Designed, engineered, and manufactured in Finland the new Huck Norris flat protection system is designed not only so that you can ride supple sidewall mountain bike tires tubeless without fear of pinch flatting, but also so your nice lightweight rims won’t take a beating every time you roll through a rock garden. Based on a similar idea to the foam-lined, run-flat tires that have been used in rally car and motorcycle racing, Huck Norris puts a light foam band inside your tire that adds extra security while letting you preserve the better ride quality of thin sidewall tires on even the most technical trails. Plus as a side benefit, it even makes it easier to set up your tires tubeless in the first place. Check out how it works, how much it weighs, and how much it will cost you after the break…
The Finns behind Huck Norris were tired of destroying their nice lightweight trail tires riding their local trails, and even more annoyed that they were wearing out the sidewalls of expensive mountain bike tires long before the tread wore down. And at the same time they were frustrated by the stiff ride of more gravity-oriented tires that had better sidewall protection. So instead of sacrificing ride quality by adding more pressure or switching to more reinforced tires, then came up with another solution.
Such was born Huck Norris, what they call the guy that lives inside your tires to ward off pinch flats and dented rims. You may be thinking, we’ll I haven’t got pinch flats since I switched to tubeless. But for those of us riding on super rock trails and who like the trail feel of low pressures and thin sidewalls, pinch flats are still a real thing even with tubeless. And anyone who has bombed through a rock garden, has probably come out the other side of one with a fresh dent in their rims.
Huck Norris is a simple cellular foam strip that you put in your tire, and offers a bit of a cushion between the flexing/folding sidewalls of the tire in an impact. Being there it spreads the load of a hit across a wider area and cuts down on the number of sharp edges coming together to try to scrape a hole in your tire to give you a flat (even with tubeless) or to bang a flat spot into your rim. While you are riding along, Huck Norris sits in the middle of the inflated tire and just lightly touches the sidewalls. That means that is doesn’t affect the rolling feel or flex of the tire, but is there when you need it; in what should be a big improvement over stiff reinforced tire sidewalls.
At the same time as protecting your tire and rim, Huck Norris also is said to support the shape of your tire when mounting it tubeless for an easier seal and inflation.
Huck Norris comes in three sizes now to fit rims from 21-45mm internal widths and generally 2-3″ wide tires. (A fat bike version is also in the works.) All sizes were designed to fit 27.5″ or 29″ wheels, but as the company founders say, that was really because they weren’t riding any 26″ setups anymore. They tell us that if you want to use if on a 26″ bike, you can totally get creative and cut them down to fit.
It is simply a technical foam strip that you place inside your tire cavity, that engineered to withstand the sealant environment and designed to work with tubeless setups.
Why don’t you just cut down an old camp mattress yourself? Well, that’s kinda how they started prototyping the Huck Norris, but in the end they worked with a material scientist to develop a more refined foam to use that offers better protection than what you probably have lying around, and also to work better with a range of sealants. In the end the material the use is designed to be lightweight, yes still shield your tires from impacts, while also absorbing those impacts so they don’t damage your rims. It was apparently a tough balance to hit, as the stronger the foam the more it protected the rim, but was hard on light tire sidewalls themselves.
Huck Norris sells for 80€ a pair to set up one complete wheelset, and includes a plastic, strap-on fork fender that doubles as some creative packaging. The standard XC width adds just 75g for the pair to the inside of your tires, while versions up to 10mm wide for plus sized tires add just a few grams more. They are available now direct from Huck Norris either through their e-commerce site or getting in touch with the company directly.
