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Ok I have some feedback, I bought the Nukeproofs ARD.
Protectionwise thay have been excellent so far, welsh rocks, a weekend in Spain on some serious rocks and a week in the Alps. It has all been good.
However, there is one flaw. Thy seem to make my back wheel damped, when climbing its like wading through treacle, I tried them last night on the same climb with and without and over 6:10 mins of constant climb with. I descended, removed and did the same climb in 4:45.
Anyone else found this? I can really feel it.
Strange - I'm not sure how substantial the ARDs are, but I've had a Huck Norris in my rear wheel for a while now and haven't noticed any difference at all except for the sound it makes as it slides around if I lock up my rear wheel.
With that being said though the Huck Norris' are pretty minimal as far as inserts go.
Quite substantial. https://nukeproof.com/products/horizon-advanced-rim-defence-ard-pair
My experience of using Cush Core for 18 months (on the rear wheel only):
Hope 26" Enduro Rims & Maxxis High-Roller with Cush Core:
- Tyre was a nightmare to fit and couldn't get it seated properly as it always had a slight 'bulge/wobble'.
- So I swapped it for a Schwalbe Hans Dampf ... which could be fitted with the Cush Core by hand and seated nicely.
Ridden for a 18 months with no rim dings etc ... really like the way it feels!
However after 18 months almost all of the Schwalbe Hans Dampf side knobs had torn off, so decided to replace tyre. This time it was the complete opposite - the Schwalbe Hans Damp was incredibly difficult to get on the rim - I even had to resort to using my Pedros Downhill Tyre Lever. However there was a wobble/bulge again and I'd actually damaged the rim tape trying to get the tight fitting tyre on over the Cush Core.
So I removed the Hans Dampf, re-taped the rim and tried a new High-Roller. This was much easier to fit, but it turns out that the Cush Core actually gets slacker in use and so when following the recommended install process and spraying with soapy water it had a tendancy to pop off when fitting the 2nd side so I swapped it for an unused Cush Core insert and everything seated nicely.
In conclusion:
Not all tyres are equal and just because one tyre brand/model worked is no guarantee of faff-free install when you replace a worn/trashed tyre
The Cush Core are expensive, fiddly to fit (make sure you allow a couple of hours and some choice swear-words) and seemingly lose some of their molecular integrity over time ... but when riding I really do like the confidence and consistency etc they inspire!