May 7, 2025 • 26 mins
OVERVIEW
Wheels and Tires and Tire Pressure. These are the subjects of endless debates among road, gravel, and mountain bike racers. Wheel and tire technologies continue to change. Internal rim widths allow for wider tires, as do modern frames. In Episode 247 of "The Time-Crunched Cyclist Podcast", Coach Adam Pulford and Velosmith's Tony Bustamante discuss how cyclists can narrow in on the wheel + tire + pressure combination that works best in specific situation, like SBT GRVL vs. Big Sugar.
TOPICS COVERED
- Why are tires so important to cycling performance?
- Why you should be testing multiple tire choices
- Sourcing course-specific info on tire selection
- How tire pressure affects wheel system performance
- Tinkering with tire pressure to find your preferred setup
- Sweet spots for rire size and handling characteristics
ASK A QUESTION FOR A FUTURE PODCAST
LINKS/RESOURCES
- SRAM/ZIPP tire pressure guide
- Schwalbe tire width guide
- WTB Tire/Rim fit chart
GUEST
Tony Bustamante of Velosmith Bicycle Studio. A second-generation bike shop owner, Tony Began working for his father in 1986 and over time worked in shops from L.A. to D.C. In the late 90s - early 00s. He worked at Seven Cycles in production/manufacturing and design before starting Velosmith in 2011 with a focus on building custom bicycles and delivering an exceptional level of mechanical service and hospitality. One last bit about Tony: he was an athlete Adam Pulford worked with for a handful of years and Adam has utilized Tony's skills and guidance on equipment choices, bike fit, and more.
HOST
Adam Pulford has been a CTS Coach for nearly two decades and holds a B.S. in Exercise Physiology. He's participated in and coached hundreds of athletes for endurance events all around the world.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
From the team at CTS.
This is the Time Crunch Cyclistpodcast, our show dedicated to
answering your trainingquestions and providing
actionable advice to help youimprove your performance, even
if you're strapped for time.
I'm your host, coach AdamPulford, and I'm one of the over
50 professional coaches whomake up the team at CTS.
In each episode, I draw on ourteam's collective knowledge,
(00:30):
other coaches and experts in thefield to provide you with the
practical ways to get the mostout of your training and
ultimately become the bestcyclist that you can be.
Now on to our show.
Now onto our show.
(00:50):
Welcome back, time Crunch fans.
I'm your host, coach AdamPulford.
I'm here once again with TonyBustamante of VeloSmith Bike
Studio to expand on our previousepisode, where we focused on
the best practices for athletescoming into race day or your big
event.
In this show, we're going tofocus a lot on the tires and
wheels, and really it's liketires, wheels, pressure oh my
(01:13):
Tony, when you and I weretalking before, we were talking
about how there really isn't anyperfect choice out there,
especially in the way of tire,wheel, but there are.
What Trade-offs correct.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
We have seen a pretty steady march toward a bigger
tire, regardless of whatcategory it is road, gravel,
mountain everything is nowmoving in a in the direction of
bigger and the data is isbasically giving people the
confidence that a bigger tire isnot slower, that a lower
(01:46):
pressure is not slower, and Ithink there's a lot of there's a
lot of relearning, because forso many years, if you're talking
about the road category, 100PSI or 110 PSI was the setup,
but in that timing we were alsotalking about tires that were
(02:06):
much, much smaller.
It was five, six years ago thatwe were still selling a lot of
28 millimeter tires as a fatroad tire, and now 28 millimeter
tires for us in the studio issimply service work.
So if you have a bike thatcan't fit larger, that's where
(02:26):
our 28 millimeter tire sales aregoing, and most common now and
we've seen this year over yearis they're jumping by two
millimeters at a minimum.
This is looking at our annualsales.
So last year, 32 was ouraverage tire size and right now
(02:47):
we're on track for 35 to be, andthis is again averaging out
road and gravel, which is ourtwo areas that we focus on.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
I mean, that's wild to hear it just in that
timestamp, but it's also notshocking based on what my
athletes are riding, what youread on Vela News and all this
kind of stuff, and so I thinkthat plays into some relevancy
which we'll talk about and howto even make a great bike or
wheel choice down the road.
But to the end of how fast thistechnology is really moving.
(03:20):
You talked about width andpressure, but there's also tread
or no tread, there's thesealant, just so much to talk
about.
And how this applies is thetires and wheels were part of
the bike category in ourprevious conversation, but we
wanted to reserve some extratime because there's just so
(03:41):
much so like.
Why are tires so important tothe rider, to the feel of the
rider, to the performance andwhat is like the kind of the
number one thing that stands outto you when it comes to like
event day preparation?
Speaker 2 (03:55):
on that, I think tires have always been an
essential piece of the event orrace day equipment.
Essential piece of the event orrace day equipment Tire is
where you're going to have ahuge amount of input, so gearing
on the bike may be reallynarrow in terms of what's going
(04:17):
to be sufficient for an event,but with tire with pressure,
with sealant preferences, withrim profile, rim shape, rim
width, these things are enormousand it's actually pretty
exciting right now because thereis so much stuff coming to
market and I think there aresome examples of tire
(04:44):
preferences based on events.
So, looking at steamboat gravelas one end of the continuum,
looking at big sugar at theother end of the continuum, and
really looking at surfaceconditions and champagne gravel
versus something chunky and uhand sharper, and so, um,
(05:08):
figuring out what the rightsetup is, uh, is the can be a
winning decision and it can be alosing decision as well.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, that example of steamboat versus
big sugar is probably the bestexample on the gravel side of
things of of how drastic ornight and day difference you
know that can be.
