Trail Rider Magazine

26 Trail Rider www.TrailRider.com Let's face it, flats are never any fun. In fact, they can flat-out ruin a ride or end a race — most o en, with- out warning. Over the years, I've dealt with the issue by running the thickest tubes possible at pressures higher than I'd prefer to deter the occurrence of experiencing flats. My personal system has been to re- place tubes every other re change since tubes chafe, break down and erode over me. Given the price of heavy duty tubes at approximately 70 bucks per pair, we're typically spending $350 a year on tubes. Yeah, costs that add up when combined with all the other consumables we off-road riders replace on a regular basis. Regardless, flats happen no ma er what you're running for tubes; punctures from trail trash and/or thorns can deflate your day. Recently, we were given an opportunity by Nuetech to test out two sets of mousse (Mousse is French for foam, ini ally introduced by Michelin in 1984) Nitro- Mousse re inserts. Yes, we've ridden and raced with foam inserts in the past, and I'll be honest; I've always been indecisive when it comes to running mousse. Yes, there's the fact that it's literally impossible to get a flat since they're solid foam. You can stab the re with a knife; even drill holes right through it since a mousse does not hold air. It's comprised of closed cell foam. What I personally never cared for is the "dead" feel- ing I've experienced in the past running mousses. It's somewhat hard to describe, but the brands I'd run in the past had li le to no feedback to the bars. I've also felt they make the fork feel harsh, and I've spent plenty of me messing with clickers trying to tune out this aspect of running mousses. Enter Nue- tech's NitroMousse and their nitrogen-infused, pro- prietary foam inserts. I'd heard about them in the past but had yet to experience a NitroMousse. We here at Trail Rider enjoy features of this nature and, of course, we jumped at the chance when Nuetech's President, Jeff Douglas offered to set us up with two pairs for tes ng. For this experiment, Nuetech sent a set of so in- serts that are equivalent to 6 to 8 lbs. and designed for slow-going technical terrain. Nuetech also pro- vided a pair of their standard inserts of approximate- ly 10 to12 lbs. in feel. To keep all tes ng "apples to apples," re selec on was the same for both sets. Given our terrain here in Maine, we opted for Ken- da's K781 Triple-S cky's front and rear. I'll be honest; I'd yet to mount a mousse. Yes, I'd heard all the horror stories of how difficult they can be and geared myself up for the fight of my life. Between all our projects we juggle here at Trail Rider, changing res is a daily occurrence and some- thing we've grown to be quite adept at. Having a Kauritmoto TMT5 Tire Machine makes this mundane chore much easier. The process of fi ng a re with a mousse differs from a tube as the inside of the re carcass and outside of the mousse must be lubed up to keep fric on to a minimum. Product Feature Nuetech NitroMousse By Kurt Flachbart

• Cover