February 2026

Tubeless is great, until it isn't

15/02/26 16:54 Filed in: Riding

I've been running MTB tyres without tubes for close to 20 years. I can count on one finger the occasion(s) that tubeless failed me on the fat tyres.

Road is different. Pressures are higher. And in Canberra, the number of items lurking on main roads that cause punctures is also way higher than any off-road scenario. The lure is strong. I used to interrupt road rides with nauseating regularity to replace a punctured tube. The combination of my weight and the glass fairies doing their job well meant never a month went past without a flat. Sealant should fill in any small holes - usually without the rider even noticing. That's the theory. Ride along secure in the knowledge that only a massive failure will spoil the flow. The reality is that I've had numerous occasions where all the sealant has leaked out of a small hole without sealing it or the sealant has dried up and even a tiny hole leads to a failure.
I thought I was pretty safe using Pirelli Cinturato 28s - they rank high on the puncture resistance list and also low for rolling resistance. I haven't had a ride spoiled while on Cinturatos. But I recently found a thorn in one and when I pulled the thorn out, no amount of holding my thumb over the hole while keeping it at the bottom of the wheel (where sealant will pool) could get it to seal. Not that much leaked out, but when opened up, there was hardly any free sealant inside.
Since I hit the kangaroo, I've not been keen to ride along the river because of all the 'roos along that stretch. Instead, I've been enjoying riding home on the road. But as mentioned, Canberra roads are a field of glass. (So ironic that a thorn caused the problem.)
I solved my problem in the short term by replacing the tyre with the one spare I had on hand, filling the tyre with the prescribed amount of sealant, and pumping it up. My intention is to clean up the old tyre, patch the hole with a patch and reintroduce it to service in a few months.

Pressure is the enemy of sealant sealing. Twenty psi in the MTB tyre is fine. Seventy psi in the road tyre is the limit. Less would be better. I would like to upsize my tyres (again) to downsize my required pressures. Not only for the peace of mind I'd get, but also for the smoother ride.

Training trade-off

04/02/26 20:20 Filed in: Riding

One of the unbreakable rules of fitness is that you must trade fitness for speed. No matter how you look at it, no person can do as much high intensity work as they do low intensity work. And it is the volume of work that determines fitness. In preparation for racing, or a specific race, winding back the volume to add intensity means winding back the fitness to introduce some speed. So you should "mean it" when you do it.
I'm writing this watching a ProTour event and I think one of the reasons they are SO fast recently is that training has changed to be far less about speed and far more about fitness. A large aerobic base can carry a cyclist at a high velocity without any actual speed work. And it can carry a cyclist through the grand tours better. There are a lot of things that go with this, so it is a separate topic, but the take-away message is that the more volume you do, the fitter you get. And to do more volume, without injury, means doing it at lower intensity.

Fortunately, you can add some good speed with as few as six sessions in the lead up to whatever you want to be fast for. And racing involves intensity - so you can get your speed "for free" if you don't mind underperforming in the early races.

Michael Hanslip Coaching

If you want to go faster, you have to pedal harder

Tubeless is great, until it isn't

Training trade-off