But I'll say this like comingfrom the mountain bike side of
things, where, uh, I'll say thisI don't have a problem swapping
tires If you do a pre-ride orif you get some information that
(05:39):
it's like, well, uh, this issuper chonky and you need
something with more tread, I'llswap tires all day, and here's
why.
So I used to be a team directorfor professional mountain bike
teams and part of the strategywas to get there.
You know, wednesday or Thursday, recon, recon, race, race, go
home and away we go.
Now we have professional ridersand we have professional
(06:00):
mechanics, so there's that tokeep in mind.
But our riders would go out,maybe take, um, uh, take a few
laps, come back and be like, ohman, I need to, you know, dumb
down the pressure a little bitor let's just swap it out.
So we'll swap wheels because wealready have some.
Maybe we put on tires thatmorning and threw it on there
because we know that that wouldbe through and sealant all the
(06:23):
things, but that is, it's againwe're.
We were professionals people.
However, it is common practicein the way that mountain bike
wheels and mountain bike tireswere set up in our setup.
These days you can do that onthe downhill side of things, on
the cross country side of things.
It's pretty common practice.
You know, maybe blow a tire outor something like that, throw
it on, go and race again.
So there is that element fromthe mountain bike side of things
(06:45):
.
I know that you don't have thesame luxury of of uh maybe
pre-riding big sugar as anamateur athlete and then
swapping out tires the night of,unless you travel with your own
mechanic.
But in that way, how how wouldyou uh advise listeners here,
tony, to get information aboutwhat tires to run and what PSI
(07:08):
to run on race day?
Speaker 2 (07:11):
I think in many ways that's a job for the Internet.
There's just a tremendousamount of dialogue out there
about events, about tire choices, about conditions, and you know
I've been riding and racing mybike for a long, long time.
We used to just call uh theshops that were local to where
(07:31):
the event was and ask what thetire of choice was.
Um, especially in the mountainbike category.
Um, I think you're trying tobalance uh tread and you know
you don't want too much treadthat it becomes a penalty on any
fast sections that are smootheddown and you don't want a tread
that is going to provide um toolittle in terms of protection
(07:55):
against uh sharp stuff on thecourse.
So there's some really goodinsight that you can get um from
people who have, who have comebefore you for this event.
But again, uh, again, the localshops are going to give you.
They have a lot of information.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
Yeah, that's true, I mean Leadville being a great
example.
Call up Cycles of Life up inLeadville and say what's the
most common tire you see withsuccess, you know, of course,
right, that's one example.
But yeah, scouring the edges ofthe internet, chat, gpt, all
good Talk with your racepartners, listen to podcasts and
(08:30):
that sort of thing, we're notgoing to give a ton of that
specific information because,again, it's it's so specific to
not only the course but theweather itself.
Whether it comes in couldchange that quite a bit.
Which leads us a little bit totire pressure, because that
that'll depend on if it's muddy,if it's dry, if it you know the
(08:51):
the width of all this kind ofstuff.
So can you talk about how tirepressure is part of that
equation when it comes todialing in the best experience
for the rider, for the race, forthe conditions on race day?
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Wheels are a system, so looking at tire volume,
looking at rim internal width,is an important piece, and then
looking at the type of rim thatyou have, whether it's hooked or
hookless, and we alwaysrecommend that you use one of
(09:26):
the different calculators thatare online.
We do a lot with Envy, we dosome with Zip, and, in both
scenarios, if you're riding Envywheels, we direct you to the
Envy pressure calculator.
If you're riding Zip, we pointyou to the Zip, and, in both
scenarios, if you're riding NVwheels, we direct you to the NV
pressure calculator.
If you're running Zip, pointyou to the Zip.
Silca also has one.
Vittoria just launched onerecently, and so I think
(09:48):
starting there is reallyessential, and some of them are
going to be more detailed thanothers.
Some are going to look at totalrider bike combined weight,
others look at a much simplerjust tire volume, rim width.
But I think, either way, and togo back to the last segment,
(10:09):
this is about backing up yourpreparation time and zeroing in
on tire that is going to be agood choice for the event and
then tinkering with the pressure.
In today's day and age, whereyou have such a low pressure, a
(10:31):
PSI or two has a big impact or abig effect on the way the tire
feels.
So spending some time ridingsome similar conditions to event
day and zeroing in not just ontire pressure as a recommended,
but then tire pressure as yourpreference.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
Yeah, yeah, in that first episode I introduced you
as a forever tinkerer of allthings bikes and I think your
tinkering side of things is is,uh, very what, very much so
entertained with tire pressurethese days, as is mine, um,
because it's the two PSI or morecan make a huge difference.
(11:05):
I would say my first I recentlygot a bike, like last year, and
it was moving up to 32s and 35sand rethinking the pressure
right.
Cause I was using so I was usingsome zip um three, 53s right
and 32s in it, you know thesuggested pressure was down into
the 44 upfront, 46 in the backwith my system weight and I was
(11:27):
like and I think even I had oneride where it didn't think about
it, put, put, put it back up to, like you know, 55 or 60,
whatever I was running the 28thon went out and rode and I was
just like just terrible in thecorners on the descents, where
normally I'm pretty decent, andI'm like what is going on?
Check my tire pressure.
I'm like, oh yeah, Blood off15,.
(11:49):
Went out the next day and justripped it Felt awesome.
So in that way, like old habitsdie hard, Think differently,
Think outside the box and checkthe calculators because they're
not wrong.
These manufacturers areproducing in different ways and
you have to change those habits.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
Yeah, and I think a tire is it.
