By: Bruce Lin
Our team of pro mechanics attends major triathlon events throughout North America and Europe to support our Pro and Factory Team Athletes. But we also go to give every Quintana Roo rider FREE pre-race inspections, services, and emergency repairs. Your success is our success, so our team will go out of our way to ensure your bike is dialed. It’s one of the great perks of riding a Quintana Roo!
While we love helping athletes fix their bikes, it’s always more fun (and less stressful) to avoid bike issues entirely!! After countless emergency repairs, we’ve noticed that many of the same mechanical issues keep cropping up. To help you go into race day problem-free, we’ll cover the 4 most common mechanical issues we see at triathlons and provide some tips for how to avoid them.
1. Flat Tires
Flat tires are easily the most common mechanical issue we see, and we fix dozens upon dozens of flat tires every race weekend. Here’s how to keep a flat from deflating your race ambitions:
- Learn how to fix a flat (and practice!)
- Bring essential tools and spares
- Race on new-ish tires
- Check tubeless tape and sealant
Learn how to fix a flat tire
Half of the people who come to the Quintana Roo booth with a flat tire are there for help because they don’t actually know how to fix it! We’re happy to help, but if your flat happens during the race, then you need to know how to fix it yourself! This really is an essential skill that every triathlete should be familiar with.
There are countless videos available on YouTube that can teach you how to fix a flat by popping your tire bead and inserting or replacing an innertube. We recommend watching a few before you leave for an event. If you can, practice at home! This will help settle some nerves going into race day.
One thing to note is that if you have tubeless tires, then you might not want to practice popping the bead and inserting a tube on them because you can make a mess with the sealant, and reseating the tire can be a hassle. However, a major advantage of tubeless is the ability to plug a puncture. It’s much faster and easier than inserting a tube, and again, there are countless YouTube videos available that can teach you how to use a tubeless plug kit.
Bring essential tools and spares
Many athletes come to our booth simply because they didn’t travel with the tools to fix their flat! I always travel with a basic flat kit that is easy to toss into your car, bike bag, bike shipping box, or luggage:
- A spare innertube (or two)
- A tire lever
- Small pump or inflation device
If you’re running tubeless wheels and tires, then add:
- Tire plug kit
- Spare tubeless tape
- Small bottle of tubeless sealant
If you want to be ready for anything, maybe toss a new tire in your kit too, just in case you cut a sidewall or experience some sort of catastrophic tire failure.
Always bring some sort of inflation device. It’s shocking how many athletes travel with no way to inflate their tires! We bring several floor pumps and are constantly loaning them out. A floor pump is often too big to fly with, so I like bringing a small electric inflator with a built-in tire pressure gauge (I have the Silca Elettrico). You could also just use a compact hand pump and a handheld pressure gauge.
Race on new-ish tires
We see a lot of riders flat during races because they’re racing on old, worn-out tires. If you’re spending the time and money to travel to a big race, then maximizing reliability with fresh tires is a worthwhile investment.
How do you know if your tire is too old or too worn? Many high-end tires (like the popular Continental GP 5000 tires) have tread wear indicators molded into the rubber. If these aren’t visible anymore, your tread is worn and your tire should be replaced. If your tire has a visible flat spot down the middle, then replace it. Small gashes and cuts in the tire rubber are normal, but if you inspect your tire and find a lot of large or deep cuts, especially near the sidewall, replace it. If your tires are a few years old, replace them to be safe. If you see any cracking or signs of dry rot, definitely replace them. You can also track tire mileage using an app like Strava. If a road tire is approaching 3,000 miles, I think it’s old enough to warrant replacing it before a big race!
Check tubeless tape and sealant
Swapping to new tires before a big race is a great idea, but we often see riders come to the QR booth with a flat after swapping in a new tire. If they’re running a tubeless tire setup, it’s almost always due to damaged tubeless tape. Removing a tire can sometimes tear or pull the tubeless tape away from the rim, compromising the airtight seal.
Whenever you replace a tubeless tire, be sure to wipe off the inner channel of the rim and inspect the tape for any tears or areas where it isn’t sticking to the rim. If you find any, it’s a good idea to replace the tape to ensure you get a reliable seal. Retaping a rim is an easy task, and I’ve retaped many rims in the hours right before bike drop-off. If you’re uncomfortable, any reputable bike shop can do this. Just be sure to schedule service well in advance of your event!
