Clinchers w/tubes: carry spare tube or?
#26
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I don’t think getting a flat with a lightweight road racing tire— particularly one billed as race-day specific as the Corsa Speed is— is a deficiency either. Flats are random occurrences caused by debris on the road, and unless specific and extreme steps are taken to guard against them, they’re going to happen, no matter what, if you hit the right kind of debris in the right way. You can reduce them with thicker, heavier tread and more materials, but it’s silly to think that a tire billed as the lightest and fastest in its category, as the Corsa Speed is, is “deficient” if it flats on public roadways.
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I too love the Corsa G+ (the earlier pre-tubeless ready version of the Graphenes). (Although I will be going back to to dinosaur treads aka tubulars. Very likely still the Vittoria Gs. And my stash of clincher G+ are likely to last until I have the wheels to go tubular.) I rode Vittoria $15 cottons as training tires as a racer many moons ago under quite a variety of labels. I took the ribbed tread completely for granted. Then they disappeared in the early '80s and I never saw a ribbed tread again until the G+s. My all-time favorite tread. Got reminded first ride.
I carry - 2 tubes, patchkit, 2 tire irons (plastics? ) and sometimes boots. I put the tubes in a sock. Protects them and makes stuffing them into the far end of the tool bag a lot easier.
I always make it a point to have 5 bills or more in my wallet. I've used that many to jury rig a boot for a huge tire slash to get home. Laundered them and spent as if new. (For big cuts, you can extend the bills past the beads so they get pinched down when the tire is mounted. Now they are acting as structural cord. US dollar bills are very strong, but here, using several is appropriate.) Those bills have bailed me out in other ways a time or two also.
I've heard the same stories as shared by the poster above re: flats and the G Speed tires. The regular Gs hae served me very well. They aren't magic. They still wear out and I still get flats but the combination of wear, flats, wonderful feel and grip in a tire that is not heavy - well I used to have to ride very expensive tubulars to get that. (I'm going back to tubbies for a very different reason - peace of mind. I've blown a clincher and had it come off the rim and jam in the seatstay. 25 mph. Collarbone, ribs, helmet on both sides and and acre of road rash. I don't want to do that at 40+ in this lifetime. By contrast, I've blown sewups at ~45 and it was so uneventful I do not remember when or where.)
I carry - 2 tubes, patchkit, 2 tire irons (plastics? ) and sometimes boots. I put the tubes in a sock. Protects them and makes stuffing them into the far end of the tool bag a lot easier.
I always make it a point to have 5 bills or more in my wallet. I've used that many to jury rig a boot for a huge tire slash to get home. Laundered them and spent as if new. (For big cuts, you can extend the bills past the beads so they get pinched down when the tire is mounted. Now they are acting as structural cord. US dollar bills are very strong, but here, using several is appropriate.) Those bills have bailed me out in other ways a time or two also.
I've heard the same stories as shared by the poster above re: flats and the G Speed tires. The regular Gs hae served me very well. They aren't magic. They still wear out and I still get flats but the combination of wear, flats, wonderful feel and grip in a tire that is not heavy - well I used to have to ride very expensive tubulars to get that. (I'm going back to tubbies for a very different reason - peace of mind. I've blown a clincher and had it come off the rim and jam in the seatstay. 25 mph. Collarbone, ribs, helmet on both sides and and acre of road rash. I don't want to do that at 40+ in this lifetime. By contrast, I've blown sewups at ~45 and it was so uneventful I do not remember when or where.)
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The time I used a $1 bill was like the time I used an energy bar wrapper -- I shortly turned into a pedestrian.
YMMV
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If you're worried about her ability to get the tire off and on (I would be concerned for my 10 year-old son, but so far he only rides with me), make sure she has a phone of some sort to call for a ride home if needed. And definitely agree on having her learn to do it in the comfort of home so she's not stressed about it when she's out on the road.
As for what to carry, that depends on how much she wants to avoid calling for a ride. I carry 2 tubes, 2 tire levers, a patch kit, a CO2 inflator with 2 cartridges, and a mini pump. The tubes and inflator are used on group rides to keep from making people wait too long. The patch kit and pump are just in case I get more than 2 flats on the same ride (it's rare, but can happen).
Edit: This does remind me of a story back when I was a junior. On a big group training ride, a fellow young rider... Junior National Champion for girls 10-12 to be exact, got a flat. She knew how to change it, but when a guy stopped and asked if she needed help, she asked if she was doing it right and stuck the tire lever in backwards... just to get the guy to quickly do it for her while she watched. So, your daughter could definitely use her "vulnerable girl" status to her advantage should she ever want to.
As for what to carry, that depends on how much she wants to avoid calling for a ride. I carry 2 tubes, 2 tire levers, a patch kit, a CO2 inflator with 2 cartridges, and a mini pump. The tubes and inflator are used on group rides to keep from making people wait too long. The patch kit and pump are just in case I get more than 2 flats on the same ride (it's rare, but can happen).
Edit: This does remind me of a story back when I was a junior. On a big group training ride, a fellow young rider... Junior National Champion for girls 10-12 to be exact, got a flat. She knew how to change it, but when a guy stopped and asked if she needed help, she asked if she was doing it right and stuck the tire lever in backwards... just to get the guy to quickly do it for her while she watched. So, your daughter could definitely use her "vulnerable girl" status to her advantage should she ever want to.
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Last edited by urbanknight; 06-24-21 at 06:19 PM.