Tire is one of those areaswhere you really can tinker in
an endless form.
Tire is one of those areaswhere you really can tinker in
an endless form.
I'll often start with what thepressure calculator recommends
and then I won't touch it.
If a sealant system is wellestablished and set up, your
(12:30):
pressure loss overnight ispretty small, pretty small, and
I'll sometimes start the weekwith recommended pressure and
then just allow it to naturallylose air over the course of the
week, and in that timeframe Imight stumble into a pressure
that feels just so much betterthan than anything else I had
written, and so it's a happyaccident.
(12:54):
But it ends up, it ends upworking pretty well.
And then, uh, I have a gaugethat is accurate.
Uh, it's mostly calibrated tobe below uh 50 PSI, and so then,
uh, when I find that spot thatfeels really good, I'll take a
measurement and get the number,and then, uh, keep that as my
new, my new normal, keep that asmy new, my new normal.
(13:21):
Years of cyclocross has, uh,made me be, um, very focused on
tire pressure.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
Yeah, I think when you're an off-road athlete like
like cyclocross or mountain bikeyou get super weird about tire
pressure.
And I was going to say one protip is have uh like a hand, um,
uh, hand pressure device.
Schwalbe makes one, silicamakes one, I mean everybody's
making them now but you cantravel with it, right.
So whether you travelinternationally or you go to the
(13:46):
race or you're just at thelocal track and you just want to
check pressure real quick, it'saccurate and consistent.
So no matter if you've got aborrow pump or CO2 it up or
whatever, you can always bleeddown to your known pressure.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
So that's it, with your known gauge, with your
known gauge.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
Exactly.
That's the point, right, yep soyeah, and I think for anyone
here, like Tony said, the idealpressure on race day has a lot
of factors that go on to it.
Okay, the course, theconditions, the weather, your
tire wheel system, right, allthat.
But you suss it out over time,you tinker over time.
(14:22):
Hopefully this episode isgetting to everybody before some
of the midsummer so you cantinker away going down.
But, I think, explore withinthe boundaries of manufacturers'
recommendations on this so youdon't have a whoopsies.
But in that way you find what'sgoing to work well for you in
those conditions.
And I'd also say like it goesboth ways, meaning you
(14:45):
over-pressure, you go, you havea bad experience, you trickle
down, like Tony was talkingabout.
You have a good experience,like, oh, then measure it, see
what worked with that Right.
Meanwhile I had a conversationwith one of one of my athletes.
He was like man, should I go32s or 35s or I'm like buy a set
of?
He could so bias by a set ofthirties, by a set of 32s, by a
(15:08):
set of 35s, ride them for acouple of weeks, find what works
for you.
And this was also based on hisbike that we, you know Google
what's the max tire pressure?
Speaker 2 (15:24):
uh sorry, max tire size.
We go for it, right.
Uh, so tinker away, try it ifyou can.
Yeah, and I think you know now,when we're looking at bikes
that have this wide range oftire compatibility, um, they're,
in that range of tires there'sgoing to be an optimal handling
and as you move away from thatoptimal handling either going
smaller in the tire or goinglarger in the tire you impact
the way that the bike steers andthe way the bike handles.
(15:45):
And so, um, I think yeah, Ithink that's we.
We will often say, um, withmany of the bikes that we sell,
that if you're doing it right,you have a bin in your garage of
of different tires, becauseyou're going to start to unlock
all of the potential of,especially, a gravel bike with
larger volume, smaller volume,bigger knobs, smaller knobs.
(16:07):
It really does impact andchange the way the bike rides.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
Don't ask my wife about all the slightly used
tires in our garage.
They're just waiting for theright event.
That's right, tony, I'm goingto use that, thank you.
Yeah, there you go.
You know I'm going to saysomething and I don't think I'm
wrong.
I'm going to say the questionof how come gravel?
(16:33):
Okay, people think gravel hasall this innovation and
revolution.
Now the road has to.
And, oh my gosh, so excited.
I'm going to say this the spiritof wheel and tire evolution,
it's not the gravel, it'smountain bike.
Because we had all the tireshanging up in the garage or down
(16:54):
in the bin or whatever for allthe different course conditions
for a long time.
And even back in the 90s, wherethere was just a shit ton of
money flowing through themountain bike scene there was
just a shit ton of money flowingthrough the mountain bike scene
.
There was a bunch of justrevolution happening, from going
from rim to disc to wider isbetter for both the rim and the
tire and then all of a suddengoing tubeless and sealant, and
(17:17):
now gravel and road are justcatching up.
So am I wrong to say thatmountain bike is the spirit of
all bikes?
Am I wrong?
Speaker 2 (17:26):
to say that mountain bike is the spirit of all bikes.
No, you know, I would say thatwith cycling, what's great about
cycling is that there's a lotof it that's really not new,
right?
So you go back 100 years andsome of the technologies that
we're seeing that are labeled asnew and great have been around
(17:49):
for a long time.
I think what's different now isI say this I was in the cycling
world when mountain bikes werereally coming into it to become
something, and it was just anincredible time and there was so
(18:10):
much new that was happening.
There were so many areas thatwere developing rapidly,
expanding exponentially.
It was so exciting and I think,when we look at gravel and
maybe, to a lesser extent, road,that's what's happening right
now.
There is just a huge amount ofof evolution that's happening.
(18:31):
I mean, this is a moment.
You know, um, 20 years from now, we're going to talk about the
birth of gravel and, uh, we'retalking about right now.
So it's a it's, it's anexciting time.
