Cycling Tires

Good cycling tires can make a difference in overall performance, good tires can give you lesser weight,

faster rolling resistance and better grip than other tires. It can also give you better adhesion, anti-flat

protection and improve efficiency. The tires you choose are very important since they can affect everything from performance, to handling, and safety. However, these tires are not cheap but higher quality tires last longer and perform better.

Upgrading your tires from 23mm to 25mm or higher will give you substantial comfort, since large tires has been proven to have less rolling resistance.

Here are some of the good tires on the market today: Clement Strada LGG, Continental GP4000, Specialized Roubaix Armadillo Elite, Vredestein Fortezza Tricomp,  Michelin Pro4 Service Course, Continental Grand Prix 4-Season, Panaracer Gravel King, Hutchinson Fusion 3 and Vittoria Open Corsa CX.

Bicycle Wheels

If you want to upgrade your bicycle wheels you would want it to be more aerodynamic, stiffer, and that will roll better than your stock bicycle wheels. This will give you more speed, and the power transfer will be more efficient. It will also give you a faster climb.

Here are some great wheels for your bicycle:

Fulcrum Racing 5 Wheels - it is lightweigh at 1,600g a pair and very comfortable to ride. Watch out it can be a little noisy.

Mavic Ksyrium Elite Clincher Wheelset - This set is light, stiff and has an amazing design. It is the ultimate upgrade wheelset. It has a a new U-shaped profile, with a wide 17mm rim. A pair of this wheelset without tires is at 1550g.  

If you are loaded then for the Lightweight Meilenstein wheels - It is superlight at 1180grams, it is 47.5mm deep. The wheel is stiff and it accelerate well. It is one of the best wheelsets availble in the market today, but it is way too expensive.

Braking Tips

Check out some braking tips to improve your ride. Braking is a significant skills that you'll need in order to stop faster, gain seconds when you are running through corners, going down descents and riding in groups.

This video will help you improve your braking skills.

Breaking in corners - breaking puts additional demand on your tires that can potentially overload them that can cause you to lose grip, chances are you can touch the breaks and not lose traction that could've gone through the time faster. The reality is that most of us do breaks in corners but the golden rule is make sure that you let them off when you clear the apex of the corners and then start to accelerate. In emergencies, when you apply the breaks full on mid turn make sure you straigthen up as you turn and then run wide if you can.

Breaking in races - as well as moderating your speed certain braking situations call for slightly different technique and one of this in bunch situations as a bunch turns on a sharp corner is a concertina effect. It means the riders at the back would need to break harder before they reach the corner and ride around slower and then accelerate back at speed afterwards. It's incredibly draining, and can take even a really strong rider apart and something like a criterion race. You can get around this though by doing your break early and leave a small gap between you and the rider in front of you. This little gap will mean that you have to slow down as much on the corner as you can use it to close the gap rolling back onto the wheel on front and exerting more speed. 

Air Braking - When you do need to break sit up at the same time your body will act as an air break and improve your stability at the same time.