[Mark Palma]

Good day!
Converting to tubeless today and “why not make my tires faster” by cutting ramps on it? Haven’t seen it done or have I nit searched enough?
Tires are still good so no point of buying new ones yet budget wise.
Thanks!

 

[Nat]

...and I thought I was suffering from cabin fever

 

[Sir kayakalot]

Good day!
Converting to tubeless today and “why not make my tires faster” by cutting ramps on it? Haven’t seen it done or have I nit searched enough?
Tires are still good so no point of buying new ones yet budget wise.
Thanks!

You’re overthinking it

 

[eatdrinkride]

People have been cutting tread blocks for years. Nobody I know. I say go for it.

The worst that can happen is you degrade the braking ability. Or the traction ability.

More than likely you'll just end up with a tire you could have purchased off the shelf in the first place.

Experiments are fun though. Do it! It's just a freak'n mountain bike tire.

 

[Threesticks]

Soapy water helps the blade cut thru the rubber. I also used to use a hot blade cutter. Kinda like a razor blade attached to a soldering iron.

 

[Mark Palma]

Soapy water helps the blade cut thru the rubber. I also used to use a hot blade cutter. Kinda like a razor blade attached to a soldering iron.

Thanks for the idea! Wife has that for her crafts.. hot knife will have a smoother cut for sure. But might try it outdoors because of the burnt rubber smell though.

 

[RustyIron]

Converting to tubeless today and “why not make my tires faster” by cutting ramps on it? Haven’t seen it done or have I nit searched enough?

I admire your cleverness and motivation. Cutting ramps will certainly make your tires roll faster... assuming you don't cut them on the braking side. 🤣😲😂

Cutting grooves and sipes into tires is a racers' trick from the olden days. I'll bet you feel a big difference. Why not cut ramps into the offset knobs, as well?

 

[RIP-Mo]

Now evaluate your method using a calibrated power meter - folks will be shipping tires to you like crazy! How do ai invest in this business? 🤩

 

[justwan naride]

I own the Schwalbe tool for the job. I bought it to shorten Magic Mary sideknobs as my old ht didn't have enough clearance. I was rotating tyres then, so when the front got worn enough I shortened the knobs and moved it to the back.

At one point I modified the tread as the OP intends to. The knobs were already pretty worn so not full height, but enough to take some rubber off and create a ramp. While the old Magic Mary did get slightly faster, it also lost climbing traction, which is something I value. So for me the trade off wasn't worth it.

Keep in mind that knob spacing, height and rubber compound play a huge part in rolling resistance, creating ramps can only do so much.

 

[JB450]

Good day!
Converting to tubeless today and “why not make my tires faster” by cutting ramps on it? Haven’t seen it done or have I nit searched enough?
Tires are still good so no point of buying new ones yet budget wise.
Thanks!

I did this one night to a WTB JUDGE after buying Xuron flush shears and drinking a lot of beers. Tyre was my front tyre. Saved 18 grams!

 

[justwan naride]

I did this one night to a WTB JUDGE after buying Xuron flush shears and drinking a lot of beers.

Shears & beers. Dangerous combination, but possibly good name for a band.

 

[DGUSMC]

Shears & beers. Dangerous combination, but possibly good name for a band.

A whole new thing to brag/yap/be a dick about at trailhead lots and online forums! (With absolute certainty about why it makes one faster, cooler and able to leap tall buildings in a single hop.)

 

[Nat]

A whole new thing to brag/yap/be a dick about at trailhead lots and online forums! (With absolute certainty about why it makes one faster, cooler and able to leap tall buildings in a single hop.)

“I cut $8 worth of rubber off of my brand new, perfectly good $100 tire!”

 

[SuperStang]

There is an episode where Seth (Berm Peak) did this, but I can't remember his thoughts on it. Check if you can find it, it isn't an overly old video.

 

[baker]

Way back in the day, before fat tire availability or frames were common, I custom modified a big "downhill" tire to reduce rolling resistance for snow use on my 26er Inbred. Total PITA! Have fun...

 

[TylerVernon]

I've posted a few threads of my knob cutting adventures and it never generated much interest. I've never ramped center knobs; usually just cut them off.