Tired

There are three types of tires in competitive cycling these days. And a lot of people, cyclists included, tend to get confused by them. Here’s the lowdown:

CLINCHER, aka “wire-on” tires, are the most common tires used in this 2-wheel sport- MTB, road and cyclocross. According to cycling Guru Sheldon Brown (www.sheldonbrown.com), a clincher consists of two hoops called “beads”, which are made of either steel (cheaper) or Kevlar (expensive) cable. One bead is initially mounted on the rim and a separate tube is inserted inside the tire. Then the other bead is mounted. As the tube is filled with air, the beads, which are smaller in diameter than the rim, will engage the locks located on the inner side of the rim. A good clincher can be inflated of at least 120psi. A high-end clincher tire can cost up to 3K each, but cheaper versions are not that bad and can be had for less than 200Php, making clinchers very popular with everyone. They are also easy to fix during a ride but has a weight penalty that most serious competitors don’t use them in competitions.

TUBULARS, also called as “sew ups”, are mostly for the exclusive use of racing- MTB, road or track. It has no beads and the two ends are sewn together with the inner tube inside. These tires are mounted on tubular rims and held in place by special cement, although rugby is favorite. High-end tubulars can cost more than 5K each but they roll better than clinchers since they can be inflated up to 170psi!!! They are also very light and in my experience, very fast as they seem to move even if I don’t stomp on the pedals. Other than the price, the other disadvantage is when you get a flat. Unlike clinchers, it’s next to impossible to fix tubulars during a ride since it’ll take you a long time to unsew the thread, fix the flat, sew it back and glue the tires. That’s why recreational cyclists who rides tubulars bring along two spare tires during a ride rather fix the flat.

TUBELESS came out in 10 years ago. It is mounted and held in place similar to a clincher except that as the name implies, it has no inner tubes. The rim has no internal spoke holes from which air can escape. The manufacturers claimed that it has less flats and can be inflated it with either very high or very low pressures. But it has more cons than pros. You’ll need a CO2 inflator since it needs a string burst of air to seal off the tires and the rim. You still need to carry a spare inner tube during a ride since it would be hard to locate the puncture with a hand pump. Finally, the tires and rims are heavy.

Tour of Matabungkay

Congratulations to LEYTE CYCLING for getting 2nd place in the team classification and Phillip Sainz for placing 3rd in the individual overall classification in this annual multi-stage racing for executives held in Batangas. Congratulations also to our own Ome Rodriguez, who also rode for LC, for finishing in the top 30 of about 200 participants. Hopefully, I can do this next year.

RESULTS OCTOBER 31, 1009, MANDAUE CRIT CAT C: 1- JAIME NOYNOY, 2- RAFFY BACAYAN, 3- JV ARANETA, 4- HEIDE ESMALIN, 5- DEDING JALUAG

FINALLY, there will be a MBT race this coming weekend in Busay. For more information, please go to www.cebucyling.com. – THE FREEMAN