What are your considered views?
Greg
Greg
What are the pros and cons of using mousses for trail riding?
- Thread starter Greg Masters
- Start date
you don't get a flat but they can fail and then your right in the shit, plus they are illegal on the road but hard to spot byu the man when your going along
as the tyre is very low pressure it'll make the bike feel very heavy in comparisson to a regular air tyre.
on the whole I like the idea they get very hot if your driving along a very long private road....
horses for courses I would also consider slim treating the tubes as a good alternative
as the tyre is very low pressure it'll make the bike feel very heavy in comparisson to a regular air tyre.
on the whole I like the idea they get very hot if your driving along a very long private road....
horses for courses I would also consider slim treating the tubes as a good alternative
Just carry a spare tube just in case.
Way less chance of using it than if you are running tubes but worth having anyhow.
Another possible issue can be that you can't adjust the pressure, hence feel for different terrains.
You are supposed to run the same make of mousse as the tyre as they are different profiles etc, but most people run Michelin in whatever as they last a lot better than the Pirelli ones.
The biggest con is they are bloody expensive if you do a lot of miles (hence need to replace them fairly often).
You need to keep them well lubed to stop them destroying themselves by rubbing on the tyre carcass.
Balls.
Haven't a lot of people moved over to squidgy balls that replace traditional mousses? Seem to remember reading a bit about them a long while back and they were supposed to be easier to fit and you can have different pressures as well.
Haven't a lot of people moved over to squidgy balls that replace traditional mousses? Seem to remember reading a bit about them a long while back and they were supposed to be easier to fit and you can have different pressures as well.
Mr K
Registered user
Sometimes in dense woodland their antlers won't fit between the trees..
What?
What?
I've never done it but I'm told they are a pain in the proverbial to fit.
Deleted account D
Guest
We all ran mousses in Spain alto turia this year, no problems.
fitting them is a technique, first time on the front took me about 2 hours, second time on the rear got it down to 30 mins
trick is to put the moose in the tyre first and lube up before fitting
fitting them is a technique, first time on the front took me about 2 hours, second time on the rear got it down to 30 mins
trick is to put the moose in the tyre first and lube up before fitting
I had a mousse in the front wheel of the 640, but the wide rim meant that it was equivalent to riding with about 6psi 
Not a problem for punctures, but felt proper odd leant over on tarmac. Got that bothered by it that I swapped it out onto the front wheel of the Honda. Much better, feels just the same as a tube running about 13 psi, without the worry of flats.
From what I've been told, by people whom I believe know about these things, is that "failure" of a mousse is not something that happens to mere mortals. A mousse will gradually deteriorate over a period of time dependant on use, expect to notice it getting softer each ride when it's starting to go.
I know of one two year old mousse, on it's 4th tyre. I'm just waiting to trash the rear before I fit a mousse in that, then I will be leaving my tubes and levers at home when I go riding.
Mark
Not a problem for punctures, but felt proper odd leant over on tarmac. Got that bothered by it that I swapped it out onto the front wheel of the Honda. Much better, feels just the same as a tube running about 13 psi, without the worry of flats.
From what I've been told, by people whom I believe know about these things, is that "failure" of a mousse is not something that happens to mere mortals. A mousse will gradually deteriorate over a period of time dependant on use, expect to notice it getting softer each ride when it's starting to go.
I know of one two year old mousse, on it's 4th tyre. I'm just waiting to trash the rear before I fit a mousse in that, then I will be leaving my tubes and levers at home when I go riding.
Mark
Balls
Haven't a lot of people moved over to squidgy balls that replace traditional mousses? Seem to remember reading a bit about them a long while back and they were supposed to be easier to fit and you can have different pressures as well.
The two people I have spoken two that tried tyre balls weren't that happy with them, and moved back to mousses. They had problems with them retaining their pressure.
Mark
Mouses with MT21's on the airhead look and feel like flat tyres... after a while you get use to them and can even play silly buggers on the road.
After a one ride playing super moto on some hairpins followed by a period at 100MPH on an arrow straight road they where on the point of being to hot to touch.
On a light weight 'Berg' running tyres that you'd not want to do many road miles on I'd say go for it
After a one ride playing super moto on some hairpins followed by a period at 100MPH on an arrow straight road they where on the point of being to hot to touch.
On a light weight 'Berg' running tyres that you'd not want to do many road miles on I'd say go for it
seanmck
Guest
I have run mousses in front & heavy duty inner tubes in rear & only ever pinch punctured the rear once.
This allows me to change the tyre pressure in the rear when it's wet & gooey, minimise the risk of a pinch puncture on the more vulnerable front & keep costs sensible. Usually take a spare rear tube, levers & small pump just in case. It doesn't take too long to swap a tube trail side if you have good mates..... oh I see your point!
This allows me to change the tyre pressure in the rear when it's wet & gooey, minimise the risk of a pinch puncture on the more vulnerable front & keep costs sensible. Usually take a spare rear tube, levers & small pump just in case. It doesn't take too long to swap a tube trail side if you have good mates..... oh I see your point!
LiquidLAN
Registered user
Sometimes in dense woodland their antlers won't fit between the trees..
What?
lol...I was going to say something like that
+1 on slime though, my 450 came with it loaded in the tubes, bloody good stuff, turned out the guy had messed up fitting the tubes and dropped the shaped washing inside the tyre, over time it cut right through the tube, the slim kept the whole thing intact long enough for me to get back here from the middle of the plains and this was a proper cut, not just a puncture.
edit : that said I havent bothered reloading them, just went for heavy duty tubes
Having had lots of punctures I fitted mousses last summer (or rather Possu fitted mousses and I made tea) on my 400EXC. I've probably done about 500-600 miles on them, normal green laning with road stuff in between and they've been fine. I don't carry spare tubes as not having to carry spare tubes was one of the reasons I fitted mousses. I'll take them off and service them soon, but I would fit them again, but having said that I saw this at the dirt bike show which looks interesting.
Canuck
Registered user
They are okay...albeit a bit slow. Also take a lot of feeding breaks which slows progress. Pretty good for crossing fords and small streams though!
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