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Tire Inserts

Adventurous

Starshine Bro
Mar 19, 2014
10,261
8,767
Crawlorado
How many of y'all run tire inserts? Recently got the idea in my head that it may be beneficial for me, but I know little to nothing about them. Thinking of running one out back on my trail bike so I can run reduced tire pressures and not crack my fancy crabon rims.

Yay or nay? I don't typically destroy rims or cut tires. But the trails around here are quite chunky and I am not scared to charge through a rock garden.
 

jstuhlman

bagpipe wanker
Dec 3, 2009
16,627
12,918
Cackalacka du Nord
there's one that came on the back of my hardtail (cushcore). honestly cannot tell the benefit. i run doubledown casing tires on my normal trailbike and could not be happier.
 

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
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Yo. I have rimpact in both trail bikes. And a set of cushcore waiting to go in the dh bike.

My favorite aspect as a bigger dude is the tires don't roll when I corner.
 

Katz

Monkey
Jun 8, 2012
371
788
Arizona
I think it would work reasonably well for your stated purposes. It's not 100% guaranteed protection though, so don't go out riding at 17 psi in the tire right after you install an insert.

You can observe various cuts and wrinkles on my old Cushcore. Most of those cuts go all way through. I weighed about 170 lbs back when I was running it, and ran 26.5 psi usually. The large cut at 11 o'clock is from when I pinch-flatted and dinged the rim, granted that was with a trail casing tire on a room-temp buttery soft WTB rim, and I probably landed on a pointy rock. And I'm sure I would have ruined many more tires prematurely without it.
IMG_5561.JPG
 

canadmos

Cake Tease
May 29, 2011
20,192
19,158
Canaderp
Tried a rimpact insert on the rear for a few months. I can't say for sure if it helped or not, as there aren't many rocks where I normally ride. But it had all sorts of slices and perforations in it, like what @Katz picture shows.

What I can say is that it was a pain to mount. It was also a total pain in the ass, when the rim bead on my tire separated one ride; had no choice to mount a tube. What the hell do you do with a sealant soaked insert out in the middle of a ride?? I just ended up slicing it into chunks with knife and carried it out that way..

I'm usually okay with exo or exo+ tires here, so just do without now. I have a DD casing Aggressor tire ready to, should we be allowed to travel anywhere with ROX this summer.
 

jonKranked

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Nov 10, 2005
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while i don't doubt the experience @canadmos had, i will say i have have the opposite experience with installation of rimpact on 2 different wheel and tire combos. technically 3 different rims i think. on one of the wheel/tire combos, it actually allowed me to seat the tire bead by hand (the insert gave me something to push against) and was able to inflate it with just a regular floor pump.

so i would say there is a lot of influence that your particular tire / rim combo will have.
 

Carraig042

me 1st
Apr 5, 2011
732
353
East Tennessee
I am running an insert for the first time on my new bike. I am using the Tannus Tubeless. It seems to be working good so far, can for sure tell a difference in Rocky sections and in tight berms.
 

Katz

Monkey
Jun 8, 2012
371
788
Arizona
...so i would say there is a lot of influence that your particular tire / rim combo will have.
I imagine it'd be challenging on rims with shallow depth/side profile, such as Stan's Flow Mk3.

We haven't had much issue installing Cushcores on most DT rims (FR570, EX471/511, etc). Not sure about Rimpact but Cushcore stretches after a while, which makes it quite a bit easier to install.

What the hell do you do with a sealant soaked insert out in the middle of a ride??
Cushcore is more like solid polyurethane instead of open-cell foam, so it won't drip sealant once you give it a quick wipe.

I no longer use inserts but I've wondered if a roadie tube with long Presta valve could be used for trail side repair by drilling a hole in the insert beforehand.
 

jonKranked

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Nov 10, 2005
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I imagine it'd be challenging on rims with shallow depth/side profile, such as Stan's Flow Mk3.

We haven't had much issue installing Cushcores on most DT rims (FR570, EX471/511, etc). Not sure about Rimpact but Cushcore stretches after a while, which makes it quite a bit easier to install.



Cushcore is more like solid polyurethane instead of open-cell foam, so it won't drip sealant once you give it a quick wipe.

