Advantages of running DH tubes?

[yentna]

Have to concur with Mr. AG - he turned Ski Monkey and I onto the ghetto stans, and neither of us have had a flat since. Most of last season, a couple UPS rides this spring, lots and lots of usage at varying pressures. A beautiful thing.

[Arty50]

Another vote for tubeless. Best move I ever made.

[whatcomridaz]

Dh tubes are hype. Rubber can stretch. Buying DH tubes is like buying Magnum condoms---you are just compensating.

Shit I break Magnums but not as easily as I break Durex. WTF should I do, would love to go tubeless as it feels more natural but continued use of the machine dictates tubes

[altagirl]

Ghetto tubeless doesn't work on some rims though. I have a couple wheels we've tried it on and they won't stay inflated for more than an hour. One wheel was pretty dinged up, and I can understand how it wouldn't seal. The other was brand new... no idea what's up with that. Could be the tire too. Who knows.

[yentna]

Have to concur with Mr. AG - he turned Ski Monkey and I onto the ghetto stans, and neither of us have had a flat since. Most of last season, a couple UPS rides this spring, lots and lots of usage at varying pressures. A beautiful thing.

Ok, so had my first flat with the Ghetto Stans. Actually, two flats last night downhilling in Bountiful. But then, it's been almost a year, I didn't put fresh Stans in, the tires started to go soft and I didn't notice ( ) and finally gave out on me. Pssssssssssssssssssss....terrible sound when you're near the top of a run with no spares! Loooonnnnggg walk out. But at least I had company - a friend flatted shortly before I did and I waited for him to catch up. Heh.

But it's a good thing - my tires are uber bald so it's good timing. Such a pain to switch out tires so I've been procrastinating it and dealing with the baldness. Now, with two flats and old Stans, good chance to upgrade the tires just in time for the Bountiful DH. Looking at my tires, Ican't believe how long I've let them go, they're suitable to be semi-slicks on a commuter bike!

Grin.

[crashnburn'd]

Ghetto tubeless doesn't work on some rims though.... Could be the tire too. Who knows.

I've never run tubeless, so I probably shouldn't post, but one of my friends had problems going tubeless with the low durometer Kenda Stick-e tires.

[Mr. Altagirl]

Yenta, year old Stan's will fail (I've learned the hard way as well). I now add a bit as the summer goes along and actually clean out the old and add new in the spring. I've found after a hard UPS ride, I need to check everytime just to be sure I didn't force any out.


I've heard that Kenda's really don't hold up very well with Stan's, the rubber actually breaks down. I've only had monster Kenda's (their 2.7 is HUGE) and didn't have an issue but smaller tires could.

[Arty50]

I've heard that Kenda's really don't hold up very well with Stan's, the rubber actually breaks down. I've only had monster Kenda's (their 2.7 is HUGE) and didn't have an issue but smaller tires could.

I have a set of 2.35 Nevegal Stick-E's with the Downhill casing and wire bead. Been running them tubeless since last spring without a problem.

[kidwoo]

I've run every tubeless scenario.......stans strips with/without tubeless tires, maxxis strips with/without tubeless tires, ust rims with/without ust tires and by FAR the best setup is ust rims and tires with stans. I've got two bikes right now with that setup.

That said, I absolutely could not get a tubeless setup to work on my DH bike. No matter what the configuration, I kept burping tires. But on my xc and "freeride" bikes, I've been stoked. The traction and rolling resistance differences are noticible.

Choke slam........how long you been riding DH? Yeah tubes stretch when inflated but thicker dh tubes retain a greater thickness because they start out that way and are MADE for bigger tires, reducing the necessary degree of expansion to fit the tire.

On the kendas.......a buddy of mine did talk to a kenda rep at sea otter and came back with the info that there is something about the tire that gets compromised with stans. Not to say it won't work since I know people have done it, but it was interesting to hear.

[yentna]

Yentna, year old Stan's will fail (I've learned the hard way as well). I now add a bit as the summer goes along and actually clean out the old and add new in the spring. I've found after a hard UPS ride, I need to check everytime just to be sure I didn't force any out.

Yah, that'll be my new plan, sheepish grin.

[Mr. Altagirl]

I have a set of 2.35 Nevegal Stick-E's with the Downhill casing and wire bead. Been running them tubeless since last spring without a problem.

From what I hear, the DH casing is strong enough but the lighter (read thinner) tires can have problems. I will admit, Kenda's rock, especially for the price. We both got a set of Nevegal's at Durango a few years ago for $20 a set, from Johnny T personally. I then went and tried to rip my leg off on my first run with them (if you remember, a torn MCL, fractured tib-platue, etc... ).

[marshalolson]

Choke slam........how long you been riding DH? Yeah tubes stretch when inflated but thicker dh tubes retain a greater thickness because they start out that way and are MADE for bigger tires, reducing the necessary degree of expansion to fit the tire.

kid- he's been dh'ing since the mid 90's. convinced me to sack up and get off the ss'tip.

[kidwoo]

kid- he's been dh'ing since the mid 90's.

Then he should know better.


Seriously though.......for a given impact of rim wall against a squished tire on a rock, a thicker tube will take more before splitting. On the rare occasions I stick dh tubes in my dh bike, there's a noticible difference for the same pressure in how many times I'm rolling to a stop with the flappity flap.

Now given, some brands of dh tubes aren't all that. I can't stand intense dh tubes. But for the most part they are more durable. I just don't use them because of the weight, and with sticky tires I can run higher pressures and still get good traction.

[Arty50]

I'm really glad this thread exists. The stans in my tires is almost a year old now. I've never had a problem with losing air in my tires except over long periods of time. Well, when I checked my tires Friday it had only been a few days since my last ride and they had lost about 10 psi each. They held up fine on my ride, but it's a mellow one. Time to put some new goop in.

[flowtron]

I had a guy bring his bike in for a tune up and when we spun the wheels it sounded, and spun like there was sand in the tires. The Stans had totally dried up and turned into little rubber balls. The tires sounded like those hippy rain stick things.
Just cleaned em out, freshened up the goop and was good to go.

[Choke Slam]

Then he should know better.

I should know better by now...Basicaly what I saying is most of the time a pinch flat happens, it would have happened anyway regardless of the tube. Relying on an extra .5-1.5mm of tube to save your a$$ is a bad idea, unless you enjoy hiking or wasting a bunch of time and money at a DH race. Sure the extra burly tubes may help slightly, but not enough to compensate for the noticable weight increase.

[kidwoo]

Sure the extra burly tubes may help slightly, but not enough to compensate for the noticable weight increase.

I agree with that. That's why I don't use them with any sort of regularity.


But depending on where I am, especially somewhere with a lot of open, really fast sections, for the same tire pressure, I get fewer flats with a dh tube. To be honest, bootleg canyon is about the only place I ride where I do switch them out because for the most part, all that lower stuff allows you to open it up with only small, short rocky sections........the formula for more flats.

And even changing them back out, you can see the pinch marks that didn't punture. My switching from the normal tubes there in particular does stem from walking my ass down that hill many many times. They do make a difference. But yes like you said, I don't dig on the heavy wheels enough to use them everywhere. Especially where I normally ride at northstar. It's rocky but tight enough that the speeds are usually slower.

[Son1cdeth]

How does Stans hold up against goatheads and the like? Had another flat over the weekend, and I'm seriously thinking of going that route (it's time for new tires as well).



Any issues converting Mavic 717's over?