UmneyDurak

So I completely spaced out and forgot to put a new front tire that I bought, 4000s. Old one is still in OK shape, but has small stuff embedded in it. Should I put a brand new tire on tonight, or just ride the old one after digging out stuff that might work it's way through and puncture the tube. I am a bit worried about doing hard cornering on a tire that wasn't ridden before. Plus the whole "don't change things the night before the race" thing.

UD

palesaint

Conti 4000s? Don't worry about cornering problems with this tire. Brand new, it will perform reliably. Just take your time changing the tire, give it a good test ride and inspect for any problems. None? Ride the snot out of it and race your heart out.

umd

Don't worry about a new tire before a race

umd

Ontario?

UmneyDurak

Yeah. I will be on my training wheels. Last 4/5 race didn't turn out so well for my wheels and wrist...

CrimsonKarter21

Tires grip their best when they're brand new. IME with the GP4000's, they have a weird, very thin film of wax on them, just scuff that up and you'll be gripping the pavement like no other.

umd

I don't know if I'll be in the 4/5 race or not... but I'll be in both 30+ races. If they do a waitlist for the 4/5 I'll see if I can get on it.

DScott

I've found that digging that small stuff out of the tire after every ride has been great for flat prevention. Why leave it in?

UmneyDurak

Pure laziness. Right after the ride I rush to get to school, and in the evening I just forget. lol

UD

RecceDG

That's the mold release compound. It keeps the tire from sticking to the mold when they make it.

Scuff it off and you are good to go.

DG

UmneyDurak

Well tire performed spectacularly. Unfortunately I and officials with their camera problem didn't lol.

umd

How did you do? Were you not in the results?

UmneyDurak

Somewhere in the middle. I was further back then I realized. In true SoCal tradition results went around 30 deep, with bunch of X's in the middle. Apparently there was a problem with the camera, or something. Bleh, I have fitness, just my tactics suck ***. Need to work on that, but not sure how.

umd

The 4/5 race was my slowest race of the day, based on the perceived effort and data from another guy that did the same 3 as me (and 1 more). The 30+ 4/5 was about 26.5 mph but was a sketchfest from beginning to end. The 30+ 1/4 was about 29mph for 45 minutes and was hard but smooth because everybody took good lines through the corners, and it was very comfortable. Immediately I went into the open 4/5 and it was like going from the freeway to the side-streets at rush hour. Traffic and mayhem in the corners, as everyond tries to go outside-in and pinches off anyone on the inside line. I stayed near the front, did a few laps on the front to stretch the legs and tried to follow my teammate's wheel into the sprint. But he squeezed through some tight holes and I got knocked off his wheel and wasn't able to get through the crowd before the final corner. I moved up and weaved through the field but only got to 11th.

deadly downtube

err, you're supposed to remove debris from your tires.. it's typically referred to as glass, and will soon cause a flat.

UmneyDurak

Hey, congrats. Yeah it was a bit on a slow side. I guess I have low expectations, I didn't think sketchiness was all that bad. Although we were slowing down on the corners way too much. At least there were no junior kamikaze dive bombing in to the corners where there is no room, or using me for support because they couldn't hold the line through the corner. *shrug

grolby

It's a myth that new tires are slippery. The mold release compound will scuff off just from rolling around on the pavement, no need to do it by hand. You'll be fine. Tires are best when brand new.

umd

The open 4/5 wasn't too bad, it was the 30+ 4/5 that was really sketchy. A lot of bumping and cutting across lines. I was on the inside a lot and was constantly being chopped.