Cube Reaction Race 500 Puncture Issues and Limited Tyre Choice

[Stephen Gray]

My 4 month old Cube is very good in most respects, bar one. I ride mainly on local cycle ways, poorly maintained (Gateshead) and have had 2 punctures front and back.

Removing the Swalbe Smart Sam 29 x2.6 tyres to remove the tubes is very difficult. The tyre beads seem almost welded to the rims. Plastic tyre levers snap.

Using Park Tools steel core levers proved essential to remove the tubes.

Replacing the tubes is no better, I find it nearly impossible to fit a new tube without puncturing the tube, in several places during fitting.

I do not consider myself an idiot, having performed the same process on numerous other bikes, without problems.

What I really want is a more urban puncture resistant tyre. Guess what ? Simply cannot find one in 29x2.6 size. The rims are branded as 30mm wide.

I have given up on tubes. Evans are fitting a Stans tubeless kit, no labour charge as a gesture of goodwill.

Anybody else having this problem ?

Anybody from Cube looking at the forum ?

 

[Gringo]

Humm, Do your rims have a depression or smaler diameter in the centre where the nipples seat ? I find by fully deflating the tyre and holding the bead in to the depression on one edge of the wheel, you can get the oposit side off with a leaver ( sometimes a little soapy water helps )

I had a Cube 29er with original cube wheels and a pr of Shimano MT35's, 2.1" smart Sam plus tyres, also 2.1" & 2.25" big apples and a pr of 45mm land cruisers, all with wired bead. I found Plastic leavers more than good enough swapping this lot around.

PS I didn't think Schwalbe did the Smart Sam in 29 x2.6" I know you can get a 27 X 2.6"
When my new bike turns up I may be tempted to swap the OEM tyres (too soft for my riding) for a pr of smart Sam 29 X 2.25 DD racegard tyres

 

[Gubbins]

A few points..
I add a little air to the tube before fitting as I find it's less likely to get pinched when refitting the tyre.
I bought a tyre jack for removing stubborn tyres..
Finally I fitted slime tubes although your now tubeles setup should be better than those..

 

[Ballynoes]

I have exactly the same bike Stephen, sorry to say that I have never had a puncture, and it's been over some gnarly stuff, I love the tyres, but that’s not what you wanted to hear.


I do however know what you mean about getting the tyres on and off, as I practice this with every new bike/tyre combo I get, so when out on the trail I know what to expect. And the Cube is a pig to get the tyres off.


I watched lots of videos of “difficult” tyres to remove, from so called experts, yeah right, they all came off with their thumbs, at one point I had to use a large flat blade screwdriver to unseat the tyre beads.


I did find this YouTube video after I could not get the tyres off my full sus bike. Well worth watching, and I use this on my other bike which NO tyre lever will shift.

The other point is each wheel tyre combination is different, you might find if you get new tyres, they will come off easier.



I have also found out through, multiple punctures myself (on another bike) there are various compounds of exactly the same tyre, from light to heavy, ie, thin to dead thick.


If you find you are getting lots of punctures, I would go for the heavy compound tyres, they are much "thicker" and more puncture resistant, but have different properties in other ways, however unless you are a downhill champion I doubt the ordinary cyclist will notice much difference.


This gives an insight into compounds, lots more if you Google.


https://www.worldwidecyclery.com/blogs/worldwide-cyclery-blog/which-maxxis-tire-is-right-for-you



Its just a case of finding the tyre which suits your style and type of riding, but having the wide 2.6 tyres limits your choice. Google makes of tyres and you will find what others think, but I would go for heavier compounds, and practice at home in the shed first, remember you might still need to get a tubeless tyre off if the sealant doesn’t work one day.


Good Luck

 

[Gubbins]

I carry one of these for the marathon plus...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Kool-Stop-Tire-Bead-Jack/dp/B001AYML7K

 

[Ballynoes]

All good advice above but NONE of it worked on my Calibre Bossnut full sus bike, as the tyre would not move from the bead.

Once its off the bead its a simple enough process, that's when I discovered the video above, and to this day it's the only way I can unseat those b**tard tyres ...

 

[RobF]

Tubeless ready rims have a ledge for the bead to seal on which can make removing the tyre difficult.

Tubes and tubeless ready rims - as supplied on many bikes - is really the worst of both worlds.