If you’re running tubeless tires, also remember to check, refresh, or top off your tubeless sealant before a big event. You can give your tire a spin or shake and listen for any sealant sloshing around. If you can hear it, your sealant levels are probably okay. If not, add or inject another 30-60 mL of sealant. Or you can just pop off a tire bead and take a look. Ensuring your sealant is topped up could save your race if you puncture on course!
2. Poor Shifting & Bent Derailleur Hangers
Poor shifting is the next most common issue athletes bring to our booth. There are countless reasons a bike might have shifting issues, from a derailleur that needs tuning to gummy cables and housing to worn-out drivetrain components. But 9 times out of 10, we discover that a bent derailleur hanger is the main cause.
The derailleur hanger is the interface between your bike frame and rear derailleur. It’s where your rear derailleur attaches to your bike. This replaceable component is easy to bend, but that’s a good thing because it helps prevent damage to your fancy carbon frame or expensive derailleur. Bent derailleur hangers are so common that I travel to races with a spare hanger in my bike bag.
Derailleur hangers can bend when a bike falls over (be careful leaning your bike against things!), but at events, we usually see hangers that are bent due to an impact or rough handling during transport. If you’re shipping or flying with your bike, we actually recommend removing your rear derailleur from your frame before packing your bike. The derailleur acts like a big lever, and if weight gets put on it inside your bike bag or box, your hanger will bend. Unscrewing the rear derailleur from the hanger prevents this.
Wrap the derailleur up in some sort of protective material, like bubble wrap or a towel, and secure it somewhere safe, either to your frame with zip ties or elsewhere in your bike bag or box. I also remove my chain, but if you’re clever with your packing, you can leave the chain and shift cables attached.
3. Rubbing Disc Brakes & Bent Rotors
Disc brakes are amazing, but no one likes rubbing rotors. It’s annoying in the best case, and a huge waste of watts in the worst case. Sometimes, rotors rub because the disc brake caliper needs to be recentered or the pistons need to be pushed back into the caliper and reset. But 9 times out of 10, a disc brake rotor is rubbing because the rotor itself is bent. We straighten rotors using a rotor truing tool, but the best thing to do is to prevent your rotors from getting bent in the first place.
Just like bent derailleur hangers, the most common cause is an impact or rough handling during transport. If you’re shipping or flying with your bike, we recommend removing your brake rotors from your wheels before packing your bike to keep them from getting bent. Put them somewhere safe in your bike bag or box, ideally wrapped in some sort of protective material like bubble wrap or a towel.
Also, whenever you pack your bike without the wheels or rotors installed, always remember to put some sort of spacer between the brake pads. Spacers prevent your pads from moving out of position if your brake lever gets compressed without the rotor or wheel installed. This is another common reason for disc brake rub. If this happens, you’ll need to push the pads and pistons back into the caliper.
New bikes often get shipped with plastic disc brake pad spacers, which you can reuse for this purpose. You can also buy pad spacers, but I always just cut out a little square of (clean) cardboard and stick it between the brake pads. It works just as well, and it’s free!
4. Loose bolts
Have you ever seen an athlete’s cockpit fall off their bike during a race? We have, and it’s not pretty. Bolt checks are essential, but many athletes forget to give their bolts a once-over before a race. Loose bolts can cause annoying distractions, ruin your race, damage your bike, or cause serious injury.
A full bolt check is one of the free services our mechanics provide at events, but it’s super easy to do yourself. The key bolts I always check on my bike or for athletes before events are:
- All cockpit, handlebar, aerobar, and stem bolts
- Seatpost binder and saddle rail clamp bolts
- Bottle cage bolts
- Derailleur mounting bolts
- Wheel thru-axles
- Disc brake caliper mounting bolts
- Disc brake rotor bolts
- Any top tube nutrition storage mounting bolts
If you’re traveling to an event with your bike in a bag or box, reassembly is the perfect time to do a full bolt check. You can hand tighten some bolts with a basic set of hex wrenches, but I recommend every athlete own and travel some form of torque wrench to ensure they torque bolts to the proper spec. This is especially important for carbon components, because excessive torque will damage the carbon.
Many compact adjustable torque wrenches from reputable brands like Park Tool, Feedback Sports, Prestacycle, and Silca will have the necessary bits and torque settings to handle every bolt on your bike. Make sure everything is tight, and you’ll be ready to hammer it on the bike leg!