First official Senior’s road ride of the season yours truly flipped a piece of glass into the sidewall ruining a relatively new cross tire and cutting the tube to an extent that the sealant failed. The tire boot worked well enough, but the cut was noticeable, slightly separating, when the replaced tube was inflated.

The first official Senior’s Off Road ride for beginners is in a couple days, and we will spend fifteen or twenty minutes discussing and checking everyone’s GRIP vis-a-vis correct tire pressure for this particular dirt excursion. Those attending please check your minimum and maximum tire pressure rating, on the tire sidewall, and write it down. It will look something like this, min 35 psi max 65 psi. And don’t forget to bring an extra tube to the ride.

The following two minute video from Stan’s NOTUBES how to replace a tube on the trail regardless of tubeless or not tubeless.
https://youtu.be/heqstB6k4r0

http://www.notubes.com/help/index.aspx

One on-going Off Road question among dirt riders is should I go tubeless? We will address this question throughout the riding season gaining from other’s experiences, which will help each of us decide for ourselves. There are three parts or tubeless technologies we should understand. One, tubeless tires have an impregnated rubberized coating covering the inside tire case to help improve sealing the tire. Two, tubeless specific rims are designed with a smaller or shorter box section to help improve sealing the tire bead against the rim bead. Third is the sealant itself. There are at least four companies now making proprietary liquid sealants that gel, harden, and seal the tube, or if tubeless, the tire when punctured. Some sealants use micro fibers to help clog the hole not unlike sticky blood platelets clogging a cut or wound.

Below are diagrams of non-tubeless and tubeless specific rim design. Larger diagrams will be available during our pre-ride lesson Tuesday and we will discuss adapting older rim and tire technology to tubeless for those who may be interested. Note the pink highlights. Tubeless rim bead design captures or traps the tire beads more efficiently disallowing, or is it disavowing, escaping air when the tire is deformed negotiating off-camber trails or popping over rocks, roots, and ruts. This is also called tire burping.

tubeless rims

What about tubeless road tires? https://youtu.be/Nit55MSaFJ4

 

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