I’ll be setting my P7 29er up tubeless soon with the WTB Vigilante fr and trail boss rear. I know nothing about inserts. Are inserts to protect the rim when running lower pressures?

Any suggestions?

Rimpact.

Review | The Rimpact tubeless tyre inserts are some of the best value rim protection you can get

Cheap, do the job and the valves are excellent.

Can be a proper workout getting them installed though!

Benefits are:

Protection from rim dings, snakebite punctures
Lower pressure can be run without the tyre rolling off/burping
Complete flat, you’ll be able to ride back to the car

Downsides: if you need to fit a tube on the trail it’ll be a struggle to get the insert out
Tiny bit of weight

How heavy are you, and what sort of riding do you do?
I’m a light but reasonably aggressive/playful rider, most of my stuff is rooty but I do ride some rocky stuff. I’ve only really had 2 or 3 incidents in about 3 years of running tubeless that an insert would have prevented, 1 of which was an Enduro race.
If I was racing more then I’d think about it, but tbh I don’t think it’s worth the hassle or weight penalty for me.
I appreciate that they’re great for some people, but can’t help but feel that a lot of people are just getting caught up in the marketing.

I still don’t understand why you don’t just fit a heavier tire?

The biggest benefit for me is being able to run lower pressures.

Same, I don’t ride stuff that warrants a downhill casing tyre, but I still want to be able to run 20psi or so in my 2.35 tyres and not worry about rim hits on roots and rocks.

90g each for rimpact inserts, no point worrying about that.

I’m not sure if this is just me, but I ended up getting a tiny flat that wouldn’t seal because it was in a bit where the rim insert touched the sidewall, and so no sealant got to it. Pretty annoyihg tbh. I was able to ride on the flat + foam but still. I’ll probably still use them for racing (that flat was near the end of the mega, it’d have been a bloody nightmare to ride the rest of it on a front flat) but day to day I prefer a slightly tougher tyre like a schwalbe supergravity

Since using inserts I haven’t mishaped or burped a tyre

I run a bit of 30mm backing foam in the rear of my CX bike, haven’t tried it in my mtb’s yet. Seems to reduce the number of “riding allong on the rim” feeling’s when riding through the bottom of dips and turns badly hopped kerbs into a dull thud. Biggest draw was being able to ride back home without faffing after a terminal puncture on local rides, and making tubeless inflation a doddle TBH saving the rims or snake bites are a bonus.

I’m not a fan of the feel you get from adding tyre inserts that take up volume so since ditching the rim pact I’ve not bothered but recently added the effeto tyre invader and seems more resilient than a huck norris and was peanuts for a pr.

I still don’t understand why you don’t just fit a heavier tire?

We did this. DH Schwalbe HansDampf. We ran 40psi(!). Still dented rims and punctured.

Fitted NukeProof inserts and he just got 3rd at the weekends Enduro and commented that he wasn’t ‘feeling’ the rim anymore, and didn’t pinch puncture like the last three enduro’s.

Also not a fan of the feel with them. The better ones, once you run a tyre with half decent sidewall becomes as heavy as a DH tyre.

If people are apparently running 40psi and still denting rims and puncturing DH tyres, they probably need to learn to pick better lines. The fastest line isn’t the fastest, if you wreck your bike on it.

I just accept I have to run decent, heavy casing tyres now (which tend to come in the better compounds anyway). DD Maxxis seem to be tougher than Schwalbe DH tyres and Maxxis DH are a step up again a IMO.

Was just here to say what Hob Nob already has. 40PSi and DH tyre punctures isn’t an equipment issue

“We did this. DH Schwalbe HansDampf. We ran 40psi(!). Still dented rims and punctured.”

Are you sure the gauge on your pump is working ok?

I really like the Rimpact inserts – I the support they give to the sidewall, the way the reduced air volume helps the tyre keep stable when you push hard on it. And how they massively reduce the chance of dinging rims or pinch-flatting, for very little weight penalty (80g each I think) and not much cost.

50mm backer rod inside my 2.4″ mtb tyres is so light I can feel no difference at all when riding but obvious difference in rim protection.
Bit of a learning curve during first installation but dirt cheap to protect rims and as OP above says can ride home/to car with no air in tyre. Only hard part is getting sealant inside seated tyre.

We did this. DH Schwalbe HansDampf. We ran 40psi(!). Still dented rims and punctured.

Heavier tyres and inserts aren’t a substitute for poor line choice. Stick him in front of the Sam Hill and Ben Cathro videos, time to start walking the track or stopping and looking at sections. There is a lad that rides with our group time to time and he was killing rims on a regular basis, bit of direction and pointing out that he’s slamming his rear wheel into roots and the rims are lasting longer.

FYI I run pretty low pressures, 15psi front, 19 rear this time of year on muddy/steep trails (FOD, Shropshire). No issues with clanging rims or tearing tyres, I’m not a plodder either. Smooth tends to be fast…

Anybody tried Ratbite? Not sure I could stomach the cost of the more expensive options. I ride a gravel bike and have plenty of rocks on the routes I like to ride (no I don’t want a mtnbike) and discovered a pretty big dent in my rim the other day.

Would value some feedback if anyone has tried this system.

I just bought some of their valves, having had to use bolt croppers to remove a tubeless valve recently I think their lock nuts are far more sensible and reasonably priced

My rims are dinged, so I run tubes. But I’d love to run slightly lower pressures in the back, so I just bought a Tannus armour insert. You run those with a tube. But after two sustained attempts, I have failed to get the tyre back into the rim. Soul destroying experience I never want to repeat.

My LBS has agreed to have a go at fitting it tomorrow. If that fails, it’s going in the bin.