Why are flat tires something we still see these days?

Espo61
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Saint Louis, MO US
5/16/2014 1:17pm
Older rider here...back in the day we'd run em' at 45lbs front and rear. Today, I'm tubeless and have had good luck in the last 4 years running as such. I do put a lot of juice into both tires. Where I ride (St. Louis) it's rocky and always seem to poke holes from either tire about 30% the time I ride. It seals up and I ride on adding air at breaks.

I do pop the tire off every 2 weeks and I am surprised at the amount junk that gets caked on the tires. I run 4 sets and change them out so never to run the same tires all the time - it's worked for me thus far! On the inside I remove the juice and put a patch where the hole is. I clean the rim and you do pick up junk - you'd be surprised when ya clean em'. Last count was 4 small patches on the inside of one of the tires... - I ride em' till the sidewall blows out. I like the harder rubber - IRD Xc Fire Pro's - I believe they still make them or Maxxis only and I have had great luck.

I'd like to see a thicker sidewall and would not worry to much about the extra weight. The handling will be what it is - adjust to it. I ride at 33 lbs in the front and 35 in the back, for me any lower is silly for me.

Stay Vertical out there..v..
toddtoth
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Just up the canyon, CA US
5/19/2014 9:02am
Minty wrote:
I'm lost by this,I've been running tubeless for 3 years and have never flatted,I have burped air on a few occasions but never enough to end...
I'm lost by this,I've been running tubeless for 3 years and have never flatted,I have burped air on a few occasions but never enough to end a dh run and if on an xc ride I've just put more air in. None of the guys I ride with all of which run tubeless have a problem with flats. Obviously flats can and do happen with tubeless but it's so rare as to not be a problem,I stopped carrying a spare tube 2 years ago after a year of never needing one. I run medium to low pressures.
sb66er wrote:
Same here. Run tubeless and ride constantly. Not one flat all past year. All of my racing buddies flat all the time. I think it has...
Same here. Run tubeless and ride constantly. Not one flat all past year. All of my racing buddies flat all the time. I think it has to do with smoothness of rider...some world class enduro guys flat and some don't. The smoothest guy in enduro, Jerome Clementz...did he have a flat last year? Not like Fabien Barel that hits every rock in sight and slides his back end around every corner.
I'm with these guys 100%. Been running tubeless for four years and haven't flatted once. That's unheard of for me, prior I was flatting a few times a year. I've burped the front a couple of times, once was a fast wreck hitting a good sized rock. I'm 190 pounds, maybe I pick good lines, maybe not (I just rode Slim Shady in Sedona last week and felt like I smacked all the rocks coming back down). I get it though, I'm not going WC speeds.
big bear
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CA
5/21/2014 1:29pm Edited Date/Time 5/21/2014 1:40pm
I've about these euro tubes, but I would think that they would be shit for grip because they wouldn't allow the tire to wrap around rocks and roots: http://www.eclipse.ch/new/Tubes.html

Jared Graves would often run a ghetto tubeless setup that used a tube cut in half, spread over the inside of the rim, and allowed the tires bead to sit on the tube. He would cut off the excess that stuck out over the rim: http://www.pinkbike.com/news/Jared-Graves-World-Champs-Edition-Yeti-SB6…

I think certain rims are also notorious for pinch flats. i.e.; spank, mavic 823.

2.5 Maxxis dual ply tires and Dee Max with Maxxis freeride tubes have worked for me for 3 seasons of DH racing. I've had about one flat per season under all terrain and generally running 27psi F and 30 psi R (170 lbs rider).


sspomer
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6/24/2014 2:15pm
maybe all the casualties from the EWS this weekend should run tubes and carry this?

Faction
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6/24/2014 3:08pm
It would be hard for me to give up on running tubeless (13th year!) but I would like to try this anyway.
Minty
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GB
6/24/2014 3:23pm
sspomer wrote:
maybe all the casualties from the EWS this weekend should run tubes and carry this?

This confuses me,it basically looks like your patching the inside of the tube,so you would have to hit the hole in the tube perfectly for it to work,I woulda thought that's pretty hit or miss with a flat tube inside a tyre.,especially on larger volume tyres
aw_gooner
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Riverside, CA US
6/24/2014 3:38pm
isn't this basically like an epi pen with stan's?
bturman
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6/24/2014 4:09pm
Minty wrote:
This confuses me,it basically looks like your patching the inside of the tube,so you would have to hit the hole in the tube perfectly for it...
This confuses me,it basically looks like your patching the inside of the tube,so you would have to hit the hole in the tube perfectly for it to work,I woulda thought that's pretty hit or miss with a flat tube inside a tyre.,especially on larger volume tyres
Check this vid for a clearer explanation of how it works:

Shrockie
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Berkeley, CA US
6/24/2014 4:22pm
bturman wrote:
Check this vid for a clearer explanation of how it works:

Nice to see the cutaway detail.. most of the time, MTB flats are pinch flats, with 2 holes AKA snake bikes.. not sure how this would seal the second hole by the edge of the rim.. would work on thorn punctures.