I no longer use inserts but I've wondered if a roadie tube with long Presta valve could be used for trail side repair by drilling a hole in the insert beforehand.
yea, rim profile is for sure a factor. narrow / shallow making it more difficult. same w/ narrower and stiff casing tires.

rimpact doesn't stretch like cushcore does, but it doesn't fit so tightly on the rim to begin with.

i will note all me experience is with 26" version of this stuff.
 

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
21,031
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borcester rhymes
How many of y'all run tire inserts? Recently got the idea in my head that it may be beneficial for me, but I know little to nothing about them. Thinking of running one out back on my trail bike so I can run reduced tire pressures and not crack my fancy crabon rims.

Yay or nay? I don't typically destroy rims or cut tires. But the trails around here are quite chunky and I am not scared to charge through a rock garden.
Not me, but I don't run dramatically low pressures and I don't charge hard through rock gardens on my trail bike. I kind of thought that's what they were for- fat guys who run low pressure or high speed riders, both to prevent rim impacts.

I've been running shitty tubeless tires for a while and don't seem to have an issue with reasonable tire pressures. I think if I wanted to drop into the low 20s, I'd want to think about something like this. On the DH bike, I switched over to tubeless some time ago to lose rotating weight and reduce pinch flats. Worked a treat but I am admittedly higher on pressure than ideal, but not by much. I should see if there are any 26" inserts on clearance anywhere...
 

jonKranked

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Nov 10, 2005
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Not me, but I don't run dramatically low pressures and I don't charge hard through rock gardens on my trail bike. I kind of thought that's what they were for- fat guys who run low pressure or high speed riders, both to prevent rim impacts.

I've been running shitty tubeless tires for a while and don't seem to have an issue with reasonable tire pressures. I think if I wanted to drop into the low 20s, I'd want to think about something like this. On the DH bike, I switched over to tubeless some time ago to lose rotating weight and reduce pinch flats. Worked a treat but I am admittedly higher on pressure than ideal, but not by much. I should see if there are any 26" inserts on clearance anywhere...
cushcore discontinued their 26" versions, if you can still find any inventory out there let me know. i sorta regret not buying a second set when i had the chance. rimpact still makes 26", but the regular version idk if i'd bother for DH. maybe the pro (dual density)
 

jonKranked

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Nov 10, 2005
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lots of procore out there...is that any good?
i have no experience. it requires drilling the rim, so I personally wouldn't bother, especially with carbon rims.

i think there's some guys in the DH forum that have tried it, but i can't remember their opinions offhand.
 

jonKranked

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Nov 10, 2005
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@Sandwich apparently ze germans still have some cushcore 26". still basically full retail, i got mine on closeout from universal cycles for $115 when they discontinued it. again, regret not getting 2.

if you're seriously considering ordering a set, let me know, shipping from there is $50. might make it worth our while to get 2.

 

Adventurous

Starshine Bro
Mar 19, 2014
10,261
8,767
Crawlorado
Not me, but I don't run dramatically low pressures and I don't charge hard through rock gardens on my trail bike. I kind of thought that's what they were for- fat guys who run low pressure or high speed riders, both to prevent rim impacts.

I've been running shitty tubeless tires for a while and don't seem to have an issue with reasonable tire pressures. I think if I wanted to drop into the low 20s, I'd want to think about something like this. On the DH bike, I switched over to tubeless some time ago to lose rotating weight and reduce pinch flats. Worked a treat but I am admittedly higher on pressure than ideal, but not by much. I should see if there are any 26" inserts on clearance anywhere...
I don't intentionally run low pressures either. 25F/28R is what I target. I do run tubeless.

I was hoping the inserts would allow me to run 3ish less psi for better traction, plus protect my fancy rims from oopsies. Sounds like that's a definite maybe.
 

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
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I don't intentionally run low pressures either. 25F/28R is what I target. I do run tubeless.

I was hoping the inserts would allow me to run 3ish less psi for better traction, plus protect my fancy rims from oopsies. Sounds like that's a definite maybe.
depending on how much you weight and your tire volume and what inserts you get, that's in the ballpark of what you can expect for a pressure reduction
 

SkullCrack

Monkey
Sep 3, 2004
705
127
PNW
I recently started running the Tannus tubeless inserts, and have found them to be much better than the CushCore XC I was using previously. Most likely because the Cushcore XC wasn't designed for 2.4-2.5 tires, so it didn't give much sidewall support.

The Tannus are pretty close in weight to the Cushcore XC, but have much better sidewall support.