My latest attempt at homemade rim protectors

Seems everyone is offering a new take on the rim protector and I have always been keen to make my own. My first attempt at sticking some open-cell foam pipe lagging in a tyre appeared to work, until I came to remove it and found it all bunched up in one half of the tyre and all the sealant nicely absorbed into the foam lol. Than I saw a video on Youtube where a lad made his own “Huck Norris” type bands using a roll of closed cell foam and a lazer cutter. His results were impressive and he says they work well. Anyway. Long story short. I was stood in the shed the other day when my eyes fell on a pack of “outdoor flooring” from Aldi.

I had bought 2 packs of this stuff to use in the awning of my van but only really needed one. And then it hit me. This stuff was made out of a really dense closed cell foam, just the right thickness, and already had the holes in it that are needed to make the inserts work effectively with sealant.

10 minutes work with a Stanley knife and ruler and I had my first set.

I needed 3.5 bits to make a 27.5 insert and there is enough in each mat for 2 wheel. I used 2 cable ties to join each section. They fit nicely into the tyres and are simple to get in, and to get the bead seated.

First couple of rides have shown no downsides as yet. The Rimpact my brother bought weigh in at 91 grammes. My DIY ones come in at 97 grammes each but the the foam is much more dense.

I think the pack of flooring cost £9.99 and there is enough materail to make 12 x 27.5″ inserts in a pack. I will report back after a few rides when I will check how they are doing in there.

looks a great idea …thanks for the idea and please do report back !

I like. The best thing about this is that plantex and others are doing these for 15quid now, but you have a pack of aldi tiles and a waggy tail, so who cares if you can get them for cheap. Much admiration.

Bear in mind that in most reviews, these inserts are considered to be disposable items that will potentially need replacing every few months if riding in rocky terrain. So even at £15 a pair costs will soon add up. The planet-X ones look to be made of a relatively low density foam too and, if they are anything like the Rimpact ones, will be a PITA to fit. My ones should be more durable and can be replaced 7 times for the price of the Planet X ones (the cheapest alternative). All this assumes they do the job and don’t fall apart of course :-). For the cost and time involved in making them (£1.50 a pair and less than 10 minutes from opening the pack to having the tyre back on and ready to ride) I am happy to take a chance.

Rimpact offer other benefits over the Huck Norris too, such as helping keep the tyre on the rim and maintaining the tyre profile due to their shape filling out the tyre, stopping it from rolling. So it’s not really an appropriate comparison…

And these to be fair do come with 2 carbon valves.

https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/WSBARANA/barbieri-anaconda-puncture-protection-system

welshfarmer indeed, I’ve seen plenty of pics of worn out ones.

@brant and spare valve cores and whatever the things are in bold? Sounds like a bargain
“2x round wedge and 2x half barrel rim seal bungs, spare valve core and valve core spanner and 2x airtight threaded rings. Everything you need to finish a pair of tubeless wheels and a spare valve core for emergencies.”

Welsh farmers I’m with you somefolk clearly have great hourly rates if they consider 15 quid too cheap to waste their time on.

The backer rod I use costs me 2 quid a pop to change out and takes about 10 minutes to make and fit to a wheel.

And as far as I can see from our riding group it seems to work better than the flat strips for preventing rim damage.

Very interesting.

Give it a cheesy brand name and send to STW for review.

Things in bold – things I never knew I needed to finish a tubeless wheel.

Looks great.

Be interested to see how you go on with them staying together where the zip ties go through the foam.

I made some myself very similar but they ended up splitting where the zip ties went through which in turn made the wheel pretty unbalanced. They also stuck to the sidewalls if the tyres. They worked well whilst together though.

On rimpacts now which seem pretty good.

Never tried this but would some duck tape work better to stick the sections together? Less if a single stress point?
Works well on closed cell camping Matt’s.

On the rimpacts I think they are glued at the joint, and it has some tape around it.

Rimpact tape however is made of paper and after 1 week in sealant no longer exists as tape.

Oh.

Heads up! The mats are back in Aldi this week. £10.99 for 6 mats, plenty for 5-6 pairs of rim protectors. I did a big mountain ride the other day, including 3 miles across a veritable rock garden. Running 18 psi in 2.8 Maxxi Rekons. Took tyre off to see and all looks perfect inside. Cable ties all still attached. There was 1 dent in the foam corresponding to the rim, so they are clearly in the line of fire and doing something. The Stans just drained off them leaving them clean and dry, which suggests they are not absorbing any of the fluid. So all in all, very happy with them. Have made some for my Hardtail and my other rig too. Only running in rear tyre mind.

PS If anyone has a go at making these, a tip on sizing them up. For 2.3-2.6 tyres a width of roughly 55mm is fine. For the 2.8 tyres I made them more like 65mm. There is plenty of play in them though so not hugely critical I would say. Your rims need to be at least as wide and preferably wider than the size of the holes in the foam. To get the circumference right you need to join together 4 lengths of the stuff to make a big snake, then with one side of the tyre on the wheel, stuff the snake into the tyre all the way around so that it overlaps itself. It should sit about halfway up the side wall in the widest part of the tyre profile. Make sure it is in position all the way round and then mark the overlap wher to cut one segment down. Better to make it slightly bigger than too small. Removed from tyre, cut to size and join together before installing again. Add Stans and put tyre fully on. Simples.

Pics after heavy use showing cable ties and the mark from an impact.

With an impending Scotland trip on the horizon, with it’s rim-crushing water bars, and a shed full of said foam mats I thought I’d have a crack at some DIY Nuck Horris too..

I cut the strips so the holes were near the ends and then daisy-chained with electrical tap in both directions – seems ok and has a bit of flex so hopefully will stay in place.

Made the tyres a little harder to get on, but then they were quite tight on these rims anyway and I double-taped which definitely doesn’t help!

So how did they cope @frogstomper? My 3 sets are all still going strong. Removed tyre to check on one last weekend and all good. Just needed a little more Stans.

Didn’t encounter many water bars in the end, but plenty of roots and rocks and didn’t really notice it (only in the back) to be honest – which I guess is a good thing!