I've now gone tubeless, but before I used the large end of a wooden hammer handle to break the bead seal.

 

[footpump]

used to have a mtb with kenda tires, always getting punctures and tire would literaly fall of the rim,but easy to replace.
my Halfords subway one also had kenda tires, I fitted a moter kit, and the first puncture I got I was still able to ride on the pavement to go to local lbs without tire coming off , must have had steel bead.

my spec sirrus elite with 700x28c armadillo tires were a nightmare to remove, plastic tyre levers just bent.

 

[trillium11]

I was also plagued by punctures on my cube during my daily commute and sods law means its always going to happen when its dark, lashing ice rain and howling wind . I also struggled to get the tyres off but brute force and levers always did the trick. I soon ripped the stock Shwalb tyres off and fitted nobbly maraphon plus and never looked back, not another puncture in 800 miles up to now (fingers crossed)

 

[georgehenry]

If you are running swalbe smart sam tyres and are happy with them why not get a pair of the swalbe smart sam plus puncture resistant tyres that are the same but don't get punctures.

 

[Gringo]

why not get a pair of the swalbe smart sam plus puncture resistant tyres that are the same but don't get punctures.

A quick look a schwalbe's web site and I don't see the plus tyres anymore however I do see they now do a "DD" tyre ( double defence ) no reduction in performance but exelent protection that would be my first choice
https://www.schwalbe.com/en-GB/offroad-reader/smart-sam.html

 

[Deno]

I was also plagued by punctures on my cube during my daily commute and sods law means its always going to happen when its dark, lashing ice rain and howling wind . I also struggled to get the tyres off but brute force and levers always did the trick. I soon ripped the stock Shwalb tyres off and fitted nobbly maraphon plus and never looked back, not another puncture in 800 miles up to now (fingers crossed)

This is what I did following a sidewall split on a rapid rob on my Cube 29er.

I think that the Cube branded schwalbes supplied on the bikes are lower spec than what you can buy independently. I complained that the tyre had split and chainreaction (to their credit) supplied a different tyre as it was all that they had in stock, this was a smart sam plus MTB with greenguard and interestingly it is spec'ed as 'ebike 50' ready, which I take it as a higher spec for ebikes upto 50kmh. Some of the marathon MTB's are similarly spec'ed.

 

[Ducknald Don]

I dumped my Smart Sams after 5 punctures in the first 1100 miles, they didn't seem that grippy either. I also had some problems fitting them, they needed some soapy water before they would seat properly. As I'm mostly riding on the road I replaced them with Continental Contact II Touring tyres.

 

[michael1971]

hi steve. i have the red/orange 2018 reaction race. i've had it since october and done about 500 miles. no problems. i don't live that far from you in sunderland. so similar trails i expect. i've done the commute to durham, hamsterly , chopwell and even thrunton woods.
even though i'd had no problems i decided to go tubeless over xmas. just so i could run lower pressures.
i had to google for tips on how to get the tyre off. in the end i laid the wheel flat and stood on oppposing sides of the tyre to break the seal.
tubeless with the stock smart sams was easy on the front but required repeated attempts on the rear. all sorted now.
by the way i had the spacer in the forks removed so they are now at 120mm travel. the tyre and fork combo make it such a comfortable bike.

 

[The Bear]

Ive got the 2018 Cube Reaction Race and have only had to change the inner tube on the rear wheel once. The tyre and tube came off easily, and I used three Park Tools blue plastic tyre levers.

 

[BazP]

I fitted 28" Schwalbe Landcruisers to my Trek 29er with no problem as they are basically 700c rims. Done 1600 miles on them.

 

[Stephen Gray]

I must say a big THANK YOU to everybody who has posted.

The video from Ballynoes is very useful. I had used a vice, from another you tube video at one stage, at home of course.

Evans now have the Stan's kit , so I hope this works.

I will still bear in mind a better protected tyre suitabe for these wide 30mm rims.

 

[soundwave]

I will still bear in mind a better protected tyre suitabe for these wide 30mm rims.


Schwalbe super gravity pita to get on tho!

 

[Solrighal]

A long time ago my Dad told me to deflate then reinflate my tyres every month or so, specifically to avoid the bead sticking to the rim. I still do it.

 

[Stephen Gray]

Yesterday Evans fitted two Maxxis Ardent 2.4 inch tubeless tyres. So far fine.

I hope this resolves the previous issues.