Vittoria Airliner Protect Inserts

My very first bicycle, which was a hand-me-down gift from my three cousins on my sixth birthday, had non-pneumatic tires. I say had, but that's not accurate. The bike, which seems to have been made from cast off lead pipes, is still around.

The wee red, fixed wheel safety bicycle, hanging in the back of my garage, has never had a flat, and the tires, despite looking a little haggard, are still functional 52 years and four days after my dad's first push start had me pedalling away from my cheering relations. Air filled tires would have rotted years ago, and lost air long before that. In fact, those hard rubber sausages are one of the few working elements on the bike because of the rust that has consumed the running gear.

Filling tires with air was an incredible breakthrough that revolutionized bicycles, cars and motorcycles, but they remain the bicycle's most vulnerable element. This is true for everyone from World Cup Downhill racers, to Tour de France competitors and to ordinary riders like you and I. Nothing sucks more than hearing the dreaded hiss or feeling the sickening squirm of deflation, particularly when you are on a group ride or worse, competing. This vulnerability has fuelled my interest in the seemingly simplistic pool noodles some of us put in our tires. Not only do they prevent flats and protect our rims, the best examples will allow you to finish a ride with a completely deflated tire.

Tire inserts have come a long way. The first time mountain biking saw them, it was by accident. And most everyone missed it. Aaron Gwin flatted and crashed and his Flat Tire Defender was laid bare for all to see. Since that first manufacturer, many new brands have sprung up. Tire manufacturers have been largely absent from that list but Vittoria is an exception. The company entered the game relatively early and has been refining designs and releasing new models recently, including the promising Airliner Protect model seen here.

Given the choice between the trail model and the E-Bike model, I chose the latter. This version has more volume but only weighs 145g (29er) and 135g (27), or about half the weight of Cushcore Pro. Both of these models share the teacup profile I have had the most success with in terms of puncture protection, sidewall support and run flat capability. They seemed to tick all the boxes but I've said that before, most recently about the ultimately disappointing Panzer inserts.

Trail Time

My experience riding Airliners has been mostly positive. I haven't flatted with them installed, despite occasionally running very low pressure, they have provided good support, and they are far lighter than a conventional mountain bike tube. One element that I was uncertain about was run-flat performance. I had taken a couple of shots at that but I realized it wasn't really a fair fight. While Vittoria designates these as suitable for tires between 2.4" and 2.6" wide, they don't work particularly well at the upper end of the scale, and the Goodyear Wrangler 27x2.6" tires I was using them in are also at the upper end of even 2.6" tire width measurements.

Install Part Deux

Normally, a tire with good sidewall support and run flat properties pushes against the tire's sidewall so you can feel it when you give it a squeeze. With the Wranglers it was obvious there was a void of air between insert and tire that compromised these characteristics. They weren't terrible but when run flat, they felt indistinct in a straight line and quite loose cornering. It wasn't a fair fight.

I removed them from my We Are One Arrival which is running the Wranglers, and installed them in the Schwalbe radial tires on the Santa Cruz Vala I have been testing. This time around the install was trickier because of how much volume these inserts. They were a breeze to install on the Goodyears but with the Schwalbe 2.5s, which are on the small side of that measurement, I need to first inflate and and seat the tire and then remove one side. Otherwise there wasn't room for the Airliners to be pushed into place. Once the inserts were stuff in, it was tricky to get the remaining bead to stuff into the rim around all that volume but after a little encouragement and some deep breaths, everything locked into place.

Running Flat

I climbed to Fromme and up most of the climbing trail with regular pressures and when I came to the first downhill, which is part way up the climber, I let out almost all of the air. I'd guess I left between four and six psi in the rear. I continued on and was surprised to notice... pretty much nothing. Sidewall support was solid, the rear tire was a little noisier but not much, and the ride feel was soft but distinct.

Once I finished the climb I knew more dramatic action was required and I let out the remaining air, rolling the tire back and forth to ensure I'd expelled as much as possible. For this section of the ride I wanted a little speed and lots of corners so Expresso was up. I didn't stop at the entrance and there was another guy who was eyeing up the start. I asked him if he wanted to go and he waved me on. "Let me know when you want to pass," I told him, considering my compromised state.

By this point the tire was a little noisier but I couldn't feel much else. Straight line performance was distinct and trustworthy and corners felt fine as well. I even rode along the skinny leading in to Expresso Smooth and dropped in with full confidence, on a flat tire. This isn't a terribly difficult move but you ride a narrow plank that's relatively high in the air before dropping in to a steep rock roll. It would not be possible if your tire was squirming. I was pretty blown away to discover this was possible.

Smashing

After that I tried to squeeze a little more air out of the tire, expecting the other rider to pass me shortly. I got another wee puff out and saddled up without seeing him and carried on. As things got more bermy, I gradually put more pressure on the rear wheel and was riding remarkably close to full speed. I was clearing gaps and making precise moves, and intentionally aiming my rear wheel at rocks and obstacles, unable to hear any rim strikes or sickening clangs of contact.

Once I got to the bottom there was a section of power line with lots of square-edged rocks embedded in the hardpan. I manualled* into these with as much weight as possible on the rear tire and then went and did it again. At the end of the section there is a curb that sticks up out of the ground at the edge of the road. I manualled into that twice at speed as well, and felt nothing.

*When I say "manualled" I mean I lifted the wheel up long enough to allow all my weight to be on my rear wheel, rather than a sustained manual which is beyond my current level of expertise.

My motivation for this savage bike abuse was to discover how the Airliner Protects deal with big hits. After being disappointed with the performance of the Panzers in this regard, with much less abuse, I needed to be sure they wouldn't entirely shred under pressure. After I got home I set about removing the insert for inspection. I assumed this would be an easy job and that the bead would no longer be seated. Instead it was locked in place quite securely and I battled a little with the removal.

As you can see above, there was some impact damage, almost certainly related to me abusing the rear wheel by smashing into curbs and square edged bumps as much as possible, and descending without any air pressure. Discovering no damage at all would have been great but I consider this amount reasonable considering how hard I was trying to damage the foam. The insert seems entirely usable as well, although I may apple a little adhesive to shore up the worst damage.

Final Verdict

If your goals for inserts are flat and rim protection, light weight and run flat performance, these may be just the ticket for you. If you don't mind a little extra weight and prefer something that will last longer, Cushcore might be a better choice. Overall though I'm very impressed with these, both on the two pedal bikes and the two eMTBs I used them on. They have their limitations on high volume tires because they aren't wide enough to be in constant contact with the sidewalls, but in a 2.5 they provide an excellent ride, are nice and light, and they run flat at about 95% and should get you out of almost anywhere.

Vittoria Airliner Protect E-Bike 60 EU