Filed under: race wheels | Tags: flat, floor pump, gasket, race day wheels, race wheels
Part I here…
To be fair to Marc at Racedaywheels, he replied the next day (on July 4!) to my request for help on the extender valve, suggesting a “rebuild” (taking the tire off and redoing the valve extender connection to the tube valve). I didn’t go back to my email that day. But I did go get some extra CO2 so that I could try my inflator to see if it was going to work in case of trouble on the road. It worked: not by tight seal, but by force of effort. The CO2 blew all over in addition to down the valve throat. The valve nut froze in the open position, and I had to tap it with the broken-spoke poker I had fashioned to get it to close. Seeing that this new tool was indispensable for a potential flat, I cut the spoke down to a size that could fit in my blowout bag and added it to the tool essentials I would carry during my race. I also took my spare tube out and pre-wrapped the valve with plumber’s teflon thread tape, and, just for good measure, put the wheel of thread tape in my blowout bag too.
Sidebar rant: This year, I bought a floor pump at Performance Bike after some frustration with my last one. The rubber gasket that seals against the valve head had worn down to the point it was popping off the valve prior to coming up to pressure. When I went searching for a replacement valve, I found I could order a whole new hose and head complete (+/- $20), but not just the gasket. So, for $39 I bought a new Performance brand pump that had a head that could unscrew to access the gasket. In discussion with the salesperson, I thought I understood that replacement gaskets were available. So, I bought the pump. With this valve extender pump head seal problem, I thought I’d just get the gasket replacement and be back on track with my inflation issue. Well, apparently, Performance Bike USED TO SELL a $21 entire head replacement and not just the gasket. They’ve stopped making the replacement kit because it cost almost as much as a new pump! WHY CAN’T THEY JUST SELL THE $0.05 RUBBER GASKET IF THAT’S THE PART THAT WEARS OUT???? The pump is built to make that replacement easy. Just have a bucket of them at the front of the store…people would buy tons of them to keep their pumps at peak performance. THE REST OF THE PUMP IS PERFECTLY SERVICEABLE! As is the old one too; I still have that one for schrader valves and soccer balls and such. They’ve clearly made a business decision to be force people to buy whole pumps, when they could be far more sustainable and let people maintain the ones they own. [/rant]
The salesguys at the store were sympathetic and gave me two pump heads they had in the service area to try. (One of the salesmen even suggested looking at a Silca floor pump instead, even though they don’t sell them. What do you know? They produce parts too.) Unfortunately, the pump heads they gave me were not new and had the same seal issue. I decided to rely on the race bike service tent in transition instead of rebuilding the valve extender assembly on the tube. Surely they dealt with these valve extenders all the time. And I had a backup method with the CO2 if they couldn’t handle it. I didn’t particularly want to mess with the 808 assembly. I was taking a chance at maybe changing a tire with this setup for the first time on the road. “Nothing new on race day” is the mantra. Incidentally, I heard froma friend who owns 404’s that the smooth surface of the valve extenders is known for being a little difficult to deal with. He solved it with longer valve tubes. But for the 808’s, the valves extenders are essential.
I switched over my magnet to the front 808 and realized the spokes are blade-shaped, not round. So, I adjusted the position of my speed sensor on the fork and tested that it would pick up the magnet without trouble.
Race day came. I was able to get the wheels up to pressure with the help of the bike assist folks at the race. I had zero issues during the race. The magnet worked for my computer. The road was clean and smooth. I didn’t see nearly the debris I have to ride through around my town. The tires were new so a blowout was very unlikely anyway. I was a little apprehensive early because I saw quite a few people changing tires in the first 10 miles of the race. But there was nothing in the road, no potholes, nothing, so they were probably dealing with issues that arrived with their bikes at the race.
The wheels felt soft even though I was pretty sure they were close to my usual pressure. I’m attributing this to the carbon/alum rim section. Because I got clinchers, they have the aluminum rim for the tire bead retention and braking surface. No new brake pads were necessary because of the aluminum. They felt fast. I could hear a little whir as they spun. I could hear all my shifting, with a lovely hollow “clunk” sound reflecting off the rim. And they were noticeably unnoticeable weight-wise (if that makes any sense at all). To top it off, my bike did, in fact, look bad ass.
I ended up with a better than expected bike leg in my race (15mins better!), which I’m going to attribute to both my training AND my rented race wheels. Because if I don’t, my wife will not let me rent them ever again! At around $1200 for a 2007 USED pair of 808’s, this rental scheme is a pretty good deal. I could do this 6 times before even considering purchasing a set. If I wanted new wheels, I think it’s around $2k (10 rentals). And, the rental is for this year’s wheels. So, I was very happy with the experience, valve extender issues notwithstanding.
Returning the wheels was pretty easy. I received an email from Racedaywheels that gave me the contact info for the next renter. I had my LBS swap my cassette back to my old wheelset. I repackaged the wheels in the box they came in and took it to FedEx Office (formerly FedEx Kinko’s, nee Kinko’s).
I hope the new guy likes my old wheelset!! 
Filed under: gear, race, race wheels | Tags: race, race day wheels, race wheels, triathlon
Early race wheel rental report…
Because I get excited about “stuff” and I wish I had a TT bike, I decided to stroke my own vanity a little for my first half ironman race and rent some race wheels. I’ve been a BOP racer historically, so the addition of these toys will help me but not change my performance milieu significantly.
I had heard good things about racedaywheels.com online so I decided to go for it.
