Tufo's getting blasted, what is your take?

[bobalou]

In defense of tufo's .. if you're not in a TT I don't think it matters that much. Tufo's are good for what they are: durable, cheap, flat-resistant tires that are convenient to mount which work well with sealant. The s22's or s33's are great training tires .. I've got close to 3k miles on a set of s22's w/o a single flat (tubular clinchers). and they keep their air pressure for days and days. They look like they can go at least another thousand miles.
The s3 lite <215 have been fine for me in competative group rides. Basically a set of tires aren't going to keep you from getting dropped as much as your own training and fitness will.

[mike]

i probably put too much.....but, i would never use that stuff again....even the slightess amount of sealant which goes to the valve can cause serious problems.

[fdegrove]

Hi,

even the slightess amount of sealant which goes to the valve can cause serious problems.

A PIA yes, but serious?
How serious can it be? Dismantle the valve, blow out the core and stem, reasemble.
That should be the end of that.

What Tufo should do is put a small hard plastic foil on the inner side of the tyre right at the air outlet of the valve proper.
That should block the sealant at the valve stem. Only inconvenience is that you'd now have to squeeze the tube around the valve during deflation in order to deblock the outlet.

No big deal IMHO. You don't deflate tyres too often and it's just a matter of being aware of the extra manipulation for the process.

In the mean time, whenever you need to deflate the tyre, make sure to hold the valve side much higher than the rest and deflate slowly.
That should keep most of the liquid at the bottom of the tyre.

Ciao,

[mike]

basically, i had to take off the tubulars and then reglue.....but just when i thought all was cleared out, the next time i deflated, some remaining sealant clogged up the valve again.....causing me to take off tubulars again, and reglue.

[fdegrove]

Hi,

basically, i had to take off the tubulars and then reglue.....

Basically, I really don't see why you'd have to unglue the tyres but then what do I know? Basically nothing, right?

Seriously, Mike.....There are tools to dismantle valve stems.
Much easier that way.

Note also that Tufo is still a young company with some good engineering ideas.....
I think their tyres are still somewhat in beta stage of the developmental cycle....
In the meantime the customer is being played for a guinea pig....Now, where have we all heard that one before, huh?

Ciao,

[mike]

i agree with you if it was just a normal rim that was used, but i used deep aero rims.

i had to use a valve extender on the valves, so i couldn't remove the tufo valve without taking out the tire and removing the valve extender.....

i have no issues with the tufo tire itself, just the sealant.....

[fdegrove]

Hi,

i had to use a valve extender on the valves, so i couldn't remove the tufo valve without taking out the tire and removing the valve extender.....

Ah....Hadn't thought of that....Sorry.

i have no issues with the tufo tire itself, just the sealant.....

Same here but when when you think of it....It's to be expected isn't it?

Ciao,

[popawheelie]

What kind of valve extenders did you use? I had the Zipp ones and they would require you to take off the tire. But Tuffo has valve extenders that put the valve at the end of the extention.
I took off the zipp ones and put on the Tuffo ones after looking at both of them. The Tuffo's are aluminum so they are light and come in a variety of lengths. Also they can be screwed into each other so you can make one as long as you like.
You just had the wrong extenders for use with the sealant.

[mike]

i used am classics.....tufos are the way to go then... thanks!