Test: In mountain biking, the trend towards riding with low air pressure can no longer be reversed. Traction and comfort increase noticeably. You drive safer and have more fun. But you also buy disadvantages with it: rims and tire casings are at risk. Huck Norris comes from Finland and is supposed to eliminate exactly these dangers.
We, too, have recognized the advantages of lower tire pressure. The bike just smothers and it's just more fun when it gets really bumpy. But with light tires we always have problems with dents in the rims or damaged cores, because they are squeezed between a stone and the rim, for example. The solution can be tires with a stable downhill carcass or systems such as Procore from Schwalbe and the Dean Easy System. Here, however, the assembly is not quite as easy, with Dean Easy even a modification of the rim is necessary. Significant additional weight and not inconsiderable costs also have to be accepted.
The Huck Norris system should have advantages here and also protect the rim and tire.
The Finns promise for their system:
- Protection of the tire, no more "crushing" of the sidewall between the rim and the ground
- Protection of the rim from dents, e.g. from stone contact
- No need for particularly stable tires for tubeless, light tires can be ridden
- Easy assembly, faster tubeless assembly
- Low weight
- Comparatively cheap price
Three widths are available:
- S; 21-28mm inner rim width
- M; 27-35mm rim width (we tested on rims with 3omm inner width)
- L; 34-45mm inner rim width
Weight (weighed):
- 84 grams for 29 inches in M
- 77 grams for 27,5 inches in M
The packaging always includes a mudguard.
We know Chuck Norris doesn't eat honey, he chews bees. We tested whether the system is able to pull the sting out of the typical tubeless adversities.
Assembly:
We retrofitted the system into an existing tubeless setup, which did well with the Huck Norrsi upgrade as both the rim and tire constantly suffered. Installation is essentially self-explanatory. After removing two cable ties, there is a rolled-up Velcro strip and 2 profile strips on closed-pore foam. The profile always fits 29 and 27,5 inches. We tested at 27,5 inches and had to snip a piece of the foam at the clearly visible crop mark. This is easy to do by hand, scissors or a cutter knife are sufficient. This step is not necessary for 29 inch wheels. The makers also recommend their system for 26 inches, so you have to tinker with the foam a bit. Once the foam strip is the right length, cut a piece of Velcro, thread it through and connect the ends. Complete! It makes sense to make sure that the ends are almost pulled together so as not to leave a gap between the ends. Now deflate the tire and lift it off the rim on one side. Then insert the foam ring. We added some more tubeless milk as the extra surface area of the system binds some of it. Tires back on, that's only slightly more difficult than normal. Pumping it up, which actually seems to work a little easier because the insert already "brings the tire into shape" and it doesn't slip around on the rim base. The whole action takes about 15 minutes for experienced screwdrivers.
Test drive:
The rim already had a few quirks from "enemy touches" and the first set of tires was no longer on it because one or the other carcass was damaged. The best conditions to see what changes. Several trips with different pilots served us to collect impressions. We have lowered the tire pressure in areas where punctures would normally be clearly pre-programmed. The possible pressure and the resulting driving characteristics were almost comparable to tires around 3.0″ although we drove 2.3 inch wide tires. A simulated flat tire (we simply let the air out) also showed the system's emergency running properties. Several kilometers of trail with a slightly adapted driving style were not a problem. The system is even more comfortable to drive than comparable systems. The foam is soft and cushions well, continuing to ride on a bulging second inner air chamber feels less good. Especially since the tire works harder on these, presumably because the volume of the puncture protection system is smaller. But the system also has a real disadvantage: If you provoke it, you can easily create burping here without any noticeable difference to driving without a puncture protection system.
