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On the PulpMX podcast, Chase Sexton mentioned that he blew up his mousse during the burnout while celebrating his win.
Now, I'm curious—what pros are actually running mousse, and what brands are they using? Does anyone have any insight, or did I mishear the whole thing?
Dunlop has a mousse and during outdoors pretty much everyone runs them on the rear. Been that way for over 10 years now.
Why are we trying to bring back hair products in MX? Only mousse i ran in the rear was on my mullet in the 90's
Parts unlimited has them in stock. Any dealer can order them. throwing 1 in the cart right now😎
We use mousse in the Grand Prix like 99% of the field. There are many brands that are being used, although Pirelli and Dunlop are most used since the majority of the field uses these brands for the tyres allready.
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ML - I remember years ago hearing they ran them at tracks that had some rogue rocks (Unadilla, Binghamton when it was on the schedule), but what is the logic of running a mousse on a track like Ironman? Thanks in advance for your insights.
Probably because its one less thing to worry about, and if you're used to the feel its no big deal anyway.
Can't afford a flat. Its as simple as that.
Can’t afford a flat, these guys get used to it. Bike setup even slightly changes, so might as well run them consistently.
They react terribly in Supercross though, particularly on whoops. So you don’t see them indoors.
Why the rear only?
They most certiainly probably hate the way the front feels with the mousse, rear isnt as big a deal having that more dead feeling and front flats much more rare.
Not really any downsides to the mousses off-road and in moto except cost and its harder to mount them, a $125 mousse every couple tires starts to add up when you ride a lot.
The mousse also provides a more dead feeling in the front.
If you take a wheel with a tube and slam it to the ground it will bounce while a mousse will soak it up and don’t bounce up again in the same way.
Think of your last 10 flats. Front or rear?
How often is a mousse needed to be changed out, and how can you tell when?
Usually a maximum of 6 months but it can be quicker than that depending on how often and hard you ride. They naturally shrink over time so you replace them when you start to notice the tire feeling too soft.
IMO, don't go down the mousse path unless you absolutely need to (off-road racing, pro MX where you can't afford a flat). They are an absolute money pit.
You are constantly either stuffing your tires with pieces of old mousses to get them firm again, or you are installing new ones. They get soft and feel like shit after a few rides. I end up changing out my mousses every other tire change, sometimes every tire change. So now rather just buying a set of tires for a couple hundred bucks, you're $500+ for tires and mousses. That adds quite a bit to the wear part budget over the course of a year.
we use them off road, nothing worse than being 50 miles in and get a flat. Carrying tubes and all the crap is old school. On Baja rides we dont let anyone go with us who has tubes, front or rear. Just another bs thing to go wrong and end up riding in the dark!
Have you tried the Dunlop mousse yet? We get a lot longer life out of mousses in Indiana but I am sure we are running at a lot lower temperatures than in TX. I have heard the mousse balls don't get as hot and may last longer too.
To anyone that doesn't know Heat kills mousses, and they are heavy compared to standard MX tubes. Once you run a front mousse over roots and the tire just sticks it is hard to go back to a tube.
It could be I’m over 200lbs, it could be that I’m horrible at changing tires, it could be sheer bad luck, it could be a combo of all things and more.
But I’ve gotten so many flats in the last couple years I switched to mousses out of frustration.
I won’t go back. I have been using the artrax cheapo mousses and would even use a cheapo Dunlop 952 or Pirelli extra set of tires if that’s what it took money wise to make it make sense.
It hasn’t come to that yet for me, but I’m willing to go cheaper on the tire if the mousse expenses and replacements get too costly. The no flats is 1000% worth it to me.
Changing a tube between sessions when it’s 95 degrees on the tailgate in a rush, when you’re already overheated from riding, and now you’re rushing and frustrated on top of it??
Ridings supposed to be my escape from the madness, from all the deadlines and wrenching and exhausting chores.
Having mousses installs gives me one less thing to contend with.
Even if it’s 1x a year, I’m good.
I’m fully aware many folks haven’t gotten a single flat in decades… well you have an in with saint alexander the pinch flat patron saint, that I don’t, so god bless you.
Pit Row
Have run bibs for a few years (off-road) once you get used to changing (Rabaconda) and dealing with them I think their easier (edited because I can't spell)
I don't think I've had 10 flats in 38 years of riding 😂
Have they improved the feel, or do the top level riders still all prefer the feel of a tube?
Every pro-level conversation I've heard over the years is that the mousse is a necessary evil to avoid flats, but it lacks the feel of a tube.
My understanding is that this is why they only typically run them in the rear.
Also, who has that photo of Bennie Bloss with his mousse wrapped around the swing-arm at a national few years ago?
I prefer mousse over tube in rear. Front, not so much. Michelin is lighest and best feeling, but doesn't hold up. Pirelli, Dunlop, air mousse are pretty similar in weight and feeling.
Get maybe 5h racing and an additional 10-12h practise from a mousse. If I run it when hot, goes quicker. Cold, holds up better. Up to 20h pre season for example.
I remember at Glen Helen 2002, seeing 50+ empty moose boxes against the fence. Theyre obviously more popular now.
I’m full mousse now. To me they feel more planted than tubes especially on those roots that cross the trail diagonally.
michelin is the go to in so cal desert, they seem to last longer than others
20+ years ago Dunlop had a mousse with a small tube in it to adjust the preassure a bit, don’t know how long they were around or how they felt to ride.
I bought a used ser of wheels from a GP team that had one of those in the rear wheel but i never used the mousse.
I believe that was called a " Clevis Mousse" ran a mtb tube or similar I think
I run mousses on my 300. Absolutely love them off road. I use Michelin blue box bibs matched to starcross tires and put a ton of silicone lube in there. My current mousse has been in there for at least 50 hours. It's getting a little soft but isn't bad at all. I mostly ride that bike off road, but have done three MX days too. It does just fine on the track. That's with bibs front and rear.
I run the Tubliss system in the rear tire and a HD tube in the front for off-road and hare scrambles. This combo works great for me.
Why are no pro MX riders using Tire Balls? Best of both worlds, flat protection and you can set the pressure.
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