SIP Tubeless Rims: 6-Month Review

Almost six months after starting to use a pair of SIP tubeless rims on a daily basis, I can safely say that I've come to a few conclusions. First, there's the convenience of the whole thing or specifically, the lack of it. Everything's all fine when things go to plan but when there are problems (i.e. punctures), nothing beats the old split rims for convenience.

Maybe I'm just a bit old-fashioned but with the standard split rims, once recovered from a puncture, all that one would have to do is to get themselves a new tube and the whole wheel can be re-assembled in the comfort of home. No hassle. With the tubeless combo, unless there's the right equipment at hand (or you're this dude), a puncture would basically mean a visit to your local garage, dealer, bike shop, etc.

Of course, not wanting to give up that easily on my scootering investment, I got myself some Slime Tire Sealant. Slime won't theoretically save a tire if a 6-inch rusty nail decides to get acquainted with it but for the odd shard of glass, thumb tack or other nasty object that might lie in waiting on a road near you, the tire sealant should be just fine. Hopefully, this €15 investment should save me a couple of trips to the scooter dealer.

That's that negative point sorted but there's another issue that I realised on one of my regular online window shopping visits to SIP - the spare wheel. When the question was raised on the site's forum, I initially thought it was quite silly. Surely, if the tubeless rims were meant to fit the Vespa's standard hub, they should also fit on the PX's spare wheel holder under the side panel.

So, do they fit?

Yes and no. The standard split rims are 2.10 wide while the tubeless ones that I have are the 2.50 x 10 variety. The wider profile which is intended to make tubeless tire-fitting a lot easier, has the disadvantage of restricting the rim from being fully inserted into the spare wheel holder's designated studs. I tried to do this on the normal (valve outwards) side and on the reverse side as well but unfortunately, it didn't work on both attempts.

The good thing is, by placing the wheel on the reverse side, the wheel actually sits into place, supported by the Vespa's battery. The wheel still can't be properly secured to the two studs but with the side panel on, it would still be possible to get around with a spare wheel if needed. I tried this myself and spent around half a day going around town in start-stop, city centre traffic without any problems. I was expecting weird sounds from the loose wheel under the side panel but didn't hear a thing. It might be a problem at higher, motorway speeds though. Obviously, not an ideal solution and not to my liking but still, it's good to know anyway.

Thinking about it again, I bought the tubeless rims primarily for two reasons - the added safety it offered and the bling factor (especially with the polished aluminium ones that I bought). On both counts, the rims delivered so, although the issues mentioned above are a bit annoying, I'm viewing them as part of a getting used to process for an all-new way of scootering, for the moment.

Vespa PX: Near Farmleigh

Friday was an absolutely gorgeous day and it was an excuse to take the long (non-potholed) route home. Unfortunately, the day just didn't end too well. On the way home from a friend's place after the now usual weekly game of football, I struggled to control the Vespa and soon enough realised that there was a puncture in the rear tire. Again. Dammit.

Why do punctures and breakdowns normally happen at the worst possible times? In the middle of the night/in the small hours of the morning, on nights with freezing temperatures, in the middle of pouring rain but never, never on a bright, sunny and dry day. Maybe those days are just too good to be ruined by a puncture or a stuffed carb.

Anyway, this is the second time within the space of a few months that a puncture has happened to the same tire. Maybe it's a dodgy tire or maybe it's a dodgy rim. I hope to find out soon enough...

Leather Gloves Time

Yes, it looks like the good weather's back. I noticed it on the weekend when I realised that it was too warm to wear my regular winter gloves. I was heading out to get some regular maintenance done on the Vespa as I starting to get worried about the scooter's handling.

At first, I thought it was just the wet and frosty roads that was affecting the Vespa's ride but with the recent warmer and drier weather, my theory was immediately thrown out the window. Basically on cornering, the rear wheel can only be described as "slippery" even when its been dry for days on end.

The blame then fell on the rear combo of SIP tubeless rim and previously punctured Heidenau K58 tyre. Various worst case scenarios included cracked rim (not surprising with the Road to Baghdad that's Phoenix Park's Chesterfield Avenue these days) and a botched puncture repair on the tyre. I didn't have a tyre pressure gauge handy (left the one I had at the office desk for some reason...) so, I popped out to the nearest garage. The tyre presure was fine and I was stumped.

My next theory would be the rear shock but considering I've no budget to have that changed to some "decent" Bitubo ones these days (bleeding car needing repairs to the tune of over €500 just last week), I'll settle for some unstable cornering or avoid bends and stay on the straight and narrow. Not too bad when the weather's as good as this. Long may it last...

Every Cloud Has a Sito Lining

My Vespa's breakdown couldn't have happened at a worse time. The mechanic I normally send my Vespa to, couldn't have been busier. There were paint jobs to finish off, some insurance claim cases and a long queue of scooters awaiting some much needed TLC. So, a little delay was quite acceptable.

