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Let's talk mousse...

I've had my SUMO wheels on since the last big ride. I've got the dirt wheels w/ mousses hanging on the wall...

Gonna take em down for a NC trip in April though
Thanks. So after some experience with them, in retrospect, you’d make the same decision?

I’m planning another long, solo and remote trail ride like I did last year. Punctures were one of my biggest concerns. It’d be really nice not to worry about it this time around.
 
Thanks. So after some experience with them, in retrospect, you’d make the same decision?

I’m planning another long, solo and remote trail ride like I did last year. Punctures were one of my biggest concerns. It’d be really nice not to worry about it this time around.
Yes.

I'd take the performance and care-free time with my mousses on the dirt over running fast on the pavement for a ride like MABDR any day of the week.

I'm looking at ~260 more miles of mixed use this April, then the NEBDR in July, and expect to be able to stick with the same set of tires and mousses I used for MABDR.

Who knows, my opinion may change after I get another 2k miles on them, but for now, they are the bees knees.
 
Yes.

I'd take the performance and care-free time with my mousses on the dirt over running fast on the pavement for a ride like MABDR any day of the week.

I'm looking at ~260 more miles of mixed use this April, then the NEBDR in July, and expect to be able to stick with the same set of tires and mousses I used for MABDR.

Who knows, my opinion may change after I get another 2k miles on them, but for now, they are the bees knees.
Thanks. Losing the spare tube and tools will lighten my load by more than 10%. :thumb
 
Time for some mousse abuse updates.

I've put 4-5k on the Nuetech NitroMousse / Tusk D-Sport combo. That mileage includes the MABDR, the SM1K, several smaller off-road trips around western VA, and 2x long distance (200+ mile) runs at highway/freeway speeds (for reasons... Really didn't want to).

At this point, the tires, front and rear, are toast. The front is out of tread on 50% of the center knobs. The rear is mostly out of tread on the centers and starting to throw chunks / crack.

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As for the mousse itself... I re-juiced them through the valve stems before the SM1k. In the beginning you could see some juice working out around the beads, but it still looked clear/clean. After the ride, the stuff being squished out is a grey-ish paste (never mind the sprocket, it has lived its life and will be replaced).

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I have definitely noticed both the front and rear sitting more like it is at a lower pressure over the course of the last 1k miles, but still not completely 'flat'.

My impressions from absolutely abusing the mousse setup for the last year is that I don't have any reservations about using them for planned routes like the BDRs and whatnot. I am also willing to rely on them for running back home on an 'abort' mission, knowing that they aren't meant for long periods of tarmac.

Based on the external appearances of things, I'm pretty sure this set of mousse is done. I also think they would have lasted longer if I had re-applied lube more often and not had to make the long runs on pavement.

In the next week or so I'll get my act together and dismount this set of tires to get a look at the insides.
 
Time for some mousse abuse updates.

I've put 4-5k on the Nuetech NitroMousse / Tusk D-Sport combo. That mileage includes the MABDR, the SM1K, several smaller off-road trips around western VA, and 2x long distance (200+ mile) runs at highway/freeway speeds (for reasons... Really didn't want to).

At this point, the tires, front and rear, are toast. The front is out of tread on 50% of the center knobs. The rear is mostly out of tread on the centers and starting to throw chunks / crack.

1000002323.jpg


1000002320.jpg


As for the mousse itself... I re-juiced them through the valve stems before the SM1k. In the beginning you could see some juice working out around the beads, but it still looked clear/clean. After the ride, the stuff being squished out is a grey-ish paste (never mind the sprocket, it has lived its life and will be replaced).

1000002324.jpg


I have definitely noticed both the front and rear sitting more like it is at a lower pressure over the course of the last 1k miles, but still not completely 'flat'.

My impressions from absolutely abusing the mousse setup for the last year is that I don't have any reservations about using them for planned routes like the BDRs and whatnot. I am also willing to rely on them for running back home on an 'abort' mission, knowing that they aren't meant for long periods of tarmac.

Based on the external appearances of things, I'm pretty sure this set of mousse is done. I also think they would have lasted longer if I had re-applied lube more often and not had to make the long runs on pavement.

In the next week or so I'll get my act together and dismount this set of tires to get a look at the insides.
Awesome. Thanks for the detailed follow up!
 
Call me lazy, but I finally got around to dismounting the tire/mousse setup that I used to run MABDR (plus slab from NY to Norfolk, VA), SM1k, and several smaller side jaunts (including a direct-home 150mi freeway run, for reasons). It's safe to say I abused the hell out of this setup for ~5000 miles. Re-juiced just before the SM1k through the valve stems.

First the front... because it's in front. Duh.

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Front wheel was moist throughout, but pushing grey-ish slime past the bead for the last 200 miles or so. Some black discoloration on the mousse, plus form-fitting to the structure of the tire. I dropped the used mousse in a new-ish Pierreli MT-21 (on the list from Neutech for this size mousse), and you can see how compressed it is. Brand new in a Tusk D-Sport (also on the list from Neutech) it was pushing out past the bead.

Now for the rear.

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Rear was also juicy throughout, but the rubber rim strip gave up the ghost and migrated throughout the tire, leaving impressions on the mousse. The edges of the rims seem to suggest that I was getting some slippage (my fault for not running bead locks on the rear with the mousse), and that would also probably explain why that strip died while the front survived. Rear mousse has a gradient of discoloration. Probably corresponds to breakdown of the foam. Dropping the old mousse into a semi-new Tusk D-sport 130/90-18 (same as the old tire the mousse was in), it is also very very compressed. Brand new, it was also spilling out past the bead.

I think, maybe, if I hadn't abused the mousse and used it for extended periods on the slab, as mentioned, it could probably go in the next set of tires. But I beat the snot out of them. And, on the flip side, the bike was obsoletely planted with the mousse and had tons of traction going down the rock and dirt. The only down-side was having to be super conservative on paved turns... you can definitely feel the tire/mousse combo squishing around if you get too spirited.

Would I do it again? I'm considering it. I'm also considering giving the Tubliss system a go this time around. In the meantime, I've got a street-focused set of tires on a spare wheelset.
 
I guess I never thought about a rim strip in regards to a mousse. It's obviously not needed to prevent wearing holes like with a tube, but does it shorten the life of a mousse through chaffing?


Judging by your picture it doesn't really seem that it did.
 
I guess I never thought about a rim strip in regards to a mousse. It's obviously not needed to prevent wearing holes like with a tube, but does it shorten the life of a mousse through chaffing?


Judging by your picture it doesn't really seem that it did.
All I can really say is that both the front and rear mousse are pretty well hosed from a compression stand-point. I'd probably agree that impressions and dents in the used mousse from spoke nipples are probably not a problem...

But I'm not a mousse expert... just a mousse juice-er
 
You've got long term experience with them. And you studied at the data/results of everything. Sounds like an expert to me!
 
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