CushCore Pro Tire Inserts: Rider Review

Our "Rider Review" article series features the honest reviews from verified purchasers of Worldwide Cyclery. They contain the photos, thoughts, feedback & overall review you are looking for.

Tire inserts give you an added piece of protection and peace of mind you may not have known you needed. They're not for everybody but for heavy hitting riders smashing rock gardens and root sections or dropping bit hits, they could save you big time. Check out the following review by Alejandro to see if they're something you might consider as your next upgrade. 

Introduction

To get a set of Cushcore tire inserts or not. An upgrade for my '19 Santa Cruz Bronson I have been debating in my head for quite some time. You see, they are a pricey upgrade, hidden inside your tire makes it hard to compete against other more visible upgrades that would be more gratifying to the eye. So when my wife picked those from my "Bike Wish List" as a birthday gift and got them ordered I was stoked!

Installation

In typical Worldwide Cyclery fashion, they arrived promptly. Time to throw these in and feel what the hype was about, but first I was supposed to suffer through the
notorious, horrendous installation process right? I decided to replace the tire since my previous one had already seen the best of its life, so I ordered a new Maxxis DHR II 2.6 in its EXO+ casing. Despite the overwhelming amount of footage on youtube about how much of a pain in the behind it is to install these, for me, it went pretty straight forward. I don't want to say it was easy but definitely doable for the vast majority of riders out there. With a spray bottle of soapy water, a couple of yellow Pedro's levers, and a rag I was on my way. I must share my friend's advice after it proved totally helpful "Try to push that bead as far into the rim center channel as you can, that's the key!" So I sprayed the soapy water and used my rag to provide more grip and started patiently pushing that bead into that channel. Before you realize it you are on the other side and using the two tire levers to pop the last portion of the tire bead into the rim. Pop it, sealant, DONE!

Ride Quality

I have been riding my mountain bikes extensively for well over two years now. With a nice steep learning curve I consider myself pretty advanced. I enjoy racing enduro around central Texas where our terrain loves to slash tires and smack rims. Traction is sometimes hard to find given our loose over hard and loose rocks all over the place. I also find myself hucking to flat every now and then and dig quite a lot the fast chunky lines. I'm currently riding a 2019 Santa Cruz Bronson with a set of their Reserve 37 mm internal width wheels. Using a plus tire on these rims gives you that nice, bit-squared profile for cornering, that big volume to keep the pressure down and get extra grip, but when racing or riding high-speed chunks, your rims might be set up for failure. After a few days of rain, mixed in with a fair amount of global pandemic chaos, it was finally time to try the inserts on the trails at Reveille Peak Ranch, located in Burnet, Texas. Its definitely chunky and is one of the top riding spots we have in the Lone Star State. Is it heavy? I honestly think it is really hard to notice the weight difference, especially when throwing a new EXO+ tire. I have to say in all honesty that I loved how my bike was feeling that day! I was running my rear tire at 25 psi, the grip was there all the time, plenty of support through the chunk and drops. As far as suspension goes, despite neglecting my shock pressure for a while already it was feeling better than ever.

I am confident now that I could have gone even a bit lower with the pressure, perhaps 1-2 psi less, but why didn't you? Well, I had to bail off my bike after getting too rowdy and it so happens that the valve fell right on a rock, splitting it clean. If there is a drawback to using CushCore I must say it isn't the installation nor the weight. The only drawback I can share is having to put a tube in your tire at 12:17 pm under Texas heat & sun because you broke your valve and all the sealant squirted out. This negative experience served me well since I can include in this review that since then I have reached out to Cushcore via email and I had a replacement valve out in the mail the following day!

Verdict

I know these things could seem pricey, but if you like charging through when riding, racing and consider yourself overall an aggressive rider, you should get onboard the CushCore train. The weight penalty isn’t really noticeable and will vastly improve your bike’s handling. BTW! If like me, you wonder if at 37mm internal and 2.6 tires you should run the pro or the plus inserts go with the pro, they still provide great support and protection under these variables.