Avg. Pro Changes Flat in 9 Seconds?

MaxPrime said:

How the hell is this possible?

Highly paid mechanic leaps out of team car with spare wheel as rider flips open quick release......

You mean you don't have a team car following right on your heels on your daily rides? 🙂

serenaslu said:

Highly paid mechanic leaps out of team car with spare wheel as rider flips open quick release......

You mean you don't have a team car following right on your heels on your daily rides? 🙂

Why bother with the spare wheel? Just get another bike off the rack 😄

MaxPrime said:

How the hell is this possible?

Rider stops...flat wheel comes out....new wheel goes in.....push back into he race.

9 seconds.

e_guevara said:

Why bother with the spare wheel? Just get another bike off the rack 😄

Sorry to be serious 😄 , but, my guess is that their spare bike might not be EXACTLY the same as their prefered bike.

????? Dunno

[quote="Fat Hack"]Sorry to be serious 😄 , but, my guess is that their spare bike might not be EXACTLY the same as their prefered bike.

Let's say you have a team of 8 riders. You're not gonna carry 8 bikes all set up differently based on body dimensions/preferences. Then you have to make sure you get the correct bike for the rider. Plus, not every team is like Postal, many teams don't have a bunch of extra bikes that would have to be carried in a bike van instead of a team car with just extra wheels. Even rear wheels can be done in less than 10 seconds.

[quote="capwater"]

Fat Hack said:

Sorry to be serious 😄 , but, my guess is that their spare bike might not be EXACTLY the same as their prefered bike.

Let's say you have a team of 8 riders. You're not gonna carry 8 bikes all set up differently based on body dimensions/preferences. Then you have to make sure you get the correct bike for the rider. Plus, not every team is like Postal, many teams don't have a bunch of extra bikes that would have to be carried in a bike van instead of a team car with just extra wheels. Even rear wheels can be done in less than 10 seconds.

It depends on the race. In the grand tours, the team cars have to ride behind the peleton, so there are neutral cars closer to the action carrying big racks of spare wheels. As for spare bikes, the team cars will carry a few that are set up for their team leaders and a few generic ones for the domistiques that they can adjust to fit on the fly.

Thanks for the replies guys . . . anyone want to volunteer to follow me in a support vehicle on my next century? I can pay in energy gels . . .

superclimber said:

i think you will find that they do have the spare bike set up for each rider😎 . Especially specs like crank length, seatpost height and pedal type and also handlebars/stem.
rooted knees + screwed back + swollen ankles+ pro rider = BIG LOST DOLLARS

oh and most top pro teams will have two support cars woth a DSportif in each and five or so bikes on top of each car.😉

Maybe Div I teams in the big races, but try that at the Div III level. I work with the Ofoto team and those guys are lucky to have one decent bike!

superclimber said:

i think you will find that they do have the spare bike set up for each rider😎 . Especially specs like crank length, seatpost height and pedal type and also handlebars/stem.

.😉

I'm sure they'd obviously have all those specs the same, but what if the seat was a couple of mm too far back, or the aero bars were on an angle that was a teeeny bit off........anyway, I dunno

Fat Hack said:

I'm sure they'd obviously have all those specs the same, but what if the seat was a couple of mm too far back, or the aero bars were on an angle that was a teeeny bit off........anyway, I dunno

Hence the mechanic hanging out of the window of the team car adjusting things.

I thinking it would be no quicker to change a bike than to change a wheel

????

Jeeez, this is deep stuff 🙂