Source for Closed Cell Foam – for Homemade Huck Norris

i ordered the 10mm one.  heat gun and cut outs will sort the bending.

All told, I’ve found backer rod inserts to be nigh on miraculous… not only do they protect the rim and prevent burping, they also let you ride with a flat tyre… couple of months ago got a flat on the front towards the end of the ride and after a few tentative moments, learnt that in a stituation where I’d normally get off and push back to the van, there was still plenty of grip to be had; that was with 30mm, so I’d imagine if you go full girth with the 50mm, it’d be better still.

Might even start marketing them~ just need to come up with a name;

Foameo’s rim jobs seems pretty catchy

that stuff I found isn’t suitable.  I’d go with the backer rod

Pound land has some 50mm diameter pool noodles at the moment. I bought two with the intention of giving it a go.

Why not suitable Paoh?

They do a version with cuts in already that would bend better!

Was just about to buy that stuff from Poah’s link – have to put it on hold till we find out why it’s no use.

So with the 50mm packing foam stuff. How well does the stans get round the wheel.or does it get trapped?

I wonder how much it actually spreads out the load of a whack to the rim from a rock. Obviously it will do so a bit, but it doesn’t appear to be that strong.

On the back of putting a hole in the 2.5″ DHF I’m running on the rear of my BFe, I ordered 2x approx. 2M of the 50mm rod a few days ago from Dortech.

One of the 2M lengths now resides in that wheel – a 26″ Flow Mk1 – and it fits perfectly.  Just!  The big volume tyre helps (wouldn’t want to try 50mm dia on a 2.3″ Maxxis), and the length is exactly right for 26″.  Might need two shorter sections for 650b or 29″.

The tyre was a bit harder to get on, as the rod pushed the bead into the rim hooks, so a screwdriver was used as a tyre lever to get the last 15cm of bead on.  The tyre inflated with a compressor with ease (it’s a non-TR DHF) and seems to have stayed up. It also feels somewhat like I guess a runflat does without any air in it.

It’ll get a run out in Chopwell on Sunday over some rocks and roots, but hoping it’ll be good.  Since the Spitfire snapped I’ve been using my spare BFe and my riding style still isn’t acclimatised to hard tail riding just yet, and getting the air pressure in the rear tyre is more of a guess than knowing the exact number.

As for the fluid, I’m using Oko diluted about 50:50 with water for now, so hope it’ll still seal.  However, if I was to repeat I’d cut channels out of the upper and lower edges of the rod, and possibly drill a lot of 10mm holes as well so that the fluid can migrate.  In fact, I’ll be trying it on the HB160 when it eventually arrives!

Can’t find any 2″ backer rod out here in Canada. Do we think taking two 1″ rods and taping them together would work? You’d the width but lose out on the height. Maybe it would set too well in the tire?

Edit: Another option looks like this stuff: http://foamzone.ca/rv-marine/closed-cell/xpe-closed-cell-charcoal.html

A couple of strips of that for ghetto huck norris style insert?

So this backer rod stuff sounds like it’s the pick, are people cutting it flat or leaving the whose sausage in the wheel?

I’m also debating whether to put this in both wheels or just the rear. Rear gets the abuse but if it helps to run lower pressures in the front that’d be pretty sweet too. Any thoughts from people who have tried it?

So this backer rod stuff sounds like it’s the pick, are people cutting it flat or leaving the whose sausage in the wheel?

Today I’ve setup 4 rear wheels thusly:

– 30mm ‘whole sausage’ with 2.0in tyre on 19mm internal (XC race setup)

– 40mm sliced in half with 2.0in tyre on 19mm internal (alt XC setup)

– 40mm sliced to 2/3rds thickness (ie: 1/3 removed) with 2.3in tyre on 26mm internal (trail)

– 50mm sliced in half with 2.4in tyre on 30mm internal (alt trail)

Not ridden any of them yet but planning to test them out as and when I have the time and on appropriate rides, curious to see what the difference, if any, in feel and protection there is between the different thicknesses.

I’ve still got some unmolested 40mm and 50mm rods and pondering whether to wang a complete one into my 2.8in +tyre wheels…

40mm backer rod in 28mm rim and 2.4 tires

No rim strikes today coming down heartbreaker ridge at pace nor mastermind

I’m sold for now. Will monitor

i bought two huck norris (norrisi?) for 50 euros. couldnt be bothered with the faff.😀

The 50mm backing rod proved it’s worth in Ae today coming down Omega Man when the back wheel impacted rather hard on a pointy rock – was convinced the tyre was going to go down, but it held, and only because of the bodge.

Out of the 6 of us there, 2 had snakebites – one Fx1 & Rx2 running tubes, one 2xR tubeless then tubed.

I’m sold on it, especially on the hard tail.

Was that a whole 50mm rod or cut down/in half? What size tyre wa that in? I have a couple of uncut 50mm rods here but can’t see them realistically fitting in anything smaller than 2.8 or more without pretty much filling the tyre.

EDIT – ignore me, just spotted your earlier post with all that info in 🙂

I’m running 50mm rod as a full rod in Specialized 2.6″ tyre (rear only) on a 33mm inner width LB rim.

