This is generally done with a dial indicator and bending the rotor with a slotted metal “tuning fork.” That way, whenever the team’s riders accept wheels from the team car, the rotors will not rub. Team mechanics at the team’s service course typically go through all of their wheels and do the minor truing required so that all of the team’s wheels center the same way in the same caliper. Or do pros simply have to accept a little bit of rotor rub if they accept a neutral wheel?
#GRAVEL BIKE TIRES PROFESSIONAL#
As I watched a wheel change from Shimano neutral support during the Tour today, I wondered if the professional mechanics and manufacturers have found a way to address this issue across all of the different wheelsets used by the various teams. On some wheelsets I’ve used shims to minimize the differences, but also accept that some additional caliper repositioning is occasionally required for rub-free rotors. When I switch wheelsets on my disc brake bikes, some minor intervention is typically required to eliminate rotor rub, despite using identical hubs and identical rotors. It’s hard enough to push one in with no weight on it if the hub is not lined up perfectly! I see no reason for threadlock compound. If it were to unscrew enough that the axle ends are no longer tightly pinched between the dropouts (which never seems to happen in practice), the weight bearing down on the axle would prevent it from being able to advance its way out. With the weight of the rider on the wheels, I have a hard time imagining the bolt being able to unscrew. You’re tightening it pretty tightly-12-15 N-m. You’re not reefing on the bolt like it’s a big crank bolt, and you’re not going easy on it like it’s a stem bolt or bottle-cage bolt. In general, most people are not going to have a torque wrench with them when fixing a flat on the road. For instance, search “Maxle” on this page, and you will find all sorts of different torque specs depending on the particular Maxle (RockShox through axle) and the particular fork. Second, what keeps it from vibrating loose, particularly if not tightened properly? In critical non-bike uses, there may be a lock washer, or even a castellated nut and cotter. Since it’s just a bolt, are there torque specifications? I haven’t seen any published, but I could have easily missed it. It seems to me that it’s just a big, beefy bolt that holds the fork tips together in a rigid frame sort of way. I’ve been looking ahead to a future bike and reading about through axles. Don’t sweat trying different tire sizes on your gravel bike. I have three sets of wheels for my gravel bike-a road set, a gravel set, and a cyclocross set.
Narrower rims on your road wheels than on your gravel wheels eliminates this consideration. If you put on too narrow of a tire for the rim, you can reduce tire retention to the point of being dangerous. If you have two sets of wheels, then you also won’t have to worry about the other possible caution about putting narrower tires on a gravel bike, namely the rim width. There will be a noticeable difference in the feel of the tires on the road I would be very surprised if you could notice the handling difference. That said, dropping from 32mm tires to 28mm tires will reduce trail by less than a millimeter (0.8mm out of around 61mm, or around 1.5%) and wheel flop by 0.3mm (out of around 18mm, also around 1.5%). This will make an unnoticeable difference in steering-less trail and less wheel flop means quicker steering and less stability. The smaller tire diameter will slightly decrease the fork trail and decrease the wheel flop, explained here. You will be slightly lowering the bottom bracket, which improves stability at the expense of cornering clearance while pedaling. I would not worry about these feared handling changes. Go ahead and put the 30mm (or 28mm) tires on. Will there really be that noticeable a difference or danger running say 28mm tires instead? For the record I’d like to split the difference and go 30mm tires for “road mode”.Īlso read: 24 gravel tires lab tested for speed The bike shop was pretty adamant about not going narrower then 32mm because of “handling changes”. I recently purchased a Cervelo Aspero with the intention of running two wheel sets, one for gravel and one for more road-biased rides and for centuries. Have a question for Lennard? Please email us be included in Technical FAQ.Ĭurious what your opinion is regarding narrow tires on a gravel bike. Don't miss a moment from Paris-Roubaix and Unbound Gravel, to the Giro d’Italia, Tour de France, Vuelta a España, and everything in between when you
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