[ptkevin]

Get my Norco sight carbon the other day, and I'm out riding around the the neighborhood yesterday setting things up, and such. I jump off the curb and land in a patch of sharpish rock pebbles, and my 90$ tubeless snakeskin rear schwable racing ralph starts gushing sealant everywhere, as there is a 3-4mm gash through the middle of the tire, near the center tread. These rocks are no more than an inch in diameter, and had some edges to them, but geez, I was amazed that one took out the tire. The gap was finally sealed, but I don't think it's safe to ride the tire anymore.

Is it ok to ride with a small 3-4mm gash in the middle of a tire if it is sealed up by stan's? I'd worry that with a large amount of pressure from a jump or drop, it would burst open.

Does anyone else have similar experience with this 90$ racing ralph tubeless Snakeskin tire? Is it weak sauce, or did I just have the worst luck ever here? This bike has only been on one proper off road ride. Any chance for the tire to be warrantied?

 

[J.B. Weld]

That sucks, I'd boot it for sure.

 

[teleken]

A friend had similar experience with Ralphs after running over a rock on the trail. The rock wasn't even sharp just a chunk of granite.

Take J.B.'s advice put a boot on it Stans won't seal it permanently.

 

[Iamrockandroll13]

Yep, Ralphs are lightweight fragile junk. Shredded the pair that came on one of my bikes in 4 rides. Boot it and ride it till it dies, but don't be surprised when you have about five boots in it and it finally rips open too far for even that to save it.

 

[Procter]

Yes they are thin and they are somewhat fragile race day tires . . . But I didn't think they were that fragile. Sure there wasn't any glass in that area?

 

[meyer378]

I have had great experience with both the snakeskin and non snakeskin RR. Definitely not junk. They are xc race tires though so can be more fragile than say an AM tire. Rode through many rock gardens at speed and have yet to see any gashes after over a year on one pair.

 

[Thrawn]

Been running 29x2.25 Evo Pacestar in the rear at 20psi without fail so far... Lots of chunk at speed with no issues... They are definitely thin and caused me concern, but have been loving them for 300 miles now...

 

[Mac_Aravan]

I have good result with Double Defence version in rock garden, except that wear is a concern.

 

[Stonerider]

The RaRa I tried last year was a 2.25 SS and I never flatted it but the knobs crumbled off to nothing after a few rides. It's probably a great tire for nice dirt but rocks will eat the knobs off instantly. You'll get much better durability out of Specialized tires.