Seems to work a treat, carries some marks now where it’s done it’s job, but held up brilliantly.

“bought two huck norris (norrisi?) for 50 euros. couldnt be bothered with the faff.”

Who was faffing ?

5whole pounds and 10 minutes work .

No faffing happened. Beer did though

Top work everyone. This is some premium forum. 🙂

I have a Huck Norris on the bike and a Mr Wolf Banger in the cupboard because I’m very gullible. I must get around to actually trying the Mr Wolf…

I’d be very interested in how you find the Mr wolf banger.

I’m interested in how it moderates the tyres compression and rebound. It was the inspiration for me to try the full fat 50mm backer rod.

@trail rat. I was faffing. I can’t get hold of these things in Sweden without significant postage and/or searching.  Good luck to you guys though. Top bodging!

How is this foam backer any different to pipe insulation? (comes in various sizes and is easily available) except for the obvious core removed for the pipe.

Good thread this.

20 metres of 50mm winging it’s way to me now.

4 bikes to do.

£23 posted.

Could anyone give me an idea of the size needed for 2.35 tyres on 25mm ID rims?

Great thread by the way guys!

I was really sold on the idea of the huck norris and cushcore when I first heard and read about them, but the price kinda put me off. I’ve just ordered 2 x 2m lengths of the 50mm backer rod, and going to set the capra up with it.

Is it important to get a fairly close fit around the rim with the backer rod?

Tested again  last night on a trail call rim pinger.

Running low pressures (you can see the wear lines round the sidewalls) I didn’t have any new dings/burp my tire nor did I hear any rim pinging……

My mates managed to ding and burp . We were all going hell for leather though 🙂

They are off to get some backer rod now.

“How is this foam backer any different to pipe insulation? (comes in various sizes and is easily available) except for the obvious core removed for the pipe.”

It’s more dense and the core isn’t removed so it’s even more dense for a given od.

that stuff I got couldn’t be bent and it was quite brittle TBH.

the 40mm rod looks a good plan for my 25mm rims and baron tyres.

Fitted some 50mm backer Rod on my rear 30mm ID rim last night which is running a 2.5 WT Exo maxxis aggressor

Cut in half as can’t see how you can get a full Rod in there.

One half of a 2m Rod fitted almost perfectly.

What kind of pressures have you been running on the rear with this in?

I’m a serial rim dinger riding mainly in the peak.

Also I went overboard and bought 20m of the stuff which will last for years so if anyone in Sheffield (S10) wants a of 2m section for the measly cost of £2.50 let me know.

I also bought 20 m, because there’s always R&D required with the DIY approach, and I also have two bikes.

If you watch the Cush Core installation video and apply the same principles, you can get the whole thing in, but IMO having the whole thing present has a deleterious effect on slow speed mid size hits. I ended up cutting about 1cm off the height. I’d rather have a 60mm insert for the width too.

Nearly all the cuts are on the outer radius, further out than the rim bead. This tells me that I’m picking up most of my impacts when the bike is leant over. It’d be nice to have the insert contact and support the sidewalls of the tyre with a wider insert, and have more material at the margins.

92kgs, 2.4 29er tyres on 30mm internal rims. 18psi front, 21 rear.

how does the extra weight effect peddling?

Generally I don’t try hawking my wares when I’m riding, so I don’t know.

…all the cuts are on the outer radius, further out than the rim bead….

@scienceofficer – this would alternatively support the theory that when in a tyre under pressure, the whole thing shrinks.

Aye. It undoubtedly does.

Following this with interest,

Just a thought, would slicing say 15mm equally off the the top and bottom of a larger diameter backer rod be easier, so it is a, say 50mm wide strip 20mm thick (or whatever it needs to be) with curved edges, that would float between the tyre walls, as per Huck?

The material spec appears to be there or thereabouts, it’s just the shape that’s the issue?

It’s not like anything like a similar spec. It’s at least 3 times less dense., Which is why you need a greater thickness.

how does the extra weight effect peddling?

50mm insert cut in half is 60-70g on my scales so basically irrelevant, doubly so if it lets you get away with lighter tyres as a result

Cheers SO, I tried mine down a rocky trail (cavedale) with the same pressures as you noted tonight and everything felt great.

Just need to test it out on Potatoe Alley and Cut Gate to really test it out as these two trails are usually the source of my rim denting.

Set up a 2.6 with the full 50mm on the front with the usual amount of stans. Realised I’d put the tyre on the wrong way so had to undo it all. Usually there’d be a pool of fluid in the tyre but on this set up there were dry patches. Are people putting in a lot more fluid?

Been testing out the 50mm backer rod. I’ve still had some pinches when fairly hammering it, at lower pressures. however I think I’ve gotten  away with more than I would have done without (obvs. Just an opinion can’t back it up scientifically).

The complete uncut backer rod seems to absorb a lot less sealant. When I cut it in half it seemed to take a lot more, so I doubt there is any weight saving whole thing vs. halved.

30 mm Id rims, 80kg. Maybe 30psi in rear but I do hammer through rocky trails