Advantages of running DH tubes?

[Z]

What's the advantage of using DH tubes in bigger tires? Instead of the normal 2.35 type? Lower Psi, less pinch flats? Fill me in....

thanks.

[funkendrenchman]

What's the advantage of using DH tubes in bigger tires? Instead of the normal 2.35 type? Lower Psi, less pinch flats? Fill me in....

thanks.

both are advantages.... disadvantage is the weight makes for slower rolling.

[kidwoo]

Yeah you do not want to run dh tubes on bike you do a lot of climbing on.

I don't even put full dh tires in my dh bike.

[crashnburn'd]

I don't even put full dh tires in my dh bike.

I didn't use to either, until I had a wonderful experience where my front tire came flying off the rim at speed. It was great.

I have a DH tube in the back of my Heckler because I seemed to pinch flat a lot. I haven't since I put it in and I haven't really noticed any difference in climbing, etc, but I'm not really a weight weeny.

[Meathelmet]

Pros :

+Not so much snakebites
+More effective in braking/tracktion on some terrain
+Difficult to have a catastrophic failure á la crashnburn...
+On hard tails using big tyre+low psi you get can use the tyre as "suspension".
+Looks good

Cons

-Riding with lower pressures degrades the banking performance and you might experience the crash´nburn thingy. And you might blow your rims easier because you are not using your tyre to "support" the rim.
-Pinches easier
-Miserable to pedal flats. Uphill,uh,never mind. This is dh,remember.You use lifts.


Many peeps who rides competitions ride super skinny tyres. Like 2"stuff with high pressures, just to get the speed advantage.
You might succeed with it if you know how to fine tune your suspension to work to each track. Otherwise just end up blowing your tubes and placing last.

I used some maxxis minion 2.7"s+hutchinson raws for a season riding dirt and DH on my imperial hard tail. No pinches or blow tyres for a season.
My rims didnt take the beating as well, after the season i had to trash them...they fixes 4 times and in the end they had cracks in 4 places.
Mavics suck.

Oh,and the tube is as important as the tyre.
Some heavy duty tubes,like hutchinson verte gr natural rubbers and you are set.
Weights as much as a fat cop, but very durable.

[kidwoo]

I didn't use to either, until I had a wonderful experience where my front tire came flying off the rim at speed. It was great.

I have a DH tube in the back of my Heckler because I seemed to pinch flat a lot. I haven't since I put it in and I haven't really noticed any difference in climbing, etc, but I'm not really a weight weeny.

Is that when you crashnburn'd?

Ever since sticky tires came around, I started using higher tire pressures with these specialized 3.0 cruiser tubes. They're not as thick as a dh tube but they also don't stretch very much to fit a 2.5-2.7 tire.....so they at least retain their original thickness. So the wheel is lighter, I run higher pressures because of the thinner tube but also because I'm still getting good traction from the gooey rubber, and the tire dosn't feel like floppy turd on my wheel.

I corner like tron cycle yo......so I can't stand low tire pressures that end up with a lot rollover in corners. (20psi etc).


This is all my dh bike btw. I gots tubeless on me ittty bitty bike.

[marshalolson]

z- i am going away from dh tubes.... don't really need them. any advantage is overwhelmed by the weight savings of a reg. tube. at least on a hardtail.

[milkman]

z- i am going away from dh tubes.... don't really need them. any advantage is overwhelmed by the weight savings of a reg. tube. at least on a hardtail.

True. I used to run a DH tube in the rear of my freeride hardtail, but switched to a regular tube a while ago to save some weight for climbing. As long as you use a good wire bead tire, the tube doesn't matter that much. I haven't had one flat yet and I run a low psi on the downhill....

[Meathelmet]

at least on a hardtail.

Have to disagree on this one.
It is on hard tails where difference is the biggest,since you dont have rearshock to suck it up.

But this only applies to DH.

Biker/dual cross tracks are usually made of relatively smooth materials,so you dont need the beefing up there.
Or if you are actually riding with the bike some single tracks. Then you are not charging anyway (who the hell would make laps with bodyarmour and fullface...).

The weight is huge on good tubes. Those huchinsons weight together almost on kilo, or 1lbs per/tube.
So using tubeless might be a viable option if you are more into suffering type of riding?

