Roots & Rocks with a HardTail = Bust Tubes?
willchadwick
Posts: 6
Hey Guys,
THis is my first post. Apologies if this has been covered. Im gonna put a bit of background in here, hopefully it will help. Im a city guy ergo park rider mainly. Riding a GT tempest 3.0 (budget restrictions being a postgrad student)
To the point. I rode a couple of the red trails at Glentress today. Was loving hitting the berms, drop-offs and tabletops hard no problem. Then came a section with lots of roots and rocks etc, i figured id hit them with some speed to carry over them but my back end was rattling like hell. Within a few minutes back tire was flat. opened it up and had no less than 6 punctures/tears.
Being fairly new to downhill, is there a technique to this, or was i just unlucky, or is this a flaw with hard tails on rocky trails (or all of the above? lol)
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Will
THis is my first post. Apologies if this has been covered. Im gonna put a bit of background in here, hopefully it will help. Im a city guy ergo park rider mainly. Riding a GT tempest 3.0 (budget restrictions being a postgrad student)
To the point. I rode a couple of the red trails at Glentress today. Was loving hitting the berms, drop-offs and tabletops hard no problem. Then came a section with lots of roots and rocks etc, i figured id hit them with some speed to carry over them but my back end was rattling like hell. Within a few minutes back tire was flat. opened it up and had no less than 6 punctures/tears.
Being fairly new to downhill, is there a technique to this, or was i just unlucky, or is this a flaw with hard tails on rocky trails (or all of the above? lol)
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Will
0
Comments
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Roots, Rock, Reggae: Bob Marley...
Go TUBELESS with a meaty 2.3 or so rear tyre.
Pumped to around 25 psi.0 -
Work on your technique a bit and run better tubes possibly.
Saying that, Northwind rode the Fort William DH course with a Continental Supersonic tube in the front I think.
What pressures were you running?0 -
was riding 26 x 2.35 tyres.
As for pressure i am pretty lo-tech with this. At a guess about 50psi. there was alittle give in the tyre with a strong squeeze but not much.
Splottboy - tubeless?
peter413 - can you recommend any good versatile tubes for the rear?
Many thanks0 -
I had nightmare flats here, in N.Wales slate quarries and trails.
Froze my hands/nuts off changin em.
In fact, I didn't ride Mtb for ages coz of it, just the road bike.
Went tubeless about 2yrs back, after UMMIN and AARGHIN, and,
haven't had one - a p*****e - since.
Been using Mtn Kings, 2.2 about 35 psi, and on a rigid, it's been fine.
I'll go to a Crossmark 2.35 soon, for the Summer, rear only.0 -
sounds like pinch flats usually happens with narrow tyres or low pressures with your width tyres probably low pressure.
Maybe you picked up a slow puncture before hitting the section and had not noticed.
Could also be poor rim tape not protecting the tube from the spoke holes0 -
I think the slow puncture might be the one actually cos having fixed all 6 pinches (in pairs of two) and using my whole repair kit, it was a slow that sent me packing.
Cheers for the advice folks much appreciated.
Splott - could you possibly recommend a good site for the tubeless, i suspect my local Evans will charge me more than average.
W0 -
Had the same problem on my previous hardtail. Had 2.0 michelins ... and pinched them quite often on jumps or hitting rocks at higher speeds. On CRC there is **butil tubes** going under £3.00 a piece click here ... they will help in those matters, but would recommend coupling them with fatter tyres no less than 2.35. Mind that majority of Maxis tyres are on a wrong size ... all of them quite small for what they state, but they are good for what they are! I run Maxis Minion on front and Highroller on rear both in 2.35 guise, albeit in real life they are 2.1-ish.What could have been (Video)
I'll choose not put too much stake into someone's opinion who is admittingly terrible though0 -
I think the fact that it is a hardtail is pretty unrelated. More likely to be cheap tyres. Spend more on those and say good bye to punctures. Ive been round Llandelga black run on my old GT agressor loads of times and never had a puncture. Prior to getting decent tyres for it I was getting punctures every day just from road cycling.
Since getting my cube Ive never had a puncture as it has Nobby nic evos which I love. Although it is a full bouncer, its the tyres thats keeping those punctures at bay0 -
Willchadwick I use ordinary Continental tubes with 2.35 single ply maxxis tyres and weigh 14 stone and haven't pinch flatted in nearly a year
In fact I have only punctured about three times in the past year and they were all big thorns0 -
It's most likely just that you're whacking the wheel off things... On a hardtail- well on any bike really but especially on a hardtail- you need to be able to loosen up and soften yourself on the bike so that the wheel's more able to go over obstacles. If you're deadweighted on the pedals then the wheel needs to deflect your weight, if you're loose and knees unlocked then your legs will bend instead and only the bike has to move. Free suspension
What section was it? It's hard to say this without sounding like an arse but there's not much on the GT red that's hard on tyres. Magic Mushroom has a fair number of small roots, Pie Run a few bigger ones...
Oh, as far as tyres go... 50psi is pretty high but that should really be helping you. I'd wonder if the tubes you have are suitable for the big tyres? That can sometimes cause problems.peter413 wrote:Saying that, Northwind rode the Fort William DH course with a Continental Supersonic tube in the front I think.
Even worse, Schwalbe XXlight But I was going very very slowly so it doesn't really count. Uncompromising extremist0 -
Northwind wrote:What section was it? It's hard to say this without sounding like an ars* but there's not much on the GT red that's hard on tyres. Magic Mushroom has a fair number of small roots, Pie Run a few bigger ones...
Falla Brae, Super G and Spooky Wood can all be hard on tyres in bad weather when the rocks get washed onto the track but there aren't any at the moment since its dry and dusty
I do agree though, you shouldn't really be having to many problems tyre wise on the red, the black on the other hand... 0 -
embarrassingly it was coming out of spooky wood that it got me.
i'm thinking a combination of poor tyres/tubes combined with sloppy skatepark technique, i may have pushed it a bit too far! don't judge me
Have to say though, exploding tubes aside it was still an awesome day and will be frequenting through the summer, i have a feeling this could become very addictive!
Im thinking i just need to beef up my tyres and tubes and learn to bend the old knees!
Some great tips in here. cheers all.0 -
It's not a DH trail.willchadwick wrote:As i said though was only my third time on a DH trail though0 -
yeehaamcgee
Edit made. apologies for the newbie chat.
There was definitely a hill, and i went down it on a trail! lol however i won't open this can of worms and render myself the forum leper on my first day! 0 -
willchadwick wrote:embarrassingly it was coming out of spooky wood that it got me.
Nothing embarassing about it, youre new... And riding red trails which is kind of jumping right in, so you're bound to break a few eggs.Uncompromising extremist0 -
I wouldn't bother with tubeless setups, I have had mixed results over the years and I have found that the benefits don't outweigh the costs.
Get thyself some big DH tubes http://www.cyclestore.co.uk/productDeta ... uctID=9361 and you will be able to run low pressures without any flat tyres.
Of course they do weigh a lot but meh0
