What's the verdict on the Foss inner tubes?

[Forrest]

What's the verdict on the Foss inner tubes? And do you really have to use their special rim tape, or will these tubes work with standard kinds of rim tape just as well? Thanks! 

[Darin G.]

I'm interested in this too as I'd like to run the Grand Bois tires but have to deal with lots of goat heads.  Does it really matter if it can stay inflated with a nail through it if its just going to go flat when the offending object comes out?

D.G.

[jimD]

I've got one on the rear JB green on my custom.

So far 1k miles, no flats, no special rim tape.

No verdict. Jury still out.

-JimD

On Mar 18, 2012, at 9:28 AM, Forrest wrote:

What's the verdict on the Foss inner tubes? And do you really have to use their special rim tape, or will these tubes work with standard kinds of rim tape just as well? Thanks! 

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[jimD]

Well, I've not encountered any goat heads since I put the Foss on my custom.

I'm skeptical about how that would/will go.

I'm pretty sure the Foss only works when the offending penetrator remains engaged (sounds a bit clinical?)

Saw some youtube video that was the belts + suspenders approach - Slime in a Foss.

Goatheads are famous for being heinous.

Patrick Moore seems to have expertise in battling this affliction.

Tank treads may be the answer.

-JimD

I wonder what the goat heads curse on Mt Diablo is like?

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[William]

I have a pair on my 650B Hilsen.  Hetres.  One flat in ~1000k.  Thorn, which was still in the tire when I fixed the flat.  No verdict from me. 

On Sunday, March 18, 2012 10:37:19 AM UTC-7, JimD wrote:

I've got one on the rear JB green on my custom.

So far 1k miles, no flats, no special rim tape.

No verdict. Jury still out.

-JimD

On Mar 18, 2012, at 9:28 AM, Forrest wrote:

What's the verdict on the Foss inner tubes? And do you really have to use their special rim tape, or will these tubes work with standard kinds of rim tape just as well? Thanks! 

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[William]

and I did used the special rim strips over my existing ones. 

[GeorgeS]

I've been using them for about 6 months on my Atlantis. 26" wheels
with Marathon Racers. No flats in 800+ miles. They do not hold air
particularly well. I have to pump mine up at least once a week.
GeorgeS

[Ray Foss]

>I'm interested in this too as I'd like to run the Grand Bois tires but have 
to deal with lots of goat heads. Does it really matter if it can stay 
inflated with a nail through it if its just going to go flat when the 
offending object comes out?

As mentioned,**IF** you have a piercing object stay in the tire, the FOSS tube will function as desired.  I've had a couple flats with mine.  They seem to lose air slowly so you may be able to finish a ride before intervention is needed.  About the only other advantage I can see is you can carry a matchbook instead of a patch kit ;-)

Ray "no relation" Foss

Lisbon, CT

[ted]

I have (or had) foss tubes with Quasi Moto tires.
I say "or had" because the rear one is now, due to user error, in the
trash.
I used the cloth (velox?) rim strips that I already had on the wheels,
and had no problems related to that.

The other weekend I picked up several goat heads on the Las Trampas to
Mt. Diablo regional trail.
I pulled and patched some on the rear at the Macedo Ranch staging
area. But I did not locate all the offenders and still had a slow
leak. I was stoping and pumping on the way back and broke the valve
stem (user error). The front was on a slow leak too. When I got home
and went over things I put patches on the front foss tube and it now
holds fine. I pulled several thorn remnants from my tires and patched
a hole one had put in the spare I put in the rear after I broke the
valve stem. I am not sure how many patches I put on each foss tube,
but between the two I used up 5 of the 6 patches in one packet.

I did a casual leak down test on the front before pulling the thorns
and patching it. It took about 50min to drop from about 50 to 30psi,
20min more to reach ~25psi and another 28min to fall to ~17psi. My
gauge is suspect (hand gauge and floor pump gauge don't agree), I only
took 4 measurements, and the data doesn't have a consistent trend.
This might indicate roughly 20psi per hour pressure loss with 2 or 3
goat heads in the tube. Because of flexing the leak rate might be
worse when riding.

My current take is that a foss tube with goat heads leaks slower than
a normal tube but it does still leak at a significant rate. The more
thorns the more leaking. Will you make it where you are going without
patching or changing the tube? Well that depends on how many thorns,
how far you are going, how hard you inflate it after noticing the
leak, how low a pressure you can tolerate, and how often you will stop
and add air.

On the pro side: I like the long smooth stems, and I believe they leak
slower than normal tubes when thorns are in em.
I don't have good A/B pressure v.s. time data for foss/normal tubes
with goatheds in em, and I doubt I will do such a test, but I think
that is what you would need to make an informed decision.

On the con side: $20 each is a bit dear, and the patches are not cheep
either.

How much the benefits are worth to you is a personal decision, and
reasonable folks may come to varied conclusions.

I suspect the reliable counter to goatheads is to ride the "gufaw at
goatheads stout" Schwalbe fatties.
That or don't ride where there are goatheads.

>
> >> On Mar 18, 2012, at 9:28 AM, Forrest wrote:
>
> >> What's the verdict on the Foss inner tubes? And do you really have to use
> >> their special rim tape, or will these tubes work with standard kinds of rim
> >> tape just as well? Thanks!
>
> >> --
> >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
> >> "RBW Owners Bunch" group.
> >> To view this discussion on the web visit
> >>https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rbw-owners-bunch/-/yKy-wl3nWnYJ.

> >> To post to this group, send email to rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com.

> >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to

> >> rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com.

[Alex Moll]

I'm using them on my AHH, which I commute with. My hope is that if I
pick up debris that punctures the tube, I can still make it to work on
time - then repair the tube at lunch, or after work. I still carry a
spare butyl tube, because I don't think the FOSS patches would work in
the rain.

[Luke in Pasadena]

I had a blow out during inflation. I'm not sure if I had something
twisted or what, but it scared the hell out of me.

I found them difficult to mount compared to a standard tube. Not a
fan.