[birdman2447]

Watching guys like Gwin flat and most recently Martain Maes has got me thinking about options other than tubeless. Has any manufacture over the years tried to devlope a tire system other than tubeless?

The other two wheeled activity I enjoy is offroad dirtbikes. There are two options other than tubeless on the market. Tire balls and bib mousse. Both are next to impossible to flat unless you tear the tire apart. I know dirtbikes tend to run 13psi and mountain bikes twice that but there's got to be a built proof option flat prevention out there.

Anyone care to chime in?

 

[Wetbed0]

The downside with both of those is the extra weight and difficulty to use. Just imagine mounting a tire that's already fully inflated, or full of ping-pong balls. It would suck. Dirt bikes are going towards the tubliss system. It's very similar to the new schwable system. You can get a pinch or puncture but the tire will stay on the bead. Should let you ride home 9 times out of 10.

 

[Kanye West]

I think you mean the Schwalbe system is very similar to the moto Tubliss system, which has been around for a long time.

I run the system on both my dirt bikes. It works wonderfully. With a super heavy duty desert tire you can get away with silly pressures like 6psi in the rear, while going FAST too (60+). And you cannot roll the tire off the rim if you puncture it either, which is awesome. A couple years ago I finished out 30 miles of a gnarly second loop of an 80 mile race with a rear flat, and it only slowed me down a little bit. The fast sandy whooped stuff was a little squirrely but everything else was fine.

The only issue with those is 1) you can't machine mount the tire, gotta be done manually with small tire spoons. Doesn't really apply to mountain bikes. And 2) wheel balance is more of a factor because the rimlock and valve stem are real close to one another. Speed wobbles start to become a factor.

The mountain bike tubeless systems have the structural integrity of a condom, literally. I can't wait until someone makes a forceful bead-lock system for mountain bikes.