What wasn't acceptable was the state of the Green Vespa's rear tyre. I sort of knew it needed to be replaced some time soon but if I didn't have any problems with the Vespa, I  wouldn't have bothered looking closely at it until it was probably too late. There was basically no thread left on the tyre at all. Of course, I grabbed this opportunity and got myself the replacement Heidenau K58s. This time, in tubeless form to go with my all-new SIP tubeless rims. I can't wait when I finally get those rims on the Vespa...

I was going to get the tyres at my default dealer of choice, SIP Scootershop but as they couldn't be bothered with stocking the tubeless version of the Heidenaus I wanted, I decided to give their competitors in Cologne a try. Scooter Center have been gaining a good reputation within the scootering community in these parts, as a viable alternative to SIP especially since some quality issues (both service and goods) have started to creep in the Bavarian company's business of late. Hopefully, the competition would give SIP a good kick in the behind and they'd start to buck-up soon.

In addition to the long-needed tyres, I also managed to convince myself that I desperately needed a Sito Plus as a replacement for my old, rusty, bog-standard exhaust. Theoretically, the Sito Plus should give me that extra bit of power to drag me over a steep-ish hill and also allow me to safely compete with what seems like an ever-growing number of 50cc mopeds at traffic lights. Theoretically.

Seven days (and counting) being Vespa-less is quite bad and is testing my patience with Dublin's traffic but at least now, I've got a couple of things to look forward to.

SIP Tubeless Rims

I caved in. I just couldn't take it anymore and somehow, in my head, I justified to myself why I needed to have the rims even though there were already a perfectly decent pair of ScootRS tubeless ones lying in my living room.

Having copped that the rims were back in stock after a long, long wait, I quickly grabbed my credit card and quickly punched in my details. I have to give it to SIP though. That single green bar with what seemed like a warning of sorts (This article will soon be sold out) when you hover it, did the trick for me. I was so frightened that I would miss my one gleaming chance to get my hands on these rims, I ditched everything else and placed my order. (Note: A week on and it still says the same though).

Polished aluminium. Mmmmm....

SIP valve caps. A nice touch

That was late last week and when Monday came along, DHL were at my door with my rims (along with some other freebies that the good guys at the company decided to throw in the box). It never ceases to amaze me how companies like SIP shift their stuff to customers so quickly but what didn't amaze me this time around was the missing hexagonal and dome-type nuts that were meant to be included with the rims. In fairness, one of the rims had them in its box but the other one clearly didn't.

I immediately went online and popped a complaint to the company. I wasn't expecting much but by Wednesday morning I had received a text message telling me that the nuts had been delivered. I checked my email and there was an email reply from the company saying that the missing nuts were on their way, all within 24 hours after I put in my complaint. Now that's what I call customer service. German efficiency is definitely a well-earned reputation.

Engineered in Bavaria. Made in the People's Republic of China. Or maybe Taiwan?

Now, all I need are some good tubeless tyres to get me going on these rims...

Killing Two Birds With One Stone

I've always liked Lego. Even these days when I bring my kids a long to the toy shop, I'd head straight to the Lego section. So, it wasn't surprising to me or my wife that while planning for our holidays next summer (hopefully), I somehow ended up on the Legoland homepage.

The first Legoland (yes, there's a few of them) that came to mind was the one in Windsor, England. I had done some work around the area over the last few years and I was relatively familiar with the place. A safe bet and a good Plan B if all else fails. Of course, one couldn't just ignore the home of Lego in Denmark but something else caught my eye while browsing the site - Legoland Deutschland.

Germany, although not your traditional tourist haunt does seem to be the most economically viable option in these times of recession. It's within the Eurozone so, there'd be none of this exchange rate nonsense, flights from Ireland to Germany always seem on the cheaper end and now, one other thing.

Yes, that giant Lego man standing over the town of Gunzburg in the middle of the map, is where Legoland Deutschland is supposed to be.  While looking at the map and the accompanying directions, it was quite evident to me that Munich was the closest city. Then, something else came to mind. What else was around the area?

I knew Landsberg am Lech sounded familiar. The fact that it was conveniently located halfway between Legoland and Munich (well, sort of) made it even better. The kids (and errr...Daddy too) could have all the fun at Legoland and I could squeeze in half a day somewhere to pop over to the home of SIP Scootershop. It's not Pontodera or Mauro Pascoli's legendary Vespa museum but it's certainly close.

Now, all I need to do is save up for the flights, accommodation, scooter goodies(!) and what not. Oh, and there's also the small matter of finding something that might interest the wife while in the area to make it the near-perfect holiday plan.

Any suggestions?