tubes or tubeless with mr tuffy liners for radrover?

[vincent]

so what is the consensus

costs not an issue

which one is most likely not to get a flat

going tubeless or using the tubes with slime?

looks like eddie rides some tough stuff and often and he is tubeless..

and is it harder to do the mr tuffy - or some other liner in the fat tire?

thanks for any suggestions

not looking forward to a flat and walking this bike 10 miles back to the suv lol
will do pretty much anything to avoid it

guess i need to go to flat school and learn how to change them myself, i could probably figure out the motorless wheels but worry about screwing up the wires etc on the motor wheels

 

[EddieJ]

Before beginning, here is a guide written by Court. https://electricbikereview.com/guides/ebike-flat-tire-fix-tips/ If time permits before shooting off to Switzerland, I'll add a how to go tubeless thread to the eMTB/trail section. Oddly I was going to do it last night.


Thorns aside, one of my biggest issues is flint embedded in chalk.

Competing in one event alone whilst using tubes, I received a pinch flat which wrecked the first tube, then shortly after received two instantaneous punctures, back and front, which completely destroyed both front and back tubes. Like most people I carry one spare tube, but not three! It was came over for me, and I had to push the bike about ten miles, before some kind person stopped and gave me and the bike a lift back to the event centre.




After that occasion, I switched instantly to a tubeless set up, and have been amazed by the size of the hole that will seal back up again. As for thorns, they don't even begin to cause any concern. The biggest benefit to me is that I can drop tyre pressure to about 18psi without worrying about pinch flats. This a big bonus for much of my riding over wet slippery roots.

Same track, different event, but yet another rider caught out with a puncture from flint.



Even nasty sidewall thorns seal upon removal.





Whether tubeless is worth while for just road use, I really don't know. Schwalbe Marathon tyres/tires and slime, might well be a better option.

 

[mrgold35]

I did the Mr. Tuffy 3XL tire liners for 4" tires for my RadRover. I used the same Mr. Tuffy tire liners for my 700cX40 comfort/hybrid bike mostly for goat-heads thorns (or anything you can pick out of your tires by hand). My 700c bike also has tire sealant and I haven't had a flat in +2 1/2 yrs with this bike (I'm usually pulling out goat-heads after every ride).

I figured the Mr. Tuffy with no sealant would be enough ; but, I got my first flat the first time I took the RadRover off-road. I ran over a small piece of cactus and the thorns stuck into my front tire near the edge of the tread. I figured the rotation of the tire would knock off the 4-5 thorns; but, they stay lodged in the tread until I got home. I'm use to pulling out goat-heads and thorns with my bare hand after a ride with my other bike. Those S.O.B. were so tough, I had to use pliers to pull them out because they were like little wooden finishing nails. The last one I pulled out and I started to smell "inter tube air" and felt the air with my hand.

I don't have any flat tire tools because I haven't had a flat with my other bike. I did the quick release of the front tire and went down to my local bike shop for repair. The bike mechanic just added $5 of tire sealant, pump it back to 20 psi, and it has been 100% since. The other choice was to take the tire apart and fix (or replace) the inter-tube. I have the Nori lights on the rim and was worried that would damage them. There was also a chance the thorn(s) could have broken off and was still lodged into the Mr. Tuffy liner and cause another flat 5 minutes later without the sealant.

I would try $55 Mr. Tuffy and $10 tire sealant first as a cheaper 99% solution first. This is assuming you don't have anything worst than similar to my "finishing nail" thorn cactus in your area.