Ask the experts

[evdog]

5'4 here. I demo'd a size small V4 Ripley a couple years ago. It fit me well. Rode a medium around the block, it was definitely too big. Could only use about 3" of the dropper post drop on it. Your inseam/arm length will play into fit as well.

Santa Cruz used to run smaller than they do now. I used to ride mediums on most of their bikes (Super8, V10, VPfree, Heckler)

[ticketchecker]

Do a bigger descent. Get them hot.

Easier said than done with a town bike when you live at 140’ above sea level. I did get the front to quiet down last night on a brewery tour, maybe that’s the way


Sent from the Utility Muffin Research Kitchen

[Spencer123]

Got a flat with a relatively new Double Down DHR2 the other day. It is right where the rim meets the bead, it's not through all the way to the inside but it won't reseal. I popped it off, cleaned it, checked the inside, and re-mounted with new sealent but no luck. Any tips for repairing this damage to get it to run tubeless again? Or is it a lost cause?

Also, is this a tubeless equivilent of a pinch flat with where the damage is? Running 28-29 PSI on fast sharp rocky terrain, 180 lbs. Admittedly I like to blast through bad lines instead of pick my way carefully. Are people running up into the 30's who are about the same with rocky terrain?

Thanks for any tips!

[MegaStoke]

Clean the inside really well, and patch it with a vulcanizing patch. Or shove an automotive tire plug in there

As for prevention, tire inserts go a long ways towards preventing pinch flats. Personally, I’m preferential to Tannus Tubeless Armor

[toast2266]

Got a flat with a relatively new Double Down DHR2 the other day. It is right where the rim meets the bead, it's not through all the way to the inside but it won't reseal. I popped it off, cleaned it, checked the inside, and re-mounted with new sealent but no luck. Any tips for repairing this damage to get it to run tubeless again? Or is it a lost cause?

Also, is this a tubeless equivilent of a pinch flat with where the damage is? Running 28-29 PSI on fast sharp rocky terrain, 180 lbs. Admittedly I like to blast through bad lines instead of pick my way carefully. Are people running up into the 30's who are about the same with rocky terrain?

Thanks for any tips!

That's just bad luck. If it were me, I'd goop the whole area up with vulcanizing cement and cram one of the bigger automotive tire plugs in there. Let it sit for a day, and then trim it down a bit (but still leave ~5mm of plug sticking out on both sides of the tire). 50-50 whether that'll work as a long term solution.

If I were you, I'd bump up to a DH casing in the future. They have a bigger butyl insert in the sidewall to protect against exactly that kind of damage.

[rideit]

In a pinch I have sewn one back together with sailor’s thread (but used a tube). Maybe that and a little….aqua seal? (Kidding/notkidding)

[climberevan]

In a pinch I have sewn one back together with sailor’s thread (but used a tube). Maybe that and a little….aqua seal? (Kidding/notkidding)

I fixed a long sidewall cut on a gravel tire with upholstery thread and E6000 on both sides a while back. Aqua Seal is even better. Several hundred miles later it's still good, and no sealant has come through the area. I only run 25-30psi though.

[Dantheman]

Also, is this a tubeless equivilent of a pinch flat with where the damage is?

Yes. An oval radial auto patch will fix that right up.

Also, IME, if there's a hole at the bead there's usually another hole in the tread, so check that carefully before re-mounting.

[skaredshtles]

<snip>
Also, is this a tubeless equivilent of a pinch flat with where the damage is?

Yep. You remember way back in the early days of tubeless when people would rave about how pinch flats were impossible to get with the advent of tubeless? They lied.

Running 28-29 PSI on fast sharp rocky terrain, 180 lbs. Admittedly I like to blast through bad lines instead of pick my way carefully. Are people running up into the 30's who are about the same with rocky terrain?

No. I am about your weight and run 29.5psi on rides like you describe (sharp rocks) and *occasionally* will get a rim strike if I'm being particularly smashy... but most of the time it's sufficient. For the record I'm on Michy Wild RockR'2 Advanced Reinforced, which I *think* is about equivalent to DD.

When I am lax on checking the PSI, though, I can get myself into trouble... be vigilant.

[XXX-er]

Clean the inside really well, and patch it with a vulcanizing patch. Or shove an automotive tire plug in there

I would try the patch first and a plug ^^ if that doesnt work

[Spencer123]

Thank you all for the replies, super helpful! I can see why people in the tires thread or constantly asking about Maxxis equivilent options, I love the tires but they are becoming an expensive habit.

[QUOTE=Dantheman;6652349]Yes. An oval radial auto patch will fix that right up.

Since the damage isn't through to the inside, just a patch and cement right over the slice and let the patched area seat against the rim? The patch doesn't need wrapped around the edge of the tire to the inside correct?

[XXX-er]

That damage is way too close to the rim, if you wanted to still run the tire tubeless the patch or plug shouldn't touch the rim IMO

[toast2266]

Since the damage isn't through to the inside, just a patch and cement right over the slice and let the patched area seat against the rim? The patch doesn't need wrapped around the edge of the tire to the inside correct?

Any patch would need to be on the inside. You definitely don't want a patch interfering with the bead's contact with the rim. That's why I think a plug will work better - I think it's probably too close to the edge to get a patch to work.

[Spencer123]

Gotcha. The tire seems to be failing to seal at the interface between the bead and the rim, not leaking air through the hole itself (as far as I can tell, but could be mistaken). The inside of the tire sidewall still looks pristine, but the bead won't seal even with sealent in in the damaged area. So it sounds like if I plug/patch it and it ends up being the bead itself that is jacked that is pretty much destined to be a back-up to use a tube with? Thanks again.

