TU bliss tyre system

[pete-blen]

What's the best option for changing the rear to 18" on a DR650? I see that procycle has an 18" wheel but that is US$750 which is quite a lot especially once you add shipping and convert the currency and add GST at our border. What about a rim of another bike and getting it relaced and trued? I can't remember which rim but I'm sure I've read about a rim with the right holes for the spokes, it might have been the DR350 but I'm not sure on that.

I looked at it a couple of years ago after denting my rear on the Dusty ended up beating it back into shape and i had a bunch of new 18 inch rears, its been like that for over 20k - yes is it a DR350 wheel with cush drive but there arnt many around unless your lucky to find one in good nick, another option was a new rim and spokes laced to your existing hub but that still looked like $500 so i flagged it.[/QUOTE]




I had a couple old Montesa wheels done... New rims / spokes & respokeing came to $600.
so yer could say $300 per wheel..






..

[MarkH]

I looked at it a couple of years ago after denting my rear on the Dusty ended up beating it back into shape and i had a bunch of new 18 inch rears, its been like that for over 20k - yes is it a DR350 wheel with cush drive but there arnt many around unless your lucky to find one in good nick, another option was a new rim and spokes laced to your existing hub but that still looked like $500 so i flagged it.

I had a couple old Montesa wheels done... New rims / spokes & respokeing came to $600.
so yer could say $300 per wheel..

It looks like I could change to an 18" rim for way less than US$750 (plus shipping plus GST) with options like a second hand DR350 rim or an aftermarket rim correctly set up for my bike, found this from a google search: http://wheelandspoke.co.nz/index.html which makes it seem like I could just pay a few hundred and get an 18" rim set up for my DR.

It looks to me like going with a TUbliss system would be totally doable on my DR650.
I have read through this entire thread: http://advrider.com/index.php?thread...e-bike.560599/ which mostly shows good results on ~650cc dual sport bikes with the TUbliss system and one failure mentioned was an older TUbliss which would have been Gen 1.

So, any reason to not go this way?
I realise that on a heavier DS bike I might not want to drop below 12 PSI like you would on a light off-road bike, but I could easily try 8 PSI without getting a pinch flat and immediately regretting that experiment.

With the TUbliss setup do you look to buying the tubeless version of tyres where available or does this not really matter?

[flashg]

It looks like I could change to an 18" rim for way less than US$750 (plus shipping plus GST) with options like a second hand DR350 rim or an aftermarket rim correctly set up for my bike, found this from a google search: http://wheelandspoke.co.nz/index.html which makes it seem like I could just pay a few hundred and get an 18" rim set up for my DR.



It looks to me like going with a TUbliss system would be totally doable on my DR650.

I have read through this entire thread: http://advrider.com/index.php?thread...e-bike.560599/ which mostly shows good results on ~650cc dual sport bikes with the TUbliss system and one failure mentioned was an older TUbliss which would have been Gen 1.



So, any reason to not go this way?

I realise that on a heavier DS bike I might not want to drop below 12 PSI like you would on a light off-road bike, but I could easily try 8 PSI without getting a pinch flat and immediately regretting that experiment.



With the TUbliss setup do you look to buying the tubeless version of tyres where available or does this not really matter?

I was told they are going to do a 17" version of the tu-bliss, (great for my tenere 660) maybe worth emailing them to find out if that's true. Might save you heaps. Although the many different widths of 17" rims might not make it viable.

[MarkH]

I was told they are going to do a 17" version of the tu-bliss, (great for my tenere 660) maybe worth emailing them to find out if that's true. Might save you heaps. Although the many different widths of 17" rims might not make it viable.

Yep, that was mentioned in the ADVrider thread. It is believed they will have it out around Summer of 2010.
I've decided to not hold my breath waiting for it.

I could be wrong about the time of course, a thread on DRriders suggests it might be out late 2012.

If you check this thread: http://advrider.com/index.php?thread...thread.654226/
Greg says:

The Tubliss setup isn't available for 17" wheels yet, I've heard it should be available by the Summer of 2010, but I wanted to step up to the 18" wheel anyway, so I ordered the Tubliss for the 18" rear. I was concerned about the DR's 1.85" wide front rim, since the instructions say to use them on a 1.60" max width. I contacted Jeff at Neutech and he was kind enough to call and go over the details. Basically, they haven't gone thru the control testing for the wider rim, but plenty of people are running that combo. Sounds good to me... so I went for it. Mounting the Tubliss setup up took some care, I watched the tech video several times, then kept the instructions near by while I mounted them up. It wasn't that bad in the end.

This guy has used a DR350 rear wheel and the standard front wheel with TUbliss system and it went pretty well, I'm looking to do pretty much the same on my DR650
I have been using tubeless tyres for a long time and it was only at the start of this year I got the DR with the tubed tyres, I'm not used to dealing with tubes and I'm not really a big fan of them - I see this as a way of ditching something I don't like.

BTW:
If you didn't quite catch my drift about the 17" version - there has been rumours about a 17" rim version coming out for over 5 years now, don't go assuming that it will happen soon or even at all. Maybe it will happen, maybe not, maybe soon, maybe in 5 years - who knows?

[flashg]

I'm hearing you on that. The DR350 rim sounds good and there is a good selection of tyres for 18" rims.
Thinking about tube type or tubeless type tyres I wouldn't worry. Can't see them going flat whatever you use, I would buy what I wanted for its intended use.
Good luck

[MarkH]

Well, I got me a wheel: http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/List...x?id=946314428
I also now have an 18" TUbliss to go on that wheel, I'll grab a 21" TUbliss for the front within the next few weeks and I'll be all good to go without needing to use tubes.

[flashg]

Well, I got me a wheel: http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/List...x?id=946314428

I also now have an 18" TUbliss to go on that wheel, I'll grab a 21" TUbliss for the front within the next few weeks and I'll be all good to go without needing to use tubes.

Well done MarkH Are you getting the one with cush drive I see he was offering? You were lucky something came along at the right time

[MarkH]

Well done MarkH Are you getting the one with cush drive I see he was offering? You were lucky something came along at the right time

Yeah, I asked for the cush drive one, straight on to the DR650 with only the brake disk needing to be swapped.
He showed a video with the sprocket having some play, I'm told that just means it needs new cush drive rubbers.
I could have bought a new wheel from Procycle for US$749 + shipping + GST, but this works out a little cheaper.

[MarkH]

Well, I have now put both TUbliss systems in. The front is on the bike but the rear only has a 90/10 off-road orientated tyre on it so right now the 17" is still on the bike.
I guess I'll have to decide on and buy a good 50/50 rear tyre for the 18" rim so I can use that wheel, though if I stick with the 17" for a while I can get the rest of the life out of my existing tyre.
I'll keep the 21" tube on the bike as an emergency spare just in case of catastrophic failure.

My 2HP air compressor with 20 litre tank pumped up the front TUbliss really quickly, but couldn't push the pressure up to more than 80PSI, the mountain bike pump got it up to ~110PSI fairly quickly though.

If they did a 17" version I'd buy one so I could have 2 rear wheels to switch between, no idea if or when that might happen.