Vittoria Airlines — no pump/tubes, really?

[alirawk]

Hello Everybody.

I’m riding a Specialized Levo SL and just recently installed the Vittoria airliners in both tires. Although I understand that they claim you can run them flat in an emergency, I.e. get back to car — but has anybody done so?

Worst case scenario, with the SL, I’ll never really be more than 20 miles or so from where I started, and that’s assuming I’m riding really efficiently and maximizing the range and everything is fine until the very moment I’m about to turn back to where I started on what would have been a 40 mile ride. So I’d only need to be able to run flat on the tires and liners for those 20 miles to get me back to my car. Vittoria claims the liners are good for 1 hour of running flat, and hopefully I‘d be able to hammer out most if not all the return on that, but I’d be happy with whatever I could get. As I understand, taking the liners out, and changing the tires/installing tubes is much more difficult that putting them in. So I’d likely not be attempting that in the middle of the trails — preferring to get as far back to car I as could in the hour and hiking the remainder to make repair back at home. And truth be told — the above scenario is a bit of a worst case fantasy as most of my rides really max out at about 30-33 miles, averaging most of the time right around 30.

I come from a bikepacking background, so I’m used to having frame bags on my Fargo filled with everything I’d need to not just repair bike, but camping and cooking gear as well. Of course, I know this is a different take on trail riding, and I bought a carbon SL to offer me a lighter ride with an extended range. Still, have people with liners forgone the standard call for trail pump and spare tube(s) on their rides?

Thanks.

 

[Pdoz]

Have you tried riding with no added air?

I know tannus advertise you can ride home flat, I tried after my first install and suspect I could ride carefully with a flat front, but I'm a bit too heavy for the back.

 

[ziscwg]

I have ridden mine to a stop when I got a branch through my tire before a rock garden. I was able to stop and get to a flat spot. Riding with no air was painfully slow. It will likely ruin the tire too. The tread will be stretched in weird ways.

Instead of riding out, carry a tube and a kitchen size trash bag. If you cannot get the sealant to fix the hole, pull the insert out and put it in the trash bag. Strap that to your pack. Put your tube in and go.

One of the cool things about the victoria is the fact that you can remove them trailside and your ride is not totally ruined.

 

[alirawk]

I have ridden mine to a stop when I got a branch through my tire before a rock garden. I was able to stop and get to a flat spot. Riding with no air was painfully slow. It will likely ruin the tire too. The tread will be stretched in weird ways.

Instead of riding out, carry a tube and a kitchen size trash bag. If you cannot get the sealant to fix the hole, pull the insert out and put it in the trash bag. Strap that to your pack. Put your tube in and go.

One of the cool things about the victoria is the fact that you can remove them trailside and your ride is not totally ruined.

I like your idea -- but what I was hoping was that the claims were true and I could in fact ride without having to carry a pump and tube. Assumably my tire will be ruin if it's been so punctured that the sealant wouldn't have already stopped the air leak. So that would not factor in for me insofar as to whether I'd want to ride out on a flat. My concern is the carbon rim. And needless to say, I'd be riding slow and careful given the compromised state of the wheel anyway, and surely walking any sections that were rocky/hazardous/etc. Just trying to trim down the gear as much as possible.

 

[jsharpe]

Hello Everybody.

I’m riding a Specialized Levo SL and just recently installed the Vittoria airliners in both tires. Although I understand that they claim you can run them flat in an emergency, I.e. get back to car — but has anybody done so?

Worst case scenario, with the SL, I’ll never really be more than 20 miles or so from where I started, and that’s assuming I’m riding really efficiently and maximizing the range and everything is fine until the very moment I’m about to turn back to where I started on what would have been a 40 mile ride. So I’d only need to be able to run flat on the tires and liners for those 20 miles to get me back to my car. Vittoria claims the liners are good for 1 hour of running flat, and hopefully I‘d be able to hammer out most if not all the return on that, but I’d be happy with whatever I could get. As I understand, taking the liners out, and changing the tires/installing tubes is much more difficult that putting them in. So I’d likely not be attempting that in the middle of the trails — preferring to get as far back to car I as could in the hour and hiking the remainder to make repair back at home. And truth be told — the above scenario is a bit of a worst case fantasy as most of my rides really max out at about 30-33 miles, averaging most of the time right around 30.

I come from a bikepacking background, so I’m used to having frame bags on my Fargo filled with everything I’d need to not just repair bike, but camping and cooking gear as well. Of course, I know this is a different take on trail riding, and I bought a carbon SL to offer me a lighter ride with an extended range. Still, have people with liners forgone the standard call for trail pump and spare tube(s) on their rides?

Thanks.

Your riding experience while riding flat may also relate to which size airliner you are using with a given tire. I was torn between two different sizes when I ordered one for my rear tire and ended up randomly choosing the larger size which almost completely fills the inner volume of the tire. I would expect that the smaller size might feel a bit more squirrelly when run flat but possibly allow the tire to flex a bit more when run with very low pressures. I been gradually reducing the pressure over the summer as I got more brave and now am very comfortable at 18psi but could probably go even lower given my trails and riding style. I would never have remotely considered that low before adding the airliner.

 

[steve_sordy]

If you are worried about your rims get some of the Santa Cruz Reserve rims that Danny MacKaskill tests here:

 

[ziscwg]

I like your idea -- but what I was hoping was that the claims were true and I could in fact ride without having to carry a pump and tube. Assumably my tire will be ruin if it's been so punctured that the sealant wouldn't have already stopped the air leak. So that would not factor in for me insofar as to whether I'd want to ride out on a flat. My concern is the carbon rim. And needless to say, I'd be riding slow and careful given the compromised state of the wheel anyway, and surely walking any sections that were rocky/hazardous/etc. Just trying to trim down the gear as much as possible.

You have to choose if it's worth the risk to your rim. I personally don't like to have my ride ruined. So, I carry the spares. You can strap the tube to your frame if you don't want to carry it. Specialized has the SWAT set up for the tube,CO2 and levers if you want to go that way.

 

[thewildblue]

I had airliners in my Trek. Came down the rangers path from Snowdon then started on the telegraph run back to Llanberis and tore the rear on a bit slate sticking up. Far too big a slit to bacon strip up. So about 3 miles left back to the van I just rode the bike. Kept the speed less than 10 mph and I got back with no dramas, rim was fine. The worst bit was riding on the final road bit as it felt awful...was ok though.

As for removing them trailside, if youre running a set of Eddy currents good luck with that trying to break the bead you need a proper motorcycle tyre lever !