New tires on wet race day?

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cbrshadow
Posts: 35
Joined: Tue Jun 03, 2014 8:12 pm

by cbrshadow

I have a crit tomorrow morning and it's likely to be wet , light rain. My crit bike has GP4000sii tires that are pretty worn out. I have a new set of tires ready to go, but I'm wondering if it's a bad idea for brand new tires on wet tarmac for a crit. Do they need to be "scuffed" a bit or "broken in" before they're grippy, or should they be good to go right away?

Option A) Put new tires on the bike and ride it. It'll be grippy
Option B) Keep using your worn out tires for 1 more crit (~20 miles) and change them after. You'll get more grip this way.

by Weenie


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modcon
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Joined: Sat Apr 07, 2018 8:32 am

by modcon

How worn out is worn out? Ie if you have arbitrarily decided that at x km you change the tyres out then a bit more won't matter. If they have cuts or are worn past the wear markers then that is a different issue. You could put the new ones on and go for a ride before racing on them? Just to scuff them up... Maybe run a slightly lower pressure and do plenty of cornering.

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cbrshadow
Posts: 35
Joined: Tue Jun 03, 2014 8:12 pm

by cbrshadow

modcon wrote:
Sat Jan 19, 2019 11:58 pm
How worn out is worn out? Ie if you have arbitrarily decided that at x km you change the tyres out then a bit more won't matter. If they have cuts or are worn past the wear markers then that is a different issue. You could put the new ones on and go for a ride before racing on them? Just to scuff them up... Maybe run a slightly lower pressure and do plenty of cornering.

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Worn out as in they have some light gashes. They'd probably hold for more races without issue. The purpose of switching tires would be to improve grip possibly. If new tires won't have better grip I won't switch.

TobinHatesYou
Posts: 12457
Joined: Mon Jul 24, 2017 12:02 pm

by TobinHatesYou

Early Bird course? I imagine it won’t make much of a difference what tires you use at 25mph on three 90ish degree corners and one sweeper.

cbrshadow
Posts: 35
Joined: Tue Jun 03, 2014 8:12 pm

by cbrshadow

TobinHatesYou wrote:
Sun Jan 20, 2019 2:03 am
Early Bird course? I imagine it won’t make much of a difference what tires you use at 25mph on three 90ish degree corners and one sweeper.
Fair point, and yes you're right it's the Early Bird course.

AnkitS
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Joined: Wed Jan 09, 2019 5:03 am
Location: Santa Cruz, CA

by AnkitS

If it is NCNCA Fremont Early bird, ill see you there tomorrow. I'll be on my dad's red trek emonda alr 5, ill come say hi if I see you :)

cbrshadow
Posts: 35
Joined: Tue Jun 03, 2014 8:12 pm

by cbrshadow

icantaffordcycling wrote:
Sun Jan 20, 2019 4:41 am
If it is NCNCA Fremont Early bird, ill see you there tomorrow. I'll be on my dad's red trek emonda alr 5, ill come say hi if I see you :)
That's the one! I'll be on a Red/Black/White S-Works Venge. Hope to see you there.

fitty4
Posts: 370
Joined: Mon Jul 13, 2009 9:19 pm
Location: Denmark

by fitty4

I would ride the old tires, I tried once on my brand new tires to test the grip on a touring bike with flat bar, I rode 300 meters and leaned in the corner just as i would on my race bike.... I crashed. (I think they were durano dd 23mm) I went to Mallorca on a training camp where a guy on camp had to do an emergency stop because of a car, he destroyed his tire and was lucky to meet a guy who had a brand new grand prix 4000 s II tire he could buy, I don't know who this guy were but he specifically said: "dont race down the mountain with this new tire and made sure everyone heard it" (we were on top of a mountain) I remembered my own crash with new tires

If you decide to use the brand new tire I would first give them a good wipe with alcohol and if possible go for a training ride

AJS914
Posts: 5397
Joined: Tue Jan 28, 2014 6:52 pm

by AJS914

I wouldn't even go if it's raining. An early bird crit isn't worth the risk!

TobinHatesYou
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Joined: Mon Jul 24, 2017 12:02 pm

by TobinHatesYou

I went. It was fun. Some guy in the E5 race faceplanted on the final straight...

GothicCastle
Posts: 304
Joined: Mon Jul 04, 2016 1:52 am

by GothicCastle

Don’t use anything new on race day.

fizzaz
Posts: 274
Joined: Wed Nov 07, 2018 5:02 pm

by fizzaz

Never anything brand new on Race day. That's double for tires. Go with the old tires and you'll be fine. By the sounds of it they will be fine to race on.

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Orlok
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Location: Almere - Nederland

by Orlok

I would first give them a good wipe with alcohol before riding them.!
Once comes a time that you'll have a tailwind :D
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AnkitS
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Location: Santa Cruz, CA

by AnkitS

AJS914 wrote:
Sun Jan 20, 2019 5:42 pm
I wouldn't even go if it's raining. An early bird crit isn't worth the risk!
I crashed last week on the same series and that is why I was on my dad's bike this week.

by Weenie


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dcorn
Posts: 427
Joined: Thu Oct 05, 2017 4:21 pm
Location: NoVA

by dcorn

For reference, new tires usually have residual mold release on them, which can be extremely slippery (since it's usually some kind of silicone or teflon). Same goes for car tires.

If you really want/have to race new tires, wipe down with rubbing alcohol, acetone, or some other solvent and it wouldn't hurt to scuff them up a bit with sandpaper.

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