I think right now, the otherthing that's happening is we're
we're.
We look not just within thewalls of the boardroom and say
(18:52):
here's what people need.
They're actually looking at howpeople are using the equipment
where they're using it and thenbuilding equipment for the users
, which is that's a departure.
I mean, we've had many yearswhere it's just here's what
you're going to ride.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
Yeah, that's a huge market change.
I think it's really important.
Why do you think that'soccurring now, though?
Speaker 2 (19:16):
Honestly, I think the internet, I think social media
is providing a greater awarenessfor companies who want to
listen, and that's prettyexciting.
And so the move toward.
Again to use Gravelin as anexample, we saw when it first
(19:38):
came to market, gearing wasenormous and then we saw it
swing the other direction andresemble more of a road gearing
and then now we're seeing itland somewhere in between and,
um, that's rider feedback that'shelping arrive at these places.
And the same is true with tires.
We're seeing tires, uh, um, nowmoving literally into what is a
(20:01):
mountain bike tire, and I don'tthink we're done yet.
I think that's going to youknow that the pendulum is going
to continue to swing and we'regoing to zero in on other things
.
What's exciting now is thatthere are companies who are
willing to invest in this stuff,so we can try it, and if it's
great, it'll stick around, andif it's not, it'll go away.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
All right, Tony.
So as we start to close thisepisode out in this series of
our tech talk, to close thisepisode out in this series of
our tech talk Um if some of ourlisteners are listening to this
and they're like man, um, yeah,it's time to update my bike, or
or, uh, I should give Tony acall.
Like what if somebody calls youand says I'm looking for a new
bike, what should I get?
(20:40):
How would you handle a clientlike that, Either from afar or
in person?
I don't even know if you dofrom afar, but walk us through,
like, what is the logic or whatdo you want to know from that
person before they purchase abike through you?
Speaker 2 (20:54):
And also VeloSmith Bike Studio it's a pretty unique
, I know about it, but maybetake some time and explain what
you do at VeloSmith what you doat VeloSmith, yeah Well, so, um,
velosmith is is a reflection ofall the years that I've had in
the bike industry, and so whatwe do is we provide a very
(21:15):
hands-on approach to uh, buyinga bicycle, and so, um, the the
fitting is an important part ofit.
Uh, the the equipment selectionis an important part of it.
The equipment selection is animportant part of it, but I
think the real reason thatpeople come to see us is the
conversations that we have,because it's important to learn
(21:35):
about how people want to usethese bikes.
So there are a lot ofoff-the-shelf options that just
say gravel and I'm going to dogravel.
So this is a perfect choice.
We like to uh tinker, we liketo nerd out on that stuff and
really dig in and figure outwhat is the right choice.
So, um, we, we work with peopleuh, all around the world, which
(21:59):
is an incredible thing to say.
But, um, I think we, we alwayslook at it as being the bike
that we're going to build foryou is a reflection of how
you're going to use it 80% ofthe time.
So how are you going to usethis bike 80% of the time?
We don't want to build a bikespecifically for one event,
(22:20):
that's an outlier.
Unless you want to buy a bikefor that one event, that's an
outlier.
But if you're looking forsomething that's just going to
be a great bike to ride day in,day out, then we look at how
you're going to use it.
80% of the time, we look atyour history as a cyclist.
We look at equipment thatyou're using now, and then we
also look at the future and howsomeone is going to age into
(22:43):
this and our goal with theproducts that we select and I
should point out, we're not atypical bike shop.
We are truly independent.
The brands that we sell, theproducts that we sell, are
brands that we've chosen.
They're brands that we use on adaily basis.
It is not a corporate directiveor, uh, a sales rep who's
(23:08):
telling us what we're going tostock, that the choices that we
carry, the product choices wecarry, are ours, and so, um,
getting everybody aligned with,um, with with the right choices,
um is, is, uh, communication,it's uh, it's a collaborative
effort and ideally, um, it's abike that will last a long time.
(23:31):
It's a bike that's serviceable.
It's a bike that's durable.
It's a bike that's reliable.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
Yeah, no, that's that's a great.
That's a great explanation ofwhat you do, tony, and, like I
said, I didn't know if youworked with clients from afar,
but I think, in that way, foreverybody listening here,
hopefully that gets you thinkingabout your experience on your
bike.
If you've got an awesome bikeand you just got it great, maybe
(23:56):
this inspires you to go get afit.
If something's not feeling justright, hopefully it motivates
you to go to the bike shop, talkto your mechanic and just have
better conversations with them,get your bike in two to three
weeks out before the main event.
That's what Tony and I arereally pressing hard to do.
(24:17):
But if you're looking for a newbike and if you want a
consultation, or if you wantsomebody like Tony that's going
to, or if you're, you wantsomebody like Tony that's going
to guide you through anindividual way, for that, this
is your man.
So, like I said Tony, it's theway he thinks.
That's what drew me to him forthese two podcasts.
(24:38):
So, tony, I really want tothank you again for your time
out of the busy studio life andtaking some time and talking to
our guests here, because I thinkeveryone's going to get a lot
out of it and get inspired andthink in different ways about
all things.
Bike tech.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Thanks, adam, I really appreciate it.
It's an honor to be uh be onthe roster here.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
So this is awesome.
And what I'll do, listeners, isI will link to um the VeloSmith
bike studio website, as well ascheck them out on Instagram.
Like I said, if, if you don'tdo anything other than just go
look at the beautiful buildsthere, do that.
It's, it's worthwhile, um, butif that, like I said, if that
turns into reaching out, um,just tell, uh, just tell Tony
(25:21):
that coach AP sent you and youheard us on the podcast.
