The good old Tube / Tubliss/ Bib-Mousse debate !!
Laying my cards on the table I am a Michelin dealer / Long term TRF member ( we offer a TRF discount
)
My cards on the table. I think Tubliss are brilliant; I also, occasionally, sell a few.Michelin invented Bib-Mousse 25 yrs ago for the Dakar, and EVERY winner of the Dakar since has had Michelin bib-mousse fitted, NO Pro riders use Tubliss , ( a few good experts often get given them to try )
If I was doing the Dakar, I'd use a mousse. But I'm not. I'm doing a few LDTs and a lot of trail riding. I imagine that goes for most of the people on this forum (it is, after all, the TRF forum not The Dakar Forum). I'm not looking for something that will allow me to ride as fast as I dare across the desert, I'm looking for a bit of extra grip through those gnarly roots or on that wet rock slab - often on a trials tyre. You can't reduce the pressure on a mousse (although the pros will get their team mechanics to drill holes in it to reduce the effective pressure, and then throw it away at the end of the event) They also don't really fit in trials tyres - and if they do, the above problem still applies. you will almost certainly get a puncture
What??? bloody hell I must have been lucky these past 3 years, I've only had 2 and they were fixed in a couple of minutes using a 'string' repair plug (the repairs lasted the life of the tyre)As regards Trail riding ? A lot of TRF Guys use bib mousse, and a lot use 4mm UHD Mich Tubes,
I won't comment on tubes other than to say I would never go back to using them. I won't go into the legality of using mousses on road eitherGranted Bib Mousse is a tricky to fit ,(Rabaconda makes it a breeze) it does take practice ,but unless you do loads of high speed road work will not let you down , on a winters day in the middle of nowhere !
http://www.endurotyres.com/rabacondaA Tubliss won't 'let you down, on a winters day in the middle of nowhere!'. If you puncture, you fix it quickly and easily (as above). If it won't fix, you ride the flat safe in the knowledge that the tyre won't 'wallow' or come off the rim.Mousses are great at what they were designed for, but they do have their limitations. Tubliss also have their limitations in that, yes, you can still puncture. On balance though, I think that their strengths far outweigh any limitations. I have one remaining wheel (out of 6) with a mousse in it; when that mousse wears out it will be replaced with a Tubliss.
If I ever enter the Dakar, I'll come back to you for that TRF discount on mousses
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