First things first…it’s $140 + 1 way shipping (+/- $20) to return the wheels. You can go higher if you want a disc set-up or take the insurance (which I did). (The insurance protects against damage, not theft or loss.) So, $180 to have wheels for a few days before the race and race day.
I checked out the various wheelsets available. I decided on Zipp, to be honest, because they’ve got the most catchet (performance, design & brand recognition). Remember this is a vanity project. I decided on the 808 Clydesdales because (1) I learned that deeper is better, and this was the deepest I could get on the base price; (2) Marc at racedaywheels suggested to go Clyde (I’m threshold Clyde size right now: 195#); and (3) the course is not likely to have cross winds. The course I will ride them on is Lake Stevens 70.3 which is rolly, but not excessively so. These wheels are advertised to be the same weight as my Shimano R500’s that came with my bike so I’m expecting no difference in climbing. Racedaywheels advertises that they use current year wheelsets for their rentals. Note to self: call them up about last years wheel bargains. You pick the hub style (shimano vs campy); the wheelset; and whether you want insurance. That and your credit card info and mailing address. If you go to one of the NA Sports IM or 70.3 races, you can drop them off after the race. (I think Racedaywheels is related in some way to NAS because I got an email from Marc from an NAS domain.) The application form reserved my wheelset.
They arrived on Tuesday before the race via FedEx “Home Delivery” (who don’t deliver on Mondays apparently). They come with a little laminated instruction sheet. It doesn’t tell you how to mount them, but it has things like: how to return them; don’t put them on your bike on your roof rack; and to pump them up via the installed valve extenders. They had a fresh set of Continental GP 4000S ’s on them. I took them with my bike to my LBS to get a race tuneup and have the cassette changed. I’m no wrench, and I certainly didn’t want to screw up someone else’s equipment that costs thousands to replace. I picked up the bike Wednesday with the wheels all mounted up & the drivetrain gliding smoothly. My LBS showed me something interesting on the workstand. He spun the cranks and then let go…the cranks still moved under the force of the chain. He said the freewheel on relatively new Zipps can be tight. As they got used more, they would loosen up and respond as expected. He suggested I soft pedal instead of coasting, just to be safe (ie keep the chain on the cogs where it belonged). No rest for the weary in a triathlon, huh? He also said it wasn’t that easy to change the cassette; nothing different process-wise, but, apparently, kind of a tight fit. He was kind enough to give me an extra skewer since mine was now in the new wheels. That way I could install my rear wheel to stick the bike on the fork mount roof rack (the chain just rests on the freewheel hub that accepts the cassette). It never occurred to me that the deep dish wheels might not fit in the rear wheel strap of the roof rack.
Thursday morning I had a 1hr moderate training session on the schedule. So that was my planned shakedown ride: do some hills and some flats and see what these babies are like. I had trouble pumping up the tires. The front one seemed to get no resistance from the tube, and the rear popped off the valve extender under pressure. HMMMMMM! I went to the web and looked up the installation instructions. There I learned that it was advisable to pre-wrap tube valves with plumbers tape and pre-install a valve extender so that once they were set into the wheel they were ready to pump. It was also suggested to poke a wire down into the valve extender to depress the tube valve to make sure it wasn’t stuck or screwed tight. Do I now need to carry an extra valve extender (not included in the rental)? and a little piece of spoke just in case of a flat? Eeeeesh. I need to check that I can use my CO2 inflator, too, before race day!
I took an old spoke and pushed it carefully into the valve extenders. Both front and back responded with a “whoosh”, so that was good. I pushed the pump head onto the valve as securely as I could without damaging the extender. After a few tries, i got the rear tire to respond and got it up to spec inflation for me: 110psi. The front I never got. I got zero pressure. Oh well, it seemed by touch that there was enough pressure to ride on. So I did my ride.
As I expected, I noticed nothing on the climbs due to weight. The ride was a little softer than my wheels, but the front wheel’s lack of topped-up inflation probably was the reason for that. They didn’t seemed too delicate for the open road, and I relaxed a bit about riding them too hard. I even got a nice downhill in to test their aero-ness. God knows if I was any faster, but they sure looked good flying along at 36mph! Not my fastest downhill, but, hey, this is just a shakedown.
I emailed Marc at Racedaywheels to see what I should do about pumping up my tires. I also called my LBS. My LBS said it’s likely the gasket on the pump head that’s not getting a tight enough seal. They were able to pump them up for the tuneup. I haven’t heard from Marc yet, which is a little disconcerting.
I’m going to buy some extra C02 tonight and a replacement gasket and practice inflating with the wheels. I think I need to practice changing the tires too. Though in some ways, I’d like to just never have to change them, if at all possible, since they’re already mounted and everything. More later…
Part II here.
I couldn’t sleep last night. I was sweating heavily on and off; tossing and turning. I just was ill at ease. My wife was subsequently grumpy this morning too for having been an unwilling witness to this night of torture. At first I was worried I might have the flu. I feel good, though, so that’s not it. I didn’t dream or talk in my sleep, my usual signs of stress. But I’m chalking this up to anxiety. I thought hard about sleeping in and not doing my tempo ride this morning. But I got up anyway and did it. I’ll catch up on my sleep tonight.
Bike goes in to LBS today for a prerace tuneup and race wheel cassette change . Zipp 808’s, I can’t wait to try those babies out! I hope they hum a little bit ( like a disc).
My thoughtful family got me “chariots of fire” for inspiration. I haven’t seen it since it came out. I’m hoping it has a hero ending (I just don’t remember).