It'd be super fun to see wherethat goes.
And if anybody has a trainingpartner or a friend that needs
to hear this podcast becausethey always turn up to the big
race with clapped out equipment,go ahead and share this episode
with them.
Finally, if you have anyquestions about equipment or
(25:42):
anything that we talked abouttoday, head over to
trainwrightcom backslash podcastand you can submit a question
there.
And if you say, get Tony backon the podcast to talk more
about tech, talk stuff, happy todo it.
This is the first time in awhile where I really like nerded
out on, like bike tech, sowe'll see where it goes.
Tony, again, thank you forjoining us on the Time Crunch
(26:04):
Cyclist.
Thank you, adam.
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(26:27):
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From the team at CTS.
This is the Time Crunch Cyclistpodcast, our show dedicated to
answering your trainingquestions and providing
actionable advice to help youimprove your performance, even
if you're strapped for time.
I'm your host, coach AdamPulford, and I'm one of the over
50 professional coaches whomake up the team at CTS.
In each episode, I draw on ourteam's collective knowledge,
(00:30):
other coaches and experts in thefield to provide you with the
practical ways to get the mostout of your training and
ultimately become the bestcyclist that you can be.
Now on to our show.
Now onto our show.
(00:50):
Welcome back, time Crunch fans.
I'm your host, coach AdamPulford.
I'm here once again with TonyBustamante of VeloSmith Bike
Studio to expand on our previousepisode, where we focused on
the best practices for athletescoming into race day or your big
event.
In this show, we're going tofocus a lot on the tires and
wheels, and really it's liketires, wheels, pressure oh my
(01:13):
Tony, when you and I weretalking before, we were talking
about how there really isn't anyperfect choice out there,
especially in the way of tire,wheel, but there are.
What Trade-offs correct.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
We have seen a pretty steady march toward a bigger
tire, regardless of whatcategory it is road, gravel,
mountain everything is nowmoving in a in the direction of
bigger and the data is isbasically giving people the
confidence that a bigger tire isnot slower, that a lower
(01:46):
pressure is not slower, and Ithink there's a lot of there's a
lot of relearning, because forso many years, if you're talking
about the road category, 100PSI or 110 PSI was the setup,
but in that timing we were alsotalking about tires that were
(02:06):
much, much smaller.
It was five, six years ago thatwe were still selling a lot of
28 millimeter tires as a fatroad tire, and now 28 millimeter
tires for us in the studio issimply service work.
So if you have a bike thatcan't fit larger, that's where
(02:26):
our 28 millimeter tire sales aregoing, and most common now and
we've seen this year over yearis they're jumping by two
millimeters at a minimum.
This is looking at our annualsales.
So last year, 32 was ouraverage tire size and right now
(02:47):
we're on track for 35 to be, andthis is again averaging out
road and gravel, which is ourtwo areas that we focus on.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
I mean, that's wild to hear it just in that
timestamp, but it's also notshocking based on what my
athletes are riding, what youread on Vela News and all this
kind of stuff, and so I thinkthat plays into some relevancy
which we'll talk about and howto even make a great bike or
wheel choice down the road.
But to the end of how fast thistechnology is really moving.
(03:20):
You talked about width andpressure, but there's also tread
or no tread, there's thesealant, just so much to talk
about.
And how this applies is thetires and wheels were part of
the bike category in ourprevious conversation, but we
wanted to reserve some extratime because there's just so
(03:41):
much so like.
Why are tires so important tothe rider, to the feel of the
rider, to the performance andwhat is like the kind of the
number one thing that stands outto you when it comes to like
event day preparation?
Speaker 2 (03:55):
on that, I think tires have always been an
essential piece of the event orrace day equipment.
Essential piece of the event orrace day equipment Tire is
where you're going to have ahuge amount of input, so gearing
on the bike may be reallynarrow in terms of what's going
(04:17):
to be sufficient for an event,but with tire with pressure,
with sealant preferences, withrim profile, rim shape, rim
width, these things are enormousand it's actually pretty
exciting right now because thereis so much stuff coming to
market and I think there aresome examples of tire
(04:44):
preferences based on events.
So, looking at steamboat gravelas one end of the continuum,
looking at big sugar at theother end of the continuum, and
really looking at surfaceconditions and champagne gravel
versus something chunky and uhand sharper, and so, um,
(05:08):
figuring out what the rightsetup is, uh, is the can be a
winning decision and it can be alosing decision as well.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, that example of steamboat versus
big sugar is probably the bestexample on the gravel side of
things of of how drastic ornight and day difference you
know that can be.
But I'll say this like comingfrom the mountain bike side of
things, where, uh, I'll say thisI don't have a problem swapping
tires If you do a pre-ride orif you get some information that
(05:39):
it's like, well, uh, this issuper chonky and you need
something with more tread, I'llswap tires all day, and here's
why.
So I used to be a team directorfor professional mountain bike
teams and part of the strategywas to get there.
You know, wednesday or Thursday, recon, recon, race, race, go
home and away we go.
Now we have professional ridersand we have professional
(06:00):
mechanics, so there's that tokeep in mind.
But our riders would go out,maybe take, um, uh, take a few
laps, come back and be like, ohman, I need to, you know, dumb
down the pressure a little bitor let's just swap it out.
So we'll swap wheels because wealready have some.
Maybe we put on tires thatmorning and threw it on there
because we know that that wouldbe through and sealant all the
(06:23):
things, but that is, it's againwe're.
We were professionals people.
