in the cross-training series we're often asked whether tubes tubeless or mooses are the best as usual we say we've got no idea and why would you trust our Kumbi opinion anyway so we compiled all the info we could find from guys who are hopefully less clueless that we are look there's definitely no best product it's more a matter of what might suit you best if you've got a very short attention span here is the ultra short summary and if you are still hanging in there here's the summary of the pros and cons of each just pause to read and now it's time for the ad break in case you want to go to the toilet Moose's I used mooses in two events and it's very cool knowing that nothing will stop you short of the tire falling apart it's also very cool being able to have that big boyfriend on the ground if the Moose is soft enough but when you hit nasty terrain hard it provides that extra protection for your rims as well top riders can smash a rim badly and get it out of shape but the Moose will do the best job of preventing this it also gives you plenty of joke material for sexual innuendo however there are plenty of potential drawbacks so while they'll be very common in extreme enduros plenty of riders debate a player worth the hassle for everyday dirt riding unless you are hitting rocks tree roots and the line hard and fast performant moose fanatics get upset I will say some of these potential issues can be minimized eg if you match the correct moose to the correct iron and use it with lubricant and aren't doing a lot of high speed riding you can make the Moose last of the same distance as your rear tire although that's still an expensive option in the long run many say that once you learn the right system then removal and fitting part all that tedious as a lot of guys saying tubeless a great all-round system it got off to a slightly shaky start as a small percentage of guys had some teething issues with the first generation tubeless but these were ironed out in the second generation almost all the issues now are related to guys not following the instructions properly even at low pressures the tubeless provides good protection against dinging your rims because the high pressure tube burns up the sidewall of the tire but it's not quite up there with the Moose in this regard but as mentioned it's a good all-round system because it has a lot of the features of the loose and less of the drawbacks one of the best features is running off the low pressure Snoddy terrain then being a pump enough fast rides or on the road mind you they aren't DOT approved in the USA somehow are down cops are going to ping you for this however if you often ride hard and fast in areas with sharp pointed rocks these would punch through the tire the thick red protective strip and the big energy you either need to put more air in or go for losses that is the sort of [ __ ] Moose's our design or and you just accept the drawbacks after trying all three over the years Airbus is my favorite but I won't bore you to tears just see my review here for more info if you think they might suit you tubes there's nothing wrong with the old-school approach of using tubes especially if you aren't riding in tough terrain not bothering with low air pressure for better traction and you don't mind carrying the necessary tools for fixed punctures out on the trail new bodies come fitted with thin light tubes that are easy to puncture but most good riders swap them out for heavy-duty tubes to reduce punctures there are also ultra heavy-duty tubes which can allow low air pressure and still provide pretty good resistance to punctures problem is they're bloody heavy and usually use a rubber compound that patches no stick will do so most riders tend to carry spare tubes with none if you just cruise through easy terrain with higher air pressures then tubes are potentially the cheapest system in the long run remember there is plenty of overlap with all these systems for example you'll find guys had an extreme enduro man using all three systems but mind you tubes are getting fairly rare likewise you'll find all three systems being used the dual sports riding or both losses will be rare so there you have it a pacing summary to start with just do your own research for more details we should also mention there are two other quite new options tire balls and Blantyre defender these could be worth checking out as well