Throughout the Tour de France, a video emerged of Groupama FDJ group mechanics sanding new tyres as they constructed up the group bikes. Some viewers instantly joked that this was some type of publicity stunt. However we have additionally seen different groups doing the identical, together with Tadej Pogačar’s UAE crew. So is there extra to it, and may all of us be sanding our box-fresh tyres?
Why would possibly you sand you tyres?
Placing the sniggering to at least one facet, do different biking disciplines sand tyres and will or not it’s related to street racing/driving?
The obvious comparability is monitor racing the place sanding new tyres to ‘scrub them in’ is comparatively widespread. In reality, there’s a lengthy historical past of sanding new tyres, which dates again to a time when tyre know-how was very completely different and much more simplistic. The standard of grip out there from a tyre 50 years in the past (and even 15 years in the past) was vastly completely different from what a contemporary tyre can supply. The form, width, compound and chemical construction of a contemporary tyre have all improved over time, which creates a product that behaves completely in another way to these of previous.
A mechanic works on a tyre previous to the lads’s elite monitor biking on day one of many 81st 6 Days Gent 2022 at The Kuipke Velodrome.
(Picture credit score: Getty Photographs / Luc Claessen)
With a more durable, stiffer tyre I genuinely consider that roughing up the highest layer of the tread would have made a distinction. Pondering again to the clincher tyres that I began racing on 25 years in the past, and the very excessive pressures all of us ran, it was price doing something you would to seek out some additional grip. Again then, except you would afford tubulars the tyres had been fairly dangerous!
On the monitor, pressures had been even greater, Coupled with the sleek, polished floor of the velodrome, it made sense to tough up the highest layer of rubber on the brand new tyre. By doing so, you had been making certain that it will behave like one which’s worn in.
Is the apply nonetheless related for at the moment’s tyres?
As you’ll know from the previous few years, tyres throughout all disciplines have gotten wider and, subsequently, we’re all working decrease pressures. This alters the scale and form of the contact patch (the a part of the tyre that contacts the bottom) and that is the explanation why a small change could make a giant distinction. The chemical nature of the tyre and the compound are additionally each main contributing components to grip on the street floor. I might argue that these 4 main components most likely trump the necessity to sand off the highest layer of a tyre on the whole, however how about new box-fresh tyres?
New tyres can have a skinny coating of residue which will scale back grip till it has worn off.
(Picture credit score: Future)
Typically, I’d argue that the enhancements in tyres negate the necessity to sand them. Nevertheless, I do even have first-hand expertise that challenges that assumption.
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A 12 months in the past, a rider in a Continental group that I work for, was main a four-day stage race in France. On stage two he punctured and so, that night we fitted a pair of recent tyres. Each he and I had been nervous about becoming brand-new tyres straight out of the field. Partially, this was as a result of the climate had been dangerous and the roads had been very greasy. However ultimately, he made the choice that that’s what he wished.
The next day, lower than 40km in, he rode throughout a roundabout in the course of the peloton and was the one rider to crash. Was it a fluke, dangerous luck or was it the brand new tyres? We’ll by no means actually know however we had been each left questioning the choice to suit new rubber. After I noticed the Groupama FDJ video, this incident instantly sprung to thoughts.
What do the tyre firms advise?
Schwalbe advises driving “gently and easily, with simple acceleration, braking and cornering”, till the tyre “turns into matte and…extra homogenous”. I feel the vital a part of this assertion is relating to when the tyre turns into matte; it’s one thing you’ll be able to simply spot when evaluating new and used tyres.
Michelin goes additional and says that on, “some street tyres, small white waxes are seen when the tyre is unpacked. This can be a chemical agent within the tyre used to guard it from pure components. On moist roads, these waxes might trigger the tyre to slide when braking”. I feel on the whole, all these completely different bits of recommendation are largely referencing the identical factor.
Using gently for a number of miles, with out pushing too exhausting on the corners is a sensible precaution should you’ve simply fitted new tyres.
(Picture credit score: Future)
In addition to sanding, I’ve seen riders utilizing white vinegar and/or rubbing alcohol to ‘clear’ their new tyres – particularly at races throughout moist climate. On the very least this removes any left-over launch agent from the tyre; when the tyres are made, they spray a launch agent onto the mould first, a bit like utilizing butter or oil in cooking to cease the meals sticking to the pan. The discharge agent needs to be eliminated earlier than the tyre is packed, however it’s attainable that there could possibly be some leftover. Utilizing alcohol to take away it’s akin to sanding the highest layer of the tyre. I can see how each would assist take away any considerations, superstitious or in any other case.
We are saying
In the end I feel roughing up the tyre will certainly enhance the grip. That mentioned, I additionally really feel that the distinction can be so marginal that you simply or I might by no means discover the development.
However, we achieve this many issues each day – particularly the place bikes are concerned – just because we really feel higher about doing them. Basically, it turns into a ritual.
So, if sanding your tyres makes you are feeling like you’ll be able to trip by way of that nook 1mph sooner, then guess what, you truly can trip by way of that nook sooner because of the confidence you have got within the tools. Whether or not it comes all the way down to confidence or precise quantifiable science is basically irrelevant should you truly begin going sooner. So go forward, sand your tyres, carry a fortunate penny, and reap the advantages out on the street!