Hmm.. I'll keep running tubeless and see how it susses out.. I've only had 2 flats in 3 years.
sspomer
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6/24/2014 6:38pm
bring me the tweel! that is sick

6/24/2014 8:49pm
sspomer wrote:
bring me the tweel! that is sick [img]http://images.gizmag.com/gallery_lrg/3603_31080615606.jpg[/img]
bring me the tweel! that is sick

As much of a pain that pneumatic tires are, using air as a spring is very light weight, low rolling resistance and able to be tuned for stiffness (ie tire pressure). The "tweel" design will most likely always have higher rolling resistance and probably heavier.
Capricorn
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Cape Town ZA
6/25/2014 3:18am
The tweel would work better for a mostly consistent road surface, that is for road riding. I' surprised they haven't moved over to a punctureless system yet You never going to please everyone in terms of tweel compliance vs pneumatic pressure, but you sure as heck wont flat. But the weight weenie in each roadie will cry bucketloads due to current tweel weights.
6/25/2014 5:14am
What about an open cell foam filling the tyre that can support a %age of the weight, say 50%, wihout the tyre being inflated. The remaining is taken by air pressure. Should you get a puncture, you still have 50% of the weight supporting capability to finish your run.

Right, I'm off to the shed...
Minty
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GB
6/25/2014 1:54pm
bturman wrote:
Check this vid for a clearer explanation of how it works:

Cool clear now. I'm still thinking the future will be schwalbe dual chamber system,must be near release now.
6/26/2014 8:33pm
Minty wrote:
I'm lost by this,I've been running tubeless for 3 years and have never flatted,I have burped air on a few occasions but never enough to end...
I'm lost by this,I've been running tubeless for 3 years and have never flatted,I have burped air on a few occasions but never enough to end a dh run and if on an xc ride I've just put more air in. None of the guys I ride with all of which run tubeless have a problem with flats. Obviously flats can and do happen with tubeless but it's so rare as to not be a problem,I stopped carrying a spare tube 2 years ago after a year of never needing one. I run medium to low pressures.
You obviously don't ride hard enough.
CombatMutt
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Colorado Springs, CO US
6/27/2014 6:54am
sspomer wrote:
bring me the tweel! that is sick [img]http://images.gizmag.com/gallery_lrg/3603_31080615606.jpg[/img]
bring me the tweel! that is sick

As much of a pain that pneumatic tires are, using air as a spring is very light weight, low rolling resistance and able to be tuned...
As much of a pain that pneumatic tires are, using air as a spring is very light weight, low rolling resistance and able to be tuned for stiffness (ie tire pressure). The "tweel" design will most likely always have higher rolling resistance and probably heavier.
Yes something like the Tweel would probably be heavier. But does anyone think that when Gwin crossed the finish line last week with no tire at all, that he wouldn't have rather had a bullet proof wheel with the additional 4lb weight? (I'm just guessing 2lbs extra per wheel here)
6/27/2014 7:24am
CombatMutt wrote:
Yes something like the Tweel would probably be heavier. But does anyone think that when Gwin crossed the finish line last week with no tire at...
Yes something like the Tweel would probably be heavier. But does anyone think that when Gwin crossed the finish line last week with no tire at all, that he wouldn't have rather had a bullet proof wheel with the additional 4lb weight? (I'm just guessing 2lbs extra per wheel here)
Probably not. He said himself it was the first flat tire he's had in a race. If he would have been running an extra 4 lbs of rotating weight at the tire for all of his World Cup races, he wouldn't have flatted at Leogang, but he also most likely wouldn't have won 10 world cup races in two years, or however many it was. Remember that Minnaar ran trail casing tires at World Champs a year or so ago, knowing that he was likely to flat in his race run, but the lighter weight was worth it. He rolled across the line with a flat.
Adding all that weight would guarantee two things: no flat, and probably no top 10 finish.
Dogboy
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Chapel Hill, NC US
6/27/2014 7:30am
Probably not. He said himself it was the first flat tire he's had in a race. If he would have been running an extra 4 lbs...
Probably not. He said himself it was the first flat tire he's had in a race. If he would have been running an extra 4 lbs of rotating weight at the tire for all of his World Cup races, he wouldn't have flatted at Leogang, but he also most likely wouldn't have won 10 world cup races in two years, or however many it was. Remember that Minnaar ran trail casing tires at World Champs a year or so ago, knowing that he was likely to flat in his race run, but the lighter weight was worth it. He rolled across the line with a flat.
Adding all that weight would guarantee two things: no flat, and probably no top 10 finish.
This^^^
Faction
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CA
6/27/2014 9:13am
That system looks like it will work well in mountain biking.

It is based off of Nuetec's TuBliss system for dirtbikes. They were trying to develop it a few years ago, but obviously it didn't happen. From my experience using the moto version, when it worked, it worked perfectly. The only draw back is that mx tires get holes in them very easily. Be it from punctures or from knobs getting ripped off. It became too much of a PITA for me.

In mtb though, it should work fine as long as you have enough PSI in the outer tire. MTB tires lack structural rigidity, so you will still need enough air to prevent the tire from rolling under load.

I would love to test these!

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