BY CHAD DE ALVA
I have yet to meet someone who enjoys fixing flat moto tires. Yeah, I know that’s weird, right? Well what I also find weird is that so many riders out there get flats, yet they just spoon the same style of tube back into the bike to fix that flat that they just got, and then they wonder why they eventually get another flat. This one guy named Albert had a pretty famous saying about doing the same thing over and over and expecting the results to change – but we’re talking about flats, not famous people and the things that they said. To make their bikes more flat resistant, riders will use ultra-extreme-duty tubes that are made with dragon scales and other cool marketing things, or they’ll run really high pressure to avoid pinch flats. Yet both of these options just compromise their bike’s handling, which I think is why so many people just roll the dice on getting flats with standard tubes and “normal” pressures around 12 psi. However, if you use something called a Nitro Mousse in place of a tube, you do not have to worry about getting a flat – ever.
A Nitro Mousse is a foam inner tube replacement that you run in place of a regular air-filled tube. No air keeping your tire inflated means that the tire can’t go flat, which in short means that your ride can’t get ruined by a flat tire. If you’re wondering where the term “mousse” came from, it’s quite literally the French word for foam, which has to do with the tire company Michelin, developing the first off road motorcycle tire foams back in the 80’s. Over the years, other companies have developed Mousses, but they all have the same drawbacks in that they’re heavier than a standard duty tube, they don’t bounce or rebound like a regular tube-inflated tire does, they’re expensive, and they don’t last very long. The foam breaks down over time (even when sitting in the packaging), which causes a change in feel as the foam wears out and you can’t adjust the pressure at all – you get what you get. These drawbacks have been the price of not having to worry about getting a flat. Yet a Nitro Mousse is different.
Nitro Mousses are the result of over ten years of research and development spent figuring out how to make a Mousse better. The result is a fancy elastomer (foam) that is charged with Nitrogen during the manufacturing process to create a foam that feels much more like a tube. Thanks to this fancy foam, Nitro Mousses last longer, break-in very quickly, and don’t require that you learn to ride on tires that don’t bounce back as they’re no longer filled with air. Perhaps the best part of a Nitro Mousse is that you have a choice of pressure – 12 or 8 psi equivalent depending on the model that you choose. If you’ve ever run 8 psi in a tube or Tubliss setup, you should be very excited about that level of traction with no risk of flats.
In an effort to figure out exactly how both pressures of Nitro Mousse feel compared to a regular tube at the comparable pressure, I recruited a riding buddy who happens to have a trail that starts right out his back door with a little bit of everything. We set up the same tires on two sets of wheels – a set of regular Nitro Mousses in one set and the Soft Nitro Mousses in the other wheel set. With another bike running regular tubes, we rode the same section of trail back to back to back to see how going from tubes at 12 psi compared to 12 psi Nitro Mousses, and 8 psi Nitro Mousses felt versus tubes at 8 psi.
When riding on Nitro Mousses, this weird thing happens where you suddenly don’t care so much about finding the smoothest line, or worry about running into big rocks. In fact, in some weird masochistic way you want to run into these rocks, just because you know they can’t give you a flat – and that confidence to be able to ride away from any flat-making obstacle is so empowering. Nitro Mousses are like getting a star in Mario, or turning on some cheat code where you can’t get flat tires – and that’s so awesome.
Nitro Mousses feel quite similar to tubes in the way that they rebound over obstacles, and my buddy who helped me with testing went so far as to say that they may even be springier than a traditional tube. What’s absolutely certain is that Nitro Mousses do not feel dead, or like riding on memory foam, which is a known drawback on mousses from other manufactures. You’ll feel comfortable on Nitro Mousse in just a few minutes, and then it’s back to riding as usual. Traction feels fairly comparable as well when comparing tubes at both 12 psi and 8 psi to the regular and soft Nitro Mousses respectively. The biggest difference you’ll notice is going from tubes at 8 psi to a Soft Nitro Mousse, because you won’t feel your rim on every single rock you ride over. Yes, you can still hit your rim with a Nitro Mousse, but if that’s something you’re doing all the time with a soft Nitro Mousse, going to a regular Nitro Mousse will provide that extra rim protection you’re looking for. If you don’t want to give up your soft Nitro Mousses’ traction, there’s a new Nitro Mousse coming that will provide Soft Nitro Mousse levels of traction with regular Nitro Mousse levels of protection.
Mounting a Nitro Mousse on a rim is arguably easier than mounting a tube, as there’s no risk of pinching the tube with a tire iron. Just like installing a tube, it’s all about technique and as long as you keep the bead in the drop center of the rim, the process is not hard at all. I tried both the ‘install the tire on the rim and then install the mousse’ and the ‘install the mousse in the tire and then install on the rim’ methods and both work just fine. I’d recommend installing the mousse in a lubed tire and installing that on your rim as it makes less of a mess. And that lube it turns out, is the key to making a Nitro Mousse last a long time. I’ve heard countless reports of Nitro Mousses lasting for a number of tires from riders running the spectrum from top shelf Baja racers to weekend warriors. As long as you use an entire tube of lube with each tire change, expect a Nitro Mousse to last you a number of tires. When you add up all of the benefits of running Nitro Mousses, it really doesn’t make sense to run anything else.
Nitro Mousses are a game changer. Yes, they cost a bit up front, but as the saying goes “buy the best and only cry once.” When you break up that cost over the number of tires that a Nitro Mousse will last you when properly cared for, the cost becomes more than worth it. Never getting a flat makes Nitro Mousse worth every penny, and that’s even more true if you race or if you like to ride in remote places where getting a flat could really put you in a bind. Even if you’re currently running another brand of Mousse, you need to try a Nitro Mousse. If you’ve never tried a Nitro Mousse – you need to before your next ride. Saying goodbye to flat tires forever thanks to Nitro Mousse is that good. MSRP: $120.00 each and up depending on with size you go with.
For Nitro Mousse tips and tricks: CLICK HERE
For our review of Mr Wolf Mousse Balls: CLICK HERE
