The Netherlands roared to an Olympic males’s Group Dash victory final evening and scored a brand new World and Olympic document of 40.949 seconds for the three-lap dash occasion alongside the way in which.
The collective firepower of Roy van den Berg, Harrie Lavreysen, and Jeffrey Hoogland who’ve been dominant in dash occasions over the previous a number of years was an excessive amount of for silver medal winners Ed Lowe, Hamish Turnbull and Jack Carlin of Group GB.
Fractions of seconds decide the distinction between profitable and shedding on the boards of the velodrome. Not one of the gear being utilized by any nation is chosen at random and the fixed seek for velocity is seemingly endless.
You’ll have observed the eye-catching vibrant pinky/crimson Dugast tyres fitted to the black Koga bikes being ridden by the Dutch squad. These aren’t any peculiar tyres, and given the squad’s dominance and world-beating efficiency, we thought we might take a better take a look at the particular tyres chosen by the quickest males on the planet.
We just lately revealed an in-depth monitor tech function with extremely skilled Dutch Head mechanic Tim de Boer who shared some data on the crew’s tyre selections and why they select to make use of them.
The Dutch monitor crew selected to make use of Dugast latex tubulars. If you happen to aren’t certain, tubular tyres are comprised of an inside tube (typically latex) that is sewn right into a casing which is normally cotton. The rubber tyre tread is utilized and a base tape then goes over the stitched collectively casing. A glue is then utilized to the tyre’s base tape and the wheel’s rim to bond them collectively. Tyres should be glued correctly to make sure the tyres are on straight and that the tyre and wheel do not change into unbonded at an important second.
Dugast tubulars have lengthy been thought-about to be a few of the quickest round, however a few years in the past the small Dutch firm was acquired by Vittoria.
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It appears Vittoria is not excited about producing Dugast monitor tubulars shifting ahead which implies the tip of the street for the legendary pink tyres. You’ll find the cyclocross tubulars on the web site, however it’s the tip of the street for the monitor tubs. The Dutch squad thought-about them the quickest tyre choice for the monitor and positioned one final order with the corporate. We will not record an RRP right here, as a result of we merely do not know what they value and tyres aren’t commercially obtainable any extra.
“Dugast is gone, the crew have been capable of order lots of tyres as a result of they knew issues can be altering, and Dugast gave us every part they have been capable of make. Every little thing that is not good we use in coaching. For the Olympics, we placed on the great ones.”
Chatting with De Boer, it sounded just like the crew bought as most of the handmade tyres as Dugast have been capable of produce for them. The tyres use a latex tread, and the crew use them in a 25mm measurement on their Campagnolo rear and Princeton entrance disc wheels. On the subject of wheels, De Boer additionally advised us the CULT bearings within the Campagnolo Ghibli disc wheels, now the selection for nearly each nation after years of Mavic dominance are actually glorious.
“We put a lot strain in it, usually we put 14 bars in it, and that is like 200 psi. So they only should be actually onerous, from what I’ve examined, it is just like the tougher, the higher. However we do not wish to threat blowing a tyre or one thing, so we all the time simply keep on with 14 bars.”
The handmade Dugasts, as talked about have a latex tread and naked cotton base tape. The handmade nature means generally a tread might not be fully straight on a casing, which implies the tyre could not run completely as soon as mounted. De Boer pre-selects the easiest ones to be used a the Olympics.
“We all know with these tyres, they’re so fragile and light-weight and so they’re not good, even for those who type them, they’re nonetheless not good. I can nonetheless glue lots of tyres in Paris if mandatory, I do not really feel nervous about them not being caught.”
The extremely light-weight building additionally means the tyres can put on out in a matter of laps, that is just some kilometres, relying on the occasion and the way they’re being ridden. Think about your street tyres sporting out in simply over two kilometres.
“After the standing begins with the sprinters, the tyre can have harm and wish altering. However within the Omnium the tyre can final a very long time, it will depend on the occasion and the rider. With a easy rider, the tyre will final a very long time, with a rider that is in every single place the tyre will not final lengthy. Within the Madison, the tyres put on shortly as a result of aggressive using and line modifications.”
De Boer defined that many countries select to make use of different tyres, like Vittoria or Continental however he nonetheless considers Dugast the very quickest, though in some unspecified time in the future the crew’s inventory will run out.
“There are usually not many nations using on Dugast anyway. They assume they aren’t reliable and that generally you get issues with them. They’d fairly go along with Vittoria that are slower however maintain air for a really very long time.”
“Why is it an excessive amount of work? If it is a acquire, it is a acquire. For me, it would not matter if I’ve to alter a tyre earlier than the race, if it is faster, it is faster. “
That is absolutely an perception into the no-holds-barred quest for velocity and efficiency that helped the Dutch sprinters thunder to Olympic gold and a brand new World File final evening.