Any patch would need to be on the inside. You definitely don't want a patch interfering with the bead's contact with the rim. That's why I think a plug will work better - I think it's probably too close to the edge to get a patch to work.

[Dantheman]

Any patch would need to be on the inside. You definitely don't want a patch interfering with the bead's contact with the rim. That's why I think a plug will work better - I think it's probably too close to the edge to get a patch to work.

This is why I like the oval patches in this location. It's worked out well for me, but as always YMMV.

Gotcha. The tire seems to be failing to seal at the interface between the bead and the rim, not leaking air through the hole itself (as far as I can tell, but could be mistaken). The inside of the tire sidewall still looks pristine, but the bead won't seal even with sealent in in the damaged area. So it sounds like if I plug/patch it and it ends up being the bead itself that is jacked that is pretty much destined to be a back-up to use a tube with? Thanks again.

Either the hole actually does go all the way through or you buggered the bead somehow. My guess is the latter, but hard to say based on pics alone. Tire is definitely toast if it's the bead.

[toast2266]

Either the hole actually does go all the way through or you buggered the bead somehow. My guess is the latter, but hard to say based on pics alone. Tire is definitely toast if it's the bead.

This. Although I would be impressed if the bead was buggered and the rim was not also buggered.

[Spencer123]

Awesome. That makes sense. Appreciate it!

[Beaver]

Do I need a different tool to remove a shitmano 12 speed Cassette or will the same one I use for HG cassettes work?

[g_man80]

Same tool

[Falcon3]

Sizing help:

Current bike is 2017 Giant Trance in large (27.5). I’ve put a slacker headset and longer fork so my most accurate guess on geo is 439 reach with effective top tube of 628. I run a 35mm stem and this still feels a bit stretched out for me on climbs.

I’m looking hard at the super sale on Ripmo AFs. The Ibis site has me well into the large size just based on height (5’10”), but the measurements on medium are
Reach= 458 (19mm increase)
ETT= 603 (25mm decrease)

RAF stem is a 50mm which would make the butt-to-bars measure within 10mm of current and stretch out the pedal-to-bars horizontal measurement by 34mm.

I’m aware of the effect steeper seat tubes and slacker head angles will have on newer bikes, which is why I’m looking primarily at the seated ETT#. Just based on the numbers it seems like medium will still give me a longer reach for modern style but keep the top tube relatively manageable. Am i crazy to go medium here?

[VTskibum]

I don't think you're crazy to go Medium at 5'10", especially if you have a high ape index. My size Large 2020 stumpy has a 445 reach which is pretty short by today's standards. Giant Trance of same year was 462mm reach. So today's Mediums are generally a Large from 2 years ago. Plenty of debate on whether the LLS trend has gone a bit too far, PB even did a video comparison on this topic this week with a 6'3" guy between a current L and XL.

[toast2266]

Sizing help:

Current bike is 2017 Giant Trance in large (27.5). I’ve put a slacker headset and longer fork so my most accurate guess on geo is 439 reach with effective top tube of 628. I run a 35mm stem and this still feels a bit stretched out for me on climbs.

I’m looking hard at the super sale on Ripmo AFs. The Ibis site has me well into the large size just based on height (5’10”), but the measurements on medium are
Reach= 458 (19mm increase)
ETT= 603 (25mm decrease)

RAF stem is a 50mm which would make the butt-to-bars measure within 10mm of current and stretch out the pedal-to-bars horizontal measurement by 34mm.

I’m aware of the effect steeper seat tubes and slacker head angles will have on newer bikes, which is why I’m looking primarily at the seated ETT#. Just based on the numbers it seems like medium will still give me a longer reach for modern style but keep the top tube relatively manageable. Am i crazy to go medium here?

I'm about a 1/2" shorter than you, and I also waffle between mediums and larges. In an ideal world, I get along well with a 475 reach and a 620 ETT, although those exact numbers are surprisingly hard to find.

I think you'd be OK on the medium RAF, but if it were me, I'd probably go large, run a shorter stem, and slide the seat forward on the rails. For me, anything < 460 reach starts to feel kinda short these days. Not unrideable by any means (since we all rode bikes way shorter than that for decades), but I don't really feel like I'm getting the full benefit of modern geometry.

All that aside, I also take geo charts with a little bit of a grain of salt. How the bikes feel when I'm sitting on them doesn't always correlate with what the numbers say. Some bikes are a bit bigger than stated, some are a bit smaller. Ideally, you'd find a large RAF to do a parking lot ride on to verify sizing.

[grskier]

What Toast said...

With that 50 mm stem you have an easy 15mm to play with at the front of the cockpit and you can swap out bars too.

But at your height, I don't think you have a wrong answer... which just always makes it harder lol.

[Falcon3]

What Toast said...

With that 50 mm stem you have an easy 15mm to play with at the front of the cockpit and you can swap out bars too.

But at your height, I don't think you have a wrong answer... which just always makes it harder lol.

Thanks all, Jenson has the RAF in GX coil build for $3100, doesn’t charge me sales tax, and comes with a $250 gift card. But they only have mediums in stock. I asked around locally to try to find one to sit on but no luck.

Now I just need to convince myself going for this incremental improvement of geometry/longer dropper/29 vs 27.5 is worth it compared to riding my bike (which is going to need consumables and a serious tune soon) and saving up for the $7k carbon beast in another couple years.

[Beaver]

Fuck the what? Pulled off my 12 speed shimano cassette, my free hub is HG. I didn't think hg 12 speed was a thing.