There's no shortage of high-tech gear and bikes at the Tour de France, but one thing that caught our eye when we recently visited the world's biggest bike race was the liberal use of a common kitchen staple: vinegar.
We saw the Cannondale-Drapac team treating its tires with it whenever stages called for rain. Here's how and why vinegar is used as a tire treatment at the Tour:
DON'T MISS: What Tour de France riders are eating and drinking immediately after racing
Before the rain, some vinegar for good grip and good luck.
Cannondale-Drapac mechanic James Griffin rubbed vinegar on all the riders' tires before the start of rainy stages. He told Business Insider that the vinegar makes the rubber suppler, which means better traction on rain-slicked roads.
The vinegar also helps prevent flats because a suppler tire absorbs bits of road debris better, debris that might otherwise puncture the tire. For what it's worth, at the Giro d'Italia this May, the team told Business Insider that its riders had zero flats during the three-week stage race.
The vinegar, kept in a water bottle, is poured on a rag and then rubbed on the tires.
Italian handmade-tire manufacturer Challenge has an insightful blog post about the use of vinegar on tires. You can read it here. This is the most relevant part:
Immediately when I brought up the problem in front of team management they looked at me incredulously and said, "What? You do not know that you need to apply vinegar to the tires before riding in this 'season of the little stones'?" I could not have been more stunned. ...
Riders and mechanics for professional teams are all taught at a young age that you must treat racing tires with vinegar every two to three days during “winter” (or when “winter” suddenly reappears). ...
Long story short, if you want to have all the incredible performance - low rolling resistance, cornering and traction – that the Pros enjoy with Challenge Handmade tubulars but do not want to get a bunch of cuts or punctures, simply keep a rag handy and wipe your tires with vinegar every couple rides in that “season of the small stones”
Vinegar — it's not just for salads and fish and chips.
Should recreational cyclists use this vinegar trick at home? We asked Mark Purdy, an experienced mechanic who has wrenched for racing teams and currently works at Savile Road bike shop in New York.
"I've never done it myself, but I am aware of the concept of using vinegar on tires to soften the rubber a bit, like for rainy days," Purdy told Business Insider. "I suppose it makes sense, but your tires will wear out really fast. Diluted vinegar is a decent degreaser too."
See the rest of the story at Business Insider