Last weekend in Tulsa I rode some wider tires, 24mm, than I usually ride. They were Challenge tires and I normally race on Vittoria tubulars. I knew I wasn’t in the right form to have tires be my limiting factor, so I thought it was a good time to test them out at race speed.

It might not have been the best time because I was dealing with so many other issues, I didn’t really get a chance to put them through a true test. I don’t have anything here to report other than they worked. I’m going to ride them next weekend in Tour of Kansas City and am going to take them out to California this weekend and do some descending on them I’ve historically done on clinchers.

That being said, I know a lot has been done recently about tire width and pressure. I saw this article that some guys had done some controlled rollouts of lots of different tires with different pressures. I’m not sure how scientific the procedure was, but the results were important.

They found that the “fastest” tires had half the resistance as the slowest. In real-life terms during a ten-kilometer time trial, the slowest tire (Continental Grand Prix 3000) would take 34 seconds longer than the fastest (a hand-made clincher with a cotton casing).

That isn’t a small thing. Half the rolling resistance is a lot. They found that the wider the tire, the lower rolling resistance. I think I could agree with that from personal experience. I’m not sure how many tubular tires they tested. Mounting and dismounting so many sewup tires wouldn’t be an easy thing. The tires would have to be glued onto the rims to make the test accurate.

Anyway, I have a lot of different pressures I ride under different conditions. There are lots of things to consider. Mainly, the tires you’re riding, the course and the day/weather. I usually race right around 100 psi in my tubular tires in a criterium. I might ride a little more in a road race if the road is in good condition. But, like I said, the tires you’re riding make a huge difference. Vittoria tubulars are way more supple than continentals, so the same pressure feels a lot difference.

When the roads are bumpy or chip and seal, I ride way less pressure. I train on less than 80 psi always and don’t pump up my tires until it is under 50. I know that sounds really low, but the ride is much better.

In a criterium, you’re trying to have the right pressure for the best cornering abilities. In a road race, you usually are mainly concerned with the least amount of rolling resistance. Sometimes the cornering abilities of the tires, in road races, can be more important than the rolling resistance. Races with a lot of corners or difficult descents come to mind.

Anyway, after reading the Bicycle Quarterly post, I’m going to be paying way more attention to all of this. In cross and on the MTB, it is super crucial, but I’d sort of neglected the road. With all the new tire and wheel options, this might be complicated.

I can't believe how far I leaned over last weekend in Tulsa. This wear was the same on both the drive and non-driveside of the tires.

This was on about 2 miles of my ride yesterday from Topeka to Lawrence. The resistance of new chip and seal is incredible.

I have a very hard time remembering how much of sport nowadays is driven by the financial ingredient. Most sport, in the purest form, is a beautiful thing, no matter what the sport is. But when the professional aspects of it start to pollute the beauty of it, then it starts to make you wonder if the mass recognition the sport receives is worth the destructive nature the money, that follows, brings.

I’m not saying that all the cheating and drugs used in sports is because of money, but I think that really gives a huge incentive to not abide by the rules.

Cycling has only become a money driven sport quite recently. If you look back just one generation, that wasn’t the situation. Look at Davis Phinney and his son Taylor (who just made the Olympic Team in both the TT and road race, congratulations!). I remember Davis saying that Taylor’s contract with BMC was more than all the money that Davis made the whole time he raced. And Davis had a pretty long and successful career. That is a pretty cool thing when an athlete can make enough money during his career to allow him to live the rest of his life. It really is.

But the addition of huge amounts of money into most sports tends to bring out the worst in human nature. It kind of makes you wonder if the original Olympics games, only allowing amateurs to compete, might of been alright. I remember when they first started letting professionals race bicycles in the Olympic games. I was all for it. But, when you look back upon it, with Pascal Richardson and Jan Ulrich, etc. winning the road race, maybe it wasn’t such a great idea. Only recently have the professionals given the Olympics the respect the event deserves. It seems like before it was more of an after thought than a focus.

It is so strange to the extent that bicycle riders will go to ride their bikes fast. When Richard Virenque finally spilled his guts, two years after the Festina doping affair, he said that he did over 1000 injections that year. I can’t imagine risking my health so for only fame and money. And that is the same for the lots of other riders that don’t get the fame, only some of the money. It seems so silly.

The weird thing is that cycling really doesn’t have any money in it compared to lots and lots of other sports. Sometimes it is nice to just put the bad thoughts out of my mind and just try to concentrate on the beauty of sport. It is getting harder and harder.

You think bike racing draws in money, check out the hotel prices in Austin in November for the Formula One race. Hotels.com had only one listing with 211 hotels not available.

This Country Inn and Suites is a great deal, but only 1 room left.