I got a severe pinch flat last week with several holes and I found out my spare inner tube was not compatible with my rims. Ugh. Since my rear tire was quite worn, I decided to order two new tires. I was offered to add inserts, Vittoria Airliners. Now I am having second thoughts. Are they worth it? …

I added them for piece of mind in case I get a flat while going around a corner. I had that happen a few years ago and went down hard. Hoping this will prevent it.

3 weeks ago… [image] Converted to tubeless. What tools do I need to carry? Equipment [IMG_4710] two plugs later [IMG_4711] and the Wed night crew rolls by, all 30+ of 'em, and I wave them off that didn’t work. So I installed a tube and it had a hole in it. Now I’m o…

I’ve used 'em before – I didn’t think they were terribly difficult to install at first, but getting them out when changing tires was a true struggle (and I’ve changed hundreds of tires over a few years of working in bike shops). I wound up having to cut worn tires off of my rims to get the Airliners…

Vittoria sells special pliers to install them, which pointed to them being difficult to (un)install. Plus it added up to quite a bit. Instead of 85ish € for a pair of Corsas that were on sale, we were suddenly at 180 € if memory serves.

I’ve only needed the pliers to uninstall. Removing a tire is a pain, because of the insert. Only tire I’ve ever battled was a Corsa N.EXT. And just 1 tire out of 6 N.EXT tires. When I got “screwed” with an AirLiner about 2 or 3 years ago, it worked as advertised. No damage to rim and I rode home a…

[image] WindWarrior: When I got “screwed” with an AirLiner about 2 or 3 years ago, it worked as advertised. No damage to rim and I rode home after the plugs were unable to seal all the holes. The rim has a tiny mark I am no longer able to find. I was going over a really rough mix of cobbles, …

Yeah, the pliers being sold separately turned me off of them as well. I’m not into parts requiring proprietary tools for installation/de-installation – especially for something that should be simple, like tires (IMO).

iirc I got a kit - pair of airliners, pliers (and the yolks for holding the tyre), and a pair of valves. I’m yet to uninstall, but gives me confidence racing tubeless, and ride flat really means no spares for racing (my races generally x number of laps of 20-25km loops). They’ll be going on the gr…

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Tire inserts for road bikes: worth it?

Equipment

WindWarrior June 4, 2024, 6:32am 3

3 weeks ago…

No Airliners and I got screwed. Literally.

Easy install on 32c tires…

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Tire inserts for road bikes: worth it?

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