However, it is common practicein the way that mountain bike
wheels and mountain bike tireswere set up in our setup.
These days you can do that onthe downhill side of things, on
the cross country side of things.
It's pretty common practice.
You know, maybe blow a tire outor something like that, throw
it on, go and race again.
So there is that element fromthe mountain bike side of things
(06:45):
.
I know that you don't have thesame luxury of of uh maybe
pre-riding big sugar as anamateur athlete and then
swapping out tires the night of,unless you travel with your own
mechanic.
But in that way, how how wouldyou uh advise listeners here,
tony, to get information aboutwhat tires to run and what PSI
(07:08):
to run on race day?
Speaker 2 (07:11):
I think in many ways that's a job for the Internet.
There's just a tremendousamount of dialogue out there
about events, about tire choices, about conditions, and you know
I've been riding and racing mybike for a long, long time.
We used to just call uh theshops that were local to where
(07:31):
the event was and ask what thetire of choice was.
Um, especially in the mountainbike category.
Um, I think you're trying tobalance uh tread and you know
you don't want too much treadthat it becomes a penalty on any
fast sections that are smootheddown and you don't want a tread
that is going to provide um toolittle in terms of protection
(07:55):
against uh sharp stuff on thecourse.
So there's some really goodinsight that you can get um from
people who have, who have comebefore you for this event.
But again, uh, again, the localshops are going to give you.
They have a lot of information.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
Yeah, that's true, I mean Leadville being a great
example.
Call up Cycles of Life up inLeadville and say what's the
most common tire you see withsuccess, you know, of course,
right, that's one example.
But yeah, scouring the edges ofthe internet, chat, gpt, all
good Talk with your racepartners, listen to podcasts and
(08:30):
that sort of thing, we're notgoing to give a ton of that
specific information because,again, it's it's so specific to
not only the course but theweather itself.
Whether it comes in couldchange that quite a bit.
Which leads us a little bit totire pressure, because that
that'll depend on if it's muddy,if it's dry, if it you know the
(08:51):
the width of all this kind ofstuff.
So can you talk about how tirepressure is part of that
equation when it comes todialing in the best experience
for the rider, for the race, forthe conditions on race day?
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Wheels are a system, so looking at tire volume,
looking at rim internal width,is an important piece, and then
looking at the type of rim thatyou have, whether it's hooked or
hookless, and we alwaysrecommend that you use one of
(09:26):
the different calculators thatare online.
We do a lot with Envy, we dosome with Zip, and, in both
scenarios, if you're riding Envywheels, we direct you to the
Envy pressure calculator.
If you're riding Zip, we pointyou to the Zip, and, in both
scenarios, if you're riding NVwheels, we direct you to the NV
pressure calculator.
If you're running Zip, pointyou to the Zip.
Silca also has one.
Vittoria just launched onerecently, and so I think
(09:48):
starting there is reallyessential, and some of them are
going to be more detailed thanothers.
Some are going to look at totalrider bike combined weight,
others look at a much simplerjust tire volume, rim width.
But I think, either way, and togo back to the last segment,
(10:09):
this is about backing up yourpreparation time and zeroing in
on tire that is going to be agood choice for the event and
then tinkering with the pressure.
In today's day and age, whereyou have such a low pressure, a
(10:31):
PSI or two has a big impact or abig effect on the way the tire
feels.
So spending some time ridingsome similar conditions to event
day and zeroing in not just ontire pressure as a recommended,
but then tire pressure as yourpreference.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
Yeah, yeah, in that first episode I introduced you
as a forever tinkerer of allthings bikes and I think your
tinkering side of things is is,uh, very what, very much so
entertained with tire pressurethese days, as is mine, um,
because it's the two PSI or morecan make a huge difference.
(11:05):
I would say my first I recentlygot a bike, like last year, and
it was moving up to 32s and 35sand rethinking the pressure
right.
Cause I was using so I was usingsome zip um three, 53s right
and 32s in it, you know thesuggested pressure was down into
the 44 upfront, 46 in the backwith my system weight and I was
(11:27):
like and I think even I had oneride where it didn't think about
it, put, put, put it back up to, like you know, 55 or 60,
whatever I was running the 28thon went out and rode and I was
just like just terrible in thecorners on the descents, where
normally I'm pretty decent, andI'm like what is going on?
Check my tire pressure.
I'm like, oh yeah, Blood off15,.
(11:49):
Went out the next day and justripped it Felt awesome.
So in that way, like old habitsdie hard, Think differently,
Think outside the box and checkthe calculators because they're
not wrong.
These manufacturers areproducing in different ways and
you have to change those habits.
Speaker 2 (12:08):
Yeah, and I think a tire is it.
Tire is one of those areaswhere you really can tinker in
an endless form.
Tire is one of those areaswhere you really can tinker in
an endless form.
I'll often start with what thepressure calculator recommends
and then I won't touch it.
If a sealant system is wellestablished and set up, your
(12:30):
pressure loss overnight ispretty small, pretty small, and
I'll sometimes start the weekwith recommended pressure and
then just allow it to naturallylose air over the course of the
week, and in that timeframe Imight stumble into a pressure
that feels just so much betterthan than anything else I had
written, and so it's a happyaccident.
(12:54):
But it ends up, it ends upworking pretty well.
And then, uh, I have a gaugethat is accurate.
Uh, it's mostly calibrated tobe below uh 50 PSI, and so then,
uh, when I find that spot thatfeels really good, I'll take a
measurement and get the number,and then, uh, keep that as my
new, my new normal, keep that asmy new, my new normal.
