Tire mousse is one handy way to avoid flats and it has become widely used in motocross bikes lately.
While the advantages of running mousse inside tires is clear, avoiding potential flat tires and allowing lower pressure for better grip, tire mousse does come with certain drawbacks.
It's the case of Tommy Searle which loses a race, but not directly because of a crash, as they are so common in this sport, but because of a crash taking his rear tire off the rim. Mousse tires come with fixed pressure, so to say: namely, the rigidity and overall performance of that tire is strictly related to the mousse core inserted,with rather limited room for any corrections.
Failing to choose the right diameter for a given tire and expected performance may result in the tire coming off from the rim. Which is exactly what happened in Tommy Searle's case.
After landing a jump, he hits the wall of a deep trace and highsides. Nothing bad so far, save for the lost positions. Little does he know that the tire came off; yet he learns about this quite fast as the mousse is ejected from the tire as he tries to come back in the race.
Unfortunately, end of story for Searle, better luck next time with the team's mechanics hopefully choosing a different mousse.
It's the case of Tommy Searle which loses a race, but not directly because of a crash, as they are so common in this sport, but because of a crash taking his rear tire off the rim. Mousse tires come with fixed pressure, so to say: namely, the rigidity and overall performance of that tire is strictly related to the mousse core inserted,with rather limited room for any corrections.
Failing to choose the right diameter for a given tire and expected performance may result in the tire coming off from the rim. Which is exactly what happened in Tommy Searle's case.
After landing a jump, he hits the wall of a deep trace and highsides. Nothing bad so far, save for the lost positions. Little does he know that the tire came off; yet he learns about this quite fast as the mousse is ejected from the tire as he tries to come back in the race.
Unfortunately, end of story for Searle, better luck next time with the team's mechanics hopefully choosing a different mousse.