How many pro downhillers does it take to change a tube?
How many pro downhillers does it take to change a tube?
That was a question I repeatedly asked myself this weekend at the US Open in Vernon, New Jersey.
The biggest pro purse in downhilling was up for grabs so a lot of pros found their way to the Diablo Mountain Bike Park. But, not all my tires found their way to the luggage carousel. Missing was a set of Maxxis double-ply 3.25 High Rollers.
Even as a pro, sometimes you have to ‘run what you brung’.
I qualified second on the rocky course, but I figured a few more practice runs afterwards couldn’t hurt. On the fourth practice run, my last of the day, I flatted. Just one of those things. No big deal.
My rear tire was a single ply and the tube was a lightweight XC. Even the Mavic wheel set had lightweight rims. A really fast set up, perfect for the trails around the Central Coast in California, but maybe not the best choice for the sharp shale on the east coast venue.
Marla gets advice from Mike from Fox...
At the bottom of the trail, pulling out the snake bitten XC tube was a cinch. Slipping in a thicker DH tube was little tough. Trying to thumb roll the tires sidewall onto the rim bead was just beyond reach. So I resorted to the metal tire irons, and gritting my jaw, I got it in there. Only to realize I somehow popped the new tube.
This race was not on our Team schedule, so there was no Luna Chix Team truck, no Team mechanic, and no pile of Team Maxxix tires and tubes to rely on.
A friendly guy stopped by to lend me a hand with another fresh tube. He couldn’t do it with his fingers either. Reluctantly, he tried a tire iron to pop that last two inches of bead. And I was so happy to see him triumph.
But as we pumped the tire up, the subtle hiss of a pinch flat deflated my spirits. The DH tube was thicker and it had been pinched between the rim and the tire iron.
We tried to be more careful with a third DH tube, but still there was a third hiss.
Mike's first attempt at changing the tire...
Finally, the morning of the final, Mike the FOX suspension guy, was able to slip in an XC tube without pinching it. But halfway down the trail during my first practice run, I flatted it.
At that point I borrowed a two ply tire, a High Roller 3.5 from Kathy, my team mate. A medium weight DH tube help up. I ended up fourth in the race, Kathy snuck in at second place, right behind French woman Sabrina Jonnier.
So it turns out it only takes 5 downhillers, two pit crews, the generosity of a teammate, and a midnight long distance phone call to my team mechanic to change a tube.
All the amateurs were laughing at us.
That was a question I repeatedly asked myself this weekend at the US Open in Vernon, New Jersey.
The biggest pro purse in downhilling was up for grabs so a lot of pros found their way to the Diablo Mountain Bike Park. But, not all my tires found their way to the luggage carousel. Missing was a set of Maxxis double-ply 3.25 High Rollers.
Even as a pro, sometimes you have to ‘run what you brung’.
I qualified second on the rocky course, but I figured a few more practice runs afterwards couldn’t hurt. On the fourth practice run, my last of the day, I flatted. Just one of those things. No big deal.
My rear tire was a single ply and the tube was a lightweight XC. Even the Mavic wheel set had lightweight rims. A really fast set up, perfect for the trails around the Central Coast in California, but maybe not the best choice for the sharp shale on the east coast venue.
Marla gets advice from Mike from Fox...
At the bottom of the trail, pulling out the snake bitten XC tube was a cinch. Slipping in a thicker DH tube was little tough. Trying to thumb roll the tires sidewall onto the rim bead was just beyond reach. So I resorted to the metal tire irons, and gritting my jaw, I got it in there. Only to realize I somehow popped the new tube.
This race was not on our Team schedule, so there was no Luna Chix Team truck, no Team mechanic, and no pile of Team Maxxix tires and tubes to rely on.
A friendly guy stopped by to lend me a hand with another fresh tube. He couldn’t do it with his fingers either. Reluctantly, he tried a tire iron to pop that last two inches of bead. And I was so happy to see him triumph.
But as we pumped the tire up, the subtle hiss of a pinch flat deflated my spirits. The DH tube was thicker and it had been pinched between the rim and the tire iron.
We tried to be more careful with a third DH tube, but still there was a third hiss.
Mike's first attempt at changing the tire...
Finally, the morning of the final, Mike the FOX suspension guy, was able to slip in an XC tube without pinching it. But halfway down the trail during my first practice run, I flatted it.
At that point I borrowed a two ply tire, a High Roller 3.5 from Kathy, my team mate. A medium weight DH tube help up. I ended up fourth in the race, Kathy snuck in at second place, right behind French woman Sabrina Jonnier.
So it turns out it only takes 5 downhillers, two pit crews, the generosity of a teammate, and a midnight long distance phone call to my team mechanic to change a tube.
All the amateurs were laughing at us.
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1 Comments:
You should try changing 3 KTM rear tires in one day. That's what you end up doing when your rim starts to disinegrate 100 miles from the hotel.
Then you start to think, "I wonder what happens when the rim colapses totaly at 60 mph?"
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