(13:21):
Years of cyclocross has, uh,made me be, um, very focused on
tire pressure.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
Yeah, I think when you're an off-road athlete like
like cyclocross or mountain bikeyou get super weird about tire
pressure.
And I was going to say one protip is have uh like a hand, um,
uh, hand pressure device.
Schwalbe makes one, silicamakes one, I mean everybody's
making them now but you cantravel with it, right.
So whether you travelinternationally or you go to the
(13:46):
race or you're just at thelocal track and you just want to
check pressure real quick, it'saccurate and consistent.
So no matter if you've got aborrow pump or CO2 it up or
whatever, you can always bleeddown to your known pressure.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
So that's it, with your known gauge, with your
known gauge.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
Exactly.
That's the point, right, yep soyeah, and I think for anyone
here, like Tony said, the idealpressure on race day has a lot
of factors that go on to it.
Okay, the course, theconditions, the weather, your
tire wheel system, right, allthat.
But you suss it out over time,you tinker over time.
(14:22):
Hopefully this episode isgetting to everybody before some
of the midsummer so you cantinker away going down.
But, I think, explore withinthe boundaries of manufacturers'
recommendations on this so youdon't have a whoopsies.
But in that way you find what'sgoing to work well for you in
those conditions.
And I'd also say like it goesboth ways, meaning you
(14:45):
over-pressure, you go, you havea bad experience, you trickle
down, like Tony was talkingabout.
You have a good experience,like, oh, then measure it, see
what worked with that Right.
Meanwhile I had a conversationwith one of one of my athletes.
He was like man, should I go32s or 35s or I'm like buy a set
of?
He could so bias by a set ofthirties, by a set of 32s, by a
(15:08):
set of 35s, ride them for acouple of weeks, find what works
for you.
And this was also based on hisbike that we, you know Google
what's the max tire pressure?
Speaker 2 (15:24):
uh sorry, max tire size.
We go for it, right.
Uh, so tinker away, try it ifyou can.
Yeah, and I think you know now,when we're looking at bikes
that have this wide range oftire compatibility, um, they're,
in that range of tires there'sgoing to be an optimal handling
and as you move away from thatoptimal handling either going
smaller in the tire or goinglarger in the tire you impact
the way that the bike steers andthe way the bike handles.
(15:45):
And so, um, I think yeah, Ithink that's we.
We will often say, um, withmany of the bikes that we sell,
that if you're doing it right,you have a bin in your garage of
of different tires, becauseyou're going to start to unlock
all of the potential of,especially, a gravel bike with
larger volume, smaller volume,bigger knobs, smaller knobs.
(16:07):
It really does impact andchange the way the bike rides.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
Don't ask my wife about all the slightly used
tires in our garage.
They're just waiting for theright event.
That's right, tony, I'm goingto use that, thank you.
Yeah, there you go.
You know I'm going to saysomething and I don't think I'm
wrong.
I'm going to say the questionof how come gravel?
(16:33):
Okay, people think gravel hasall this innovation and
revolution.
Now the road has to.
And, oh my gosh, so excited.
I'm going to say this the spiritof wheel and tire evolution,
it's not the gravel, it'smountain bike.
Because we had all the tireshanging up in the garage or down
(16:54):
in the bin or whatever for allthe different course conditions
for a long time.
And even back in the 90s, wherethere was just a shit ton of
money flowing through themountain bike scene there was
just a shit ton of money flowingthrough the mountain bike scene
.
There was a bunch of justrevolution happening, from going
from rim to disc to wider isbetter for both the rim and the
tire and then all of a suddengoing tubeless and sealant, and
(17:17):
now gravel and road are justcatching up.
So am I wrong to say thatmountain bike is the spirit of
all bikes?
Am I wrong?
Speaker 2 (17:26):
to say that mountain bike is the spirit of all bikes.
No, you know, I would say thatwith cycling, what's great about
cycling is that there's a lotof it that's really not new,
right?
So you go back 100 years andsome of the technologies that
we're seeing that are labeled asnew and great have been around
(17:49):
for a long time.
I think what's different now isI say this I was in the cycling
world when mountain bikes werereally coming into it to become
something, and it was just anincredible time and there was so
(18:10):
much new that was happening.
There were so many areas thatwere developing rapidly,
expanding exponentially.
It was so exciting and I think,when we look at gravel and
maybe, to a lesser extent, road,that's what's happening right
now.
There is just a huge amount ofof evolution that's happening.
(18:31):
I mean, this is a moment.
You know, um, 20 years from now, we're going to talk about the
birth of gravel and, uh, we'retalking about right now.
So it's a it's, it's anexciting time.
I think right now, the otherthing that's happening is we're
we're.
We look not just within thewalls of the boardroom and say
(18:52):
here's what people need.
They're actually looking at howpeople are using the equipment
where they're using it and thenbuilding equipment for the users
, which is that's a departure.
I mean, we've had many yearswhere it's just here's what
you're going to ride.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
Yeah, that's a huge market change.
I think it's really important.
Why do you think that'soccurring now, though?
Speaker 2 (19:16):
Honestly, I think the internet, I think social media
is providing a greater awarenessfor companies who want to
listen, and that's prettyexciting.
And so the move toward.
Again to use Gravelin as anexample, we saw when it first
(19:38):
came to market, gearing wasenormous and then we saw it
swing the other direction andresemble more of a road gearing
and then now we're seeing itland somewhere in between and,
um, that's rider feedback that'shelping arrive at these places.
And the same is true with tires.
We're seeing tires, uh, um, nowmoving literally into what is a
(20:01):
mountain bike tire, and I don'tthink we're done yet.
