Tube-No-Tube Installation

What a week this will be. I've got tire stuff, backpack stuff and light stuff. Today, I'll jump into the tire stuff, Tuesday or Wednesday look for some more light -- as in illumination, not frivolous -- news and then I'll wrap things up with some backpack stuff before heading out of town for Christmas. Whew!

So, let's jump right in, shall we?

About a month ago -- man, time flies -- I told you that I had received a pair of Geax's new T-N-T Barro mountain bike tires.

Well, I finally got around to mounting them up and using them -- I've been spending too much time on cyclocross stuff lately.

While I have gotten the tires dirty, I haven't spent enough time on them to form any sort of opinion yet. I like the tread pattern, though.

In the Box:
The complete kit has two tires and two cans of sealant.

It says how to use them right on the sidewall:
So, unlike Stan's, these aren't meant to be run without a tube on a normal rim.

The casing measures out to 1.958" at 30psi on Mavic Crossmax wheels:

The Barro's weigh in at 640g on my scale. Not bad for a pseudo-tubeless tire.

The installation is pretty straight forward. You mount them like any other tubeless tire -- soap the bead, inflate to max pressure and wait for the popping noise of the bead seating on the rim to stop. After that, though, you deflate the tire and use the included sealant to inflate the tire again. After that second step you can run your tires at whatever pressure you like. The sealant is supposed to be good for 3 months. We'll see.

The tires went on ok, the rear was kind of hard, but the front was an absolute bear to get on. In fact, this was the hardest Geax tire I ever put on a rim. I'm not sure if the tolerances were off, or what, but it was difficult. They seem to hold air just fine, though, which is good.

Switching gears a little, I've also just finished a review of one of Geax's Cross tires, along with one from Geax's parent company, Vittoria. These were very different tires, but both worked very well... provided you didn't use the Mezcal Cross in really muddy conditions.

I also wrapped up my Fusion Long Distance review. I found them to have all the grip of the Fusion Comp but without the premature wear. All in all, a good tire.