The staff of All-Terrain Vehicle Magazine does much of its testing in a geographic area strewn with rocks, roots, stumps and some of the gnarliest terrain you can imagine. We get flats all the time and we hate it when it happens in the middle of a great day of riding.
No doubt you’ve experienced the frustration of tire failure and have wondered why someone hasn’t come up with a bulletproof way to prevent tires from getting holes in them.
We think we may have found the answer. We’ve been testing Rhino Tire Gel for a while now and haven’t had a flat. To bring more perspective to this story we decided we had better try harder.
As you can see, the screws inserted into the Rhino coated tire haven’t had any effect on the tire’s ability to remain inflated. What you can’t see is when the screws were extracted the semi-solid but pliable Rhino coating actually moved into the hole left by the screws. Amazingly, the tire didn’t go flat and hasn’t lost a pound of air pressure since this test.
Our first exposure to Rhino Tire Gel left us with some questions. Specifically, the issue of sidewall pinches, something we get more often than tread punctures.
Initially, the crew at Rhino were applying the coating only to the inner side of the tread surface – completely adequate for on-road vehicles like cars, trucks and motorcycles. However, soft sidewall, low pressure ATV skins need protection on the non-tread surface of the sidewall, too. Rhino has responded and is now applying the coating to sidewalls on ATV tires.
Don’t write this product off as just “more sloppy guck inside a tire”. The Rhino coating is applied evenly using a techy machine that actually sprays the coating into the tire while it’s rotating so it won’t affect wheel balance.
The coating dries to a semi-firm state that’s solid enough to stay in place but soft enough to instantly fill any holes coming from the tire’s exterior surface. The stuff feels kinda gummy but doesn’t stick to your fingers when touched. Once it’s sprayed in place and your tire is mounted, you’ll likely never see it again, and that’s good.
Our initial reaction to this innovative technology is overwhelmingly positive. We think Rhino Gel should be used in every ATV tire right from the factory. There’s no downside to having your meats coated with Rhino Tire Gel – it’s a win-win deal and we recommend it.
Go to RhinoTire.com and check out this product.