I think that's going to youknow that the pendulum is going
to continue to swing and we'regoing to zero in on other things
.
What's exciting now is thatthere are companies who are
willing to invest in this stuff,so we can try it, and if it's
great, it'll stick around, andif it's not, it'll go away.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
All right, Tony.
So as we start to close thisepisode out in this series of
our tech talk, to close thisepisode out in this series of
our tech talk Um if some of ourlisteners are listening to this
and they're like man, um, yeah,it's time to update my bike, or
or, uh, I should give Tony acall.
Like what if somebody calls youand says I'm looking for a new
bike, what should I get?
(20:40):
How would you handle a clientlike that, Either from afar or
in person?
I don't even know if you dofrom afar, but walk us through,
like, what is the logic or whatdo you want to know from that
person before they purchase abike through you?
Speaker 2 (20:54):
And also VeloSmith Bike Studio it's a pretty unique
, I know about it, but maybetake some time and explain what
you do at VeloSmith what you doat VeloSmith, yeah Well, so, um,
velosmith is is a reflection ofall the years that I've had in
the bike industry, and so whatwe do is we provide a very
(21:15):
hands-on approach to uh, buyinga bicycle, and so, um, the the
fitting is an important part ofit.
Uh, the the equipment selectionis an important part of it.
The equipment selection is animportant part of it, but I
think the real reason thatpeople come to see us is the
conversations that we have,because it's important to learn
(21:35):
about how people want to usethese bikes.
So there are a lot ofoff-the-shelf options that just
say gravel and I'm going to dogravel.
So this is a perfect choice.
We like to uh tinker, we liketo nerd out on that stuff and
really dig in and figure outwhat is the right choice.
So, um, we, we work with peopleuh, all around the world, which
(21:59):
is an incredible thing to say.
But, um, I think we, we alwayslook at it as being the bike
that we're going to build foryou is a reflection of how
you're going to use it 80% ofthe time.
So how are you going to usethis bike 80% of the time?
We don't want to build a bikespecifically for one event,
(22:20):
that's an outlier.
Unless you want to buy a bikefor that one event, that's an
outlier.
But if you're looking forsomething that's just going to
be a great bike to ride day in,day out, then we look at how
you're going to use it.
80% of the time, we look atyour history as a cyclist.
We look at equipment thatyou're using now, and then we
also look at the future and howsomeone is going to age into
(22:43):
this and our goal with theproducts that we select and I
should point out, we're not atypical bike shop.
We are truly independent.
The brands that we sell, theproducts that we sell, are
brands that we've chosen.
They're brands that we use on adaily basis.
It is not a corporate directiveor, uh, a sales rep who's
(23:08):
telling us what we're going tostock, that the choices that we
carry, the product choices wecarry, are ours, and so, um,
getting everybody aligned with,um, with with the right choices,
um is, is, uh, communication,it's uh, it's a collaborative
effort and ideally, um, it's abike that will last a long time.
(23:31):
It's a bike that's serviceable.
It's a bike that's durable.
It's a bike that's reliable.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
Yeah, no, that's that's a great.
That's a great explanation ofwhat you do, tony, and, like I
said, I didn't know if youworked with clients from afar,
but I think, in that way, foreverybody listening here,
hopefully that gets you thinkingabout your experience on your
bike.
If you've got an awesome bikeand you just got it great, maybe
(23:56):
this inspires you to go get afit.
If something's not feeling justright, hopefully it motivates
you to go to the bike shop, talkto your mechanic and just have
better conversations with them,get your bike in two to three
weeks out before the main event.
That's what Tony and I arereally pressing hard to do.
(24:17):
But if you're looking for a newbike and if you want a
consultation, or if you wantsomebody like Tony that's going
to, or if you're, you wantsomebody like Tony that's going
to guide you through anindividual way, for that, this
is your man.
So, like I said Tony, it's theway he thinks.
That's what drew me to him forthese two podcasts.
(24:38):
So, tony, I really want tothank you again for your time
out of the busy studio life andtaking some time and talking to
our guests here, because I thinkeveryone's going to get a lot
out of it and get inspired andthink in different ways about
all things.
Bike tech.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Thanks, adam, I really appreciate it.
It's an honor to be uh be onthe roster here.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
So this is awesome.
And what I'll do, listeners, isI will link to um the VeloSmith
bike studio website, as well ascheck them out on Instagram.
Like I said, if, if you don'tdo anything other than just go
look at the beautiful buildsthere, do that.
It's, it's worthwhile, um, butif that, like I said, if that
turns into reaching out, um,just tell, uh, just tell Tony
(25:21):
that coach AP sent you and youheard us on the podcast.
It'd be super fun to see wherethat goes.
And if anybody has a trainingpartner or a friend that needs
to hear this podcast becausethey always turn up to the big
race with clapped out equipment,go ahead and share this episode
with them.
Finally, if you have anyquestions about equipment or
(25:42):
anything that we talked abouttoday, head over to
trainwrightcom backslash podcastand you can submit a question
there.
And if you say, get Tony backon the podcast to talk more
about tech, talk stuff, happy todo it.
This is the first time in awhile where I really like nerded
out on, like bike tech, sowe'll see where it goes.
Tony, again, thank you forjoining us on the Time Crunch
(26:04):
Cyclist.
Thank you, adam.
Free weekly publication.
(26:27):
Each week you'll get in-depthtraining content that goes
beyond what we cover here on thepodcast that'll help you take
your training to the next level.
That's all for now.
Until next time, train hard,train smart, train right.
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