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My usual gravel bike setup for local Peaks riding is a 50mm front tyre with a Rimpact Gravel insert and a 45mm rear, no insert. I'm from the "shit 90s MTB" school of gravel riding, like attempting to batter through rubble as fast as I can hang on or picking my way down steep(ish) tech and this seems to be the best way to avoid pinch flats from the combo of sniper rocks and a lot of weight on the the front end.
...but...
I'm planning a 7 day bikepacking tour, mix of gravel and road (TNR). I'm going to swap the front for a 45 to match the back as the 50 is noticeably slower, but I'm not sure whether to run none, 1 or 2 inserts.
Pro insert is that I'm much less likely to puncture, and that, whilst I'm not planning to shred the (BIG) descents, I'll still be thinking like an MTBer and I will probably be very tired and making mistakes. I'll be carrying way more stuff than I usually do too, so having protection both ends seems to make sense. With the extra weight I'll be carrying, the extra rotating weight of 2 inserts probably won't be noticeable.
Anti insert - if it goes wrong, it'll be an absolute PITA to deal with, I've got a couple of very big days on the schedule with well over 3km of climbing and anything that makes the bike roll better should be taken up
Third option, would of course be tougher tyres, but not sure what's out there as a tough casing, fast rolling, gravel type thing. (currently planning to use WTB Riddler/Vulpine)
Thoughts...?
Thanks!
If it's bike packing just take the vittoria gripper tool, makes removing a gravel tyre with insert very easy (which you prob won't need to do anyhow, as puncture protection is high).
I'd be running the insert in the rear, and although potentially messy and requires a good (Pedros) tyre lever, I haven't found inserts to make trailside repairs much more hassle. You just end up with a slimy foam hoop to stash away somewhere, Vittoria even provide nice bright green drawstring bags for this purpose 😎
I'm from the "shit 90s MTB" school of gravel riding
: )
I would simply adjust to the 'great any era touring' school of riding. I still like to have fun on the descents when loaded up but I have to rein it in because a loaded bike always hits things harder. Even a loaded 29er with EXO 2.4s or T7 2.6s - a tyre casing and pressure that's good to ride overall can still be pinched if I hit something fast. For 45mm gravel tyres I don't think there's much you can do, though I would use a rear insert if you were thinking the front was worth having. WTBs don't have very resistant sidewalls unless you get the Endurance (name?) spec but I've used standard WTBs or Schwalbe G-One Speeds on stuff like this, 47 to 50mm and ~35PSI, quite happily (75kg rider, 5-6kg luggage). One pinched + cut sidewall in all that time, from a missing cobble hole descending the Gottard Pass.Â
Actually, while you're all there, and in a similar vein...
50% of the space (and a large chunk of weight) in my tool keg is taken up with my spare tube. Are those silly small/light TPU Tubolito/Aerothan tubes any good, or are they absolute junk when you actually need to use it?
Are those silly small/light TPU Tubolito/Aerothan tubes any good, or are they absolute junk when you actually need to use it?
I think the very early ones suffered with a few reliability problems but they're pretty sorted now (apparently), to the extent that many people use them all the time.Â
The received wisdom early on was to use normal tubes for reliability and the TPU ones as a "get you home" repair. It was just a weight weenie way to carry 2-3 spare tubes for the same space and weight as one regular tube.
The received wisdom early on was to use normal tubes for reliability and the TPU ones as a "get you home" repair. It was just a weight weenie way to carry 2-3 spare tubes for the same space and weight as one regular tube.
Huh, I'm doing it exactly the other way round, using the TPU tubes all the time, but with a good old reliable butyl tube (or two, depending on length of trip) as spares. This is for my road bike which still runs tubes, but even on the MTB or gravel bike which is tubeless I wouldn't like to introduce a TPU tube to the evnironment inside a well used tubeless tyre! In my experience old latex can degrade latex tubes, no idea what it does to TPU (suspect nothing though).
As above, the early TPU tubes didn't seem so robust and many were damaged while being carried. However, I think they're pretty sorted now. I use TPU tubes in my road bike and carry a TPU spare. I also carry TPU spares for my gravel bike and MTBs. However, I've also taken the precaution of wrapping the spares in an old bit of butyl inner tube to prevent wear "at the edges" while being carried (I also wrap my tools and levers in cut-off bit off butyl tube to save any wear and clanking).Â
As regard inserts - I just never use them. I try to ride accordingly but, even then, I'm hardly delicate. My most commonly used gravel tyre is the Rutland and it's the Light/Supple variant. I've had no issues with them puncturing or tearing. Maybe I'm just using higher pressures too though?