Burning Question: How Much of Your Own Money Would You Spend to Guarantee You Wouldn't Flat on Race Day?
It's free, and it's mountain bike racing's most precious substance. Air plays a critical role in every aspect of a mountain bike's performance. Traction, control, suspension action and comfort are completely dependent upon two gallons of atmosphere trapped inside the tires. There is an old adage: "You never realize the value of a gift until you lose it." Any professional racer who's flatted during a race can attest to that - especially downhill and enduro competitors. In an all-out race against the clock, a flat tire is almost always an insurmountable loss.
The air outside may be free, but once you use it to pressurize the tires on your race bike, it can become very precious. How precious? We asked a number of World Cup DH and EWS racers this question to find out:
How much of your own money would you spend to guarantee that you wouldn't flat on race day?
Not the best day for the GOAT. Minnaar tripods his Santa Cruz V10 to the finish line at Val de Sole 2017 - the final race of the series that began in the green, in contention for the overall World Cup title.
Aaron Gwin: $0.00
 | It's not a realistic question to me. Flatting is part of our sport. It takes skill, good bike setup and parts to better your chances of not flatting. Even when those things are dialed in, flats are still always a possibility. It's just part of downhill racing. I wouldn't pay money to stop flats completely - keeps things interesting, even though I hate getting them. Haha! |
Aaron Gwin, YT Mob
Emilie Siegenthaler, Pivot Factory Racing
Emilie Siegenthaler: $0.00
| Actually, I wouldn’t spend any money on that, because ever since I’ve been on Pivot Factory Racing, I haven’t flatted in a race run. I would just give my money to our trusty mechanic after the race. |
Rupert Chapman: $0.00
| Nothing. We're pretty much guaranteed not to with our setup. Maxxis tires, Reynolds wheels and CushCore is epic! |
Rupert Chapman, Pivot Factory Racing
Lewis Buchanan, Ibis EWS Team
Lewis Buchanan: $0.00
| I wouldn’t spend any of my own money. I trust my tire and wheel combo and that my suspension set up is sweet enough to not get flats. I know that things can happen out of the blue but so far I’ve never flatted. I’d understand if you had quite a few flats and it affected your races a fair bit. Then, yeah, I maybe would put a bit of money towards making sure it didn’t happen. |
Bex Baraona: Negotiable...
| In 2017, a flat tire ended my EWS race in Ireland and that feeling was so so sh*t! Money isn't a big thing for me, so putting a price on something like this feels weird, but I'm sure if you asked me this question whilst I was at the bottom of stage two in Ireland last year....I'd have gotten my wallet out! |
Bex Baraona, Ibis EWS Team
Dean Lucas, Team Intense
Dean Lucas: $13.68
| Just kidding. To be honest, I think we have great setup and I’m fully confident on the product we are running. The combo of Enve/Maxxis is working great for us. |
Charlie Harrison: $72.25
| I’ll pay a bit more than Dean, Haha! Having a flat in a race run sucks big time, but you know, it’s part of the game. I feel like it’s part of the sport and you need to play smart sometimes. |
Charlie Harrison, Team Intense
Julie Duvert, Ibis EWS Team
Julie Duvert: $150
| To never flat again, I would easily pay a couple thousand bucks, in hopes of getting a return on my investment! For now, I’d spend about $150. That’s enough to order up a set of CushCore inserts. Once I put them in my wheels, I have yet to flat in the last two out of two rockiest races I have ever done. |
Ed Masters: All or nothing
| I'd spend as much as I'd win in prize money. |
Ed Masters, Pivot Factory Racing
Bernard Kerr, Pivot Factory Racing
Bernard Kerr: All my bikes
| I would spend all the money my bikes would sell for! |
Robin Wallner: All my money
| Wow, that’s easy to answer - I would probably pay all of my money right then and there. ...Everyone that’s raced a lot has probably had it happen to them at some point - mid run you hear that “psssshh” and you know that it’s game over. I have been there more than once and right then, I would sacrifice almost anything to have that precious air back in my goddamn tires! So please, fix us mountain bikers up. |
Robin Wallner, Ibis EWS Team
Greg Minnaar, Santa Cruz Syndicate
Greg Minnaar: $100,000
| Oh, I don't know...Hmm, I figure at least 100k, it's worth at least that. |
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There have been many instances in which a flat tire robbed a contender of a possible World Cup overall or World Championship win. The difference in earnings over a career from such an event is easily in the six figures.
Love him or hate him, Lance Armstrong was a brilliant businessman. He spent his own money - rumored to be in the six figures - to develop a time trial helmet that would save a few seconds over his already super fast helmet. That's someone who knows what a result is worth. If he finished second in the Tour de France, he would've lost millions in the short term and his brand would've been devalued by millions more.
A light, fast-rolling, uncuttable tire could probably be developed for under $100,000 and would probably retail for more than $200; these numbers aren't insurmountable - a top rider could fund this and see it pay off within a season.
And do you know what? I'm f*cken happy. Noone I see racing enjoys it like I do.
stipowersports.com/product/inner-tubes