[marshalolson]

Have to disagree on this one.
It is on hard tails where difference is the biggest,since you dont have rearshock to suck it up.

well, my point is that there really isn't any extra cush gained with a DH tube in there on a hardtail... and you aren't really going as fast as on a DH bike so you don't really need the extra pinchflat protection. a 2.7 dh tire with 18-20 psi isn't a regular pinchflatter. i'd say save the pound, and climb better

[Meathelmet]

well, my point is that there really isn't any extra cush gained with a DH tube in there on a hardtail... and you aren't really going as fast as on a DH bike so you don't really need the extra pinchflat protection. a 2.7 dh tire with 18-20 psi isn't a regular pinchflatter. i'd say save the pound, and climb better

Same subject,opposite point of views, then.

Yes,the point being:You gain extra margin with hd tubes.
If you ride dual/dh or huck with your hard tail,noncompetition wise and use lifts, use a hard core tubes.

Especially if you have bolt-on rear axle (non-speed lock?) so you dont have to fuck around with tools when repairing tubes.

If you dont, then dont bother with heavy duty tubes,or tubes at all.
Eh?

[marshalolson]

yeah dude i hear you... i guess its all a matter of how big/fast.

i really have never taken my hardtail off anything bigger than 5ft to falt concrete, so i could see any bigger than that or 10ft on trail a dh tube is called for. but Z won't be dropping stuff like that anytime soon.

i heart bolt on rear axles on the hardtail. so $$$ so much more stiffness torsionally. fuggin rad.

[Meathelmet]

i heart bolt on rear axles on the hardtail. so $$$ so much more stiffness torsionally. fuggin rad.

i hear you man,i hear you!



12mm´s of umpaah...

[kidwoo]

12mm´s of umpaah...

10

[Meathelmet]

10

12




http://www.bike-mailorder.de/shop/Bi...abe::5658.html

[kidwoo]

12




http://www.bike-mailorder.de/shop/Bi...abe::5658.html

touche'


NORMAL bolt-ons are 10.

A 12 wouldn't fit in a hardtail. Not a normal one at least.

This is interesting though.

einbaubreite: 150 mm

So that's obviously a 150mm rear spacing but I've never seen a 150mm rear end that's 12mm and NOT a thru-axle.

Does that bolt come out so that you can slide the hub into the dropouts?

[Meathelmet]

touche'


NORMAL bolt-ons are 10.

A 12 wouldn't fit in a hardtail. Not a normal one at least.

This is interesting though.

einbaubreite: 150 mm

So that's obviously a 150mm rear spacing but I've never seen a 150mm rear end that's 12mm and NOT a thru-axle.

Does that bolt come out so that you can slide the hub into the dropouts?

Fits the imperial and other 10mm dropouts since it has two notches in the axle (making it in that sense 10mm).
You cant se them in the picures apparently...

You have a good eye,sherlock!

[kidwoo]

Fits the imperial and other 10mm dropouts since it has two notches in the axle (making it in that sense 10mm).

Whoa........that's kind of cool. You have one I guess?

I just looked at their website but it said the same thing as that german site.....150 spacing, 12mm bolt-on

Interesting stuff. I should grind out the dropouts on my d.o.c. to get that bigger axle in there if they make a 135.

[Z]

Cool, good advice. Was contemplating throwing one in the rear for some cush but I don't think its necessary....Still want to bolt-on the back though...

[Choke Slam]

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

[trainnvain]

T
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[trainnvain]

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

This is very bad advice. DH tubes are not hype. Obviously you can't be speaking from experience, or live in an area with really smooth terrain.

Edit: sp

[Mr. Altagirl]

I quit using DH tubes the day I discovered tubeless. I can run 15 lbs or less safely if need be (really gnarly course, wet, etc..). I normally run around 20-24 lbs with zero flats in two years DHing. Even on my "trail rig", I run at around 26-28 lbs and still don't flat. I have blown a tire off the rim but that was because I din't maintain the Stan's (forgot to check if it had dried out, ran Porcupine at about 10 lbs, being stupid). I carry DH tubes to the races with me just as a quick backup, otherwise, go tubeless (I run Ghetto tubless on everything, cost about $5 per tire, way less than a DH tube).

[Choke Slam]

[QUOTE=trainnvain]This is very bad advice. DH tubes are not hype. Obviously you can't be speaking from experience, or live in an area with really smooth terrain.

The Boulder front range area is pretty smooth and I haven't ridden too much, I mean my post count is only like at 12 or 13...

I run Michelin 2.8" Dh tires on my Steelhead at 18 psi with tubes designed for up to 2.1" tires. Even with 6 foot drops to concrete I have no problems. The issue here is that an extra milimeter of rubber won't really offer any more pinchflat protection. If you are getting a lot of pinch flats either run more psi, get burlier tires, or ride smoother!

[Dside11-11]

Clearly bad advice...