the first 30' in my tallest gear. Did it with a few friends, pulling them around anytime we were't climbing.

The benefit of having a coach is that no roadie would ever think of subjecting themselves to 3 hours on the TT bike, grinding low gears for part of it. But all the strength work Ex has been assigning is working its way into my numbers. Good stuff. I'm beat.

Next race is a 2 day omnium up in the mountains: 62mi RR with only 2K of riding, then a crit the next day. Unless I have a paperwork approval induced employment break, in which case I'll join Ex, Sara and Cleave for the Pasadena games.

Esteban58

I have a Lezyne Pressure Drive. Its small, attaches to the water bottle holder (or fits in a jersey pocket), and it
works well in the field. I suspect all of the Lezyne models work well - just pick your price point.

revchuck 

Sara - FWIW, check out the Pro4 Endurance. The tires I'm using are one of them on the back and its predecessor (Krylion) on the front. I was hitting a 180 degree turn last weekend at ~17 mph, leaned over farther than I have before, with no hint of slippage. I've had better luck with them with flats than I did with Gatorskins. Also, the original version of the Conti Grand Prix is worth a look - same rubber compound as the 4000S, but with a rounder profile. I used a pair in 700x28 for the last two times I did Rouge-Roubaix, with no flats on gravel or bad road. I didn't corner hard on them, but the 4000S is supposed to stick well, and they use the same rubber.

Both of these tires are available on the UK websites for $30-35 each. They'll be about twice that from your LBS.

sarals 

Like I'm gonna win a prime...

I've got some other fish to fry and then I'll make the move on a pump. I was digging through my "bike cabinet" in the garage last night and I found a Bell hand pump I must have bought years ago and forgot about. It works, too. So, I'll use that for now. I found some more CO2 cartridges and I fixed the CO2 dispenser. I hope.

Chuck, my PT rear wheel came with a serviceable Michelin Pro (I don't know which one) tire. I also have three of the original Conti GP tires, all with really low mileage. I'm okay on tires, and don't have to spend money (I like that).

Day off today. I'm following the TRS very closely. I consider the SG an A race(s), and I want to be at my best (so does Ex).

shovelhd

Allegheny Jet

Sara, you can buy CO2 bottles at Walmart in the air gun department at low low prices.

sarals 

TU, Shovel - great tip!

sarals 

Two sets of criss-cross intervals this morning, set 1 was 5 X 1', set 2 was 3 X 5'. Hit the targets, although the road conditions made it hard to stay on the power in the X2 series. Still, TSS 97.2, NP 154, and max power was 456. 1 minute power is getting better, 225. 5 minute is below FTP, at least for this ride - 160. No flats this time!

shovelhd

The only ones our local Walmart has are 12g. That will get a 24mm tire to 80 pounds at best. I get the 16g ones online from a soda distributor. Rock somethingorother.

sarals 

The ones I have came from Mikes Bikes. They only give me 40 PSI. The WalMart ones are definitely a step up!

Cleave

Remember, most locales will NOT accept CO2 cartridges for recycling.