My first set of Compass tires, $162.00 waste of money
 

Recently purchased a set of Compass tires, the Snoqualmie Pass 700 x 44 extra light tires for my Salsa Fargo. Had my LBS that sold them to me mount them as per Compass Cycles instructions. They have mounted thousands of tubeless tires and know what they are doing. 6 miles into my second ride on them on pavement the rear tire blew off the rim. Was going about 10 mph and running 50 PSI. Sounded like a gun blast and I was immediately on the rim. Stopped immediately. Took the bike back to LBS and they said it was a faulty tire, they contacted Compass who warrantied the tire and sent a new one. When they went to mount the new tire they notice that the rim was damaged beyond use again. I felt Compass should pay for a new rim and contacted them. Compass customer service sent me a link to their warranty disclaimer that says they aren't responsible for any damage caused by their faulty product. Not going to do anything for me. In their email they stated that a tire blowing off a rim is usually a undersized rim or improperly installed. I was running fairly new WTB stp i25 tubeless ready rims. They only had about 1000 miles on them. The rims had previously had two sets of tubeless tires mounted without any problems. A set of Maxxis Ramblers 700x 44 tires and a set of WTB Riddlers 700 x 37's. Neither of these sets blew off the rim. The owner of the LBS mounted them himself, he's been a bike mechanic for 20 years and told me that they were mounted correctly and seated correctly. At $82.00 per tire what a waste of money, got 23 miles total out of the tires and now am looking at a couple hundred more dollars to replace my rear hoop. Don't waste your money on Compass Cycle tires or products, they are a poor company with a poor product and no customer service, they have no interest in doing the right thing if it's a buck out of Jan's pocket. Also going back to the Maxxis Rambler tires, much better than the Compass overpriced garbage tires. Afraid to try them again and have a wreck or ruin another rim.

If the same mechanic who discovered the rim damage was the one who mounted the tire the first time around, how do you explain how "the order of events gets shuffled"?

The rim did not have prior damage, when the tire blew off the rim I was instantly on the rim on pavement. Stopped as quick as I could but the rim did spend few feet digging into pavement before I could get to a full stop. Damage is obviously from the pavement.

What order of events got shuffled? As for the bicycle shop I've been going there for 15 years, he's a top mechanic and I have no question about his ability or integrity.

This wasn't damage that was hard to see, it is obvious that it is from the rim gouging into pavement. When the tire blew off the rim it took maybe 1/2 second to be basically a bare rim on pavement with a 180 lb. body on top.

With a fairly wide rim (although this combo looks good) and blow-off, you are immediately on the rim, instant damage.

Could this be a BSD vs UST compatibility issue similar to the Schwalbe G-One's blowing off Stan's and American Classic rims?


-tim-

The rim was ground down pretty good, the LBS owner did tell me he could file it down and I could try it, he said he wouldn't probably use it if it was his rim. I'm 66 yrs old and don't want to find out the rim should of been replaced when another tire blows off at 20 mph on a downhill section.

Are you sure? Says here that the maximum recommended pressure when running tubeless is 60 PSI.

It wouldn't surprise me if it's something like that. Tubeless is unfortunately still a little bit of a crapshoot. It works fine the vast majority of the time, but there are still occasional issues with certain combinations.

Especially in a case like this where the tire is being run at a fairly high pressure per its width, it's not necessarily a bad idea to leave a new setup overnight at significantly beyond its actual riding pressures to try to rule out high-pressure-induced blow-off before use.

I don't see how they can claim they're not responsible for damage that a defective product causes. Of course they're responsible. How can it be any other way?

And even then "maximum pressure" shouldn't signify "redline" or danger insofar as the tire is concerned. There's quite a safety margin even beyond that "maximum pressure". Again, insofar as the tire is concerned. And no one in their right mind should want to wide a 45mm tire at 60PSI anyway, 50PSI is really high even then.

OP I have to as,k as I haven't seen anything listed, the i25 rim is an MTB rim. Does it have a maximum pressure you exceeded? Rims have limits from time to time--HED Belgium+ for example has a max pressure on the rim of 90PSI IIRC. Maybe something similar here? WTB doesn't even list the i25 on their site to look.

I'm seeing the WTB rim for about $54.

https://dedhambike.com/product/wtb-s...h-203266-1.htm

Your LBS should be able to get the rim for even less.

I've seen reports of costs of swapping a rijm. Assuming everything is reasonably new, true, with a good hub and bearings, then the swap should be easy, painless, and perhaps only need the new rim plus maybe nipples.

The cost of the rim plus swap (done at a LBS) should come to around $100 total. Perhaps less if your LBS gives you a discount.

You're not talking hundreds of dollars.

Warranty language almost always limits seller liability to replacing their defective product only and excludes consequential damages. That's what the OP is running into.

This doesn't mean that they couldn't be found liable through legal action, and of course this isn't the best route for customer relations either, but they know you're not going to haul them into court over a small loss. At worst you're going to go online and give them a bad review.

https://www.lexology.com/library/det...2-58116b0dab12

Compass recommends a maximum of 60PSI for all tubeless installations. It's supposedly based on avoiding putting enough force on the tire bead to cause a blow-off. But the force on the tire bead scales by both PSI and tire width, so the number ought to be higher for narrower tires than for wider tires.

This could still make sense as lawyer boilerplate, if the number were based on the widest tire in the lineup, since if it were safe for the widest then it would also be safe for the narrowest. But it's obviously not based on the widest tire, because that tire (Rat Trap Pass) has a general max PSI that's lower than the 60PSI limit.

Their tubeless max PSI recommendation should really be revised, because it looks silly right now.

Loads of companies use similar disclaimers. They're also disagreeing that the tire was defective.

OK I didn't know one can be immune from consequential damages. Oh well.

I don't think 50 psi is unreasonable for a 44mm tubeless tire.

Compass rates that particular tire I have at 75 psi, told me 50 was ideal.

I love how they put "superior comfort" and "classic appearance" under technical specifications. :lol:

They also admit that their tubeless tires leak air through the sidewall and call it a "risk." :foo:


-Tim-

I wrote WTB technical support and they told me that the rim does not have a max psi, to use the guidlines on the tire itself which what I did, Compass tire said max psi 75 lbs and I ran them at 50.

the tyres are very very good but the rims are **** (you can buy the rims here in the uk for very cheap)

get new wheels and try again :thumb:

Glad you like your Ramblers.
I had thought about buying compass, but after hearing multiple reports like yours, I think I'll stick with the ramblers.
Those Compass tires were not designed to be tubleless, and as best as I can tell they just put a not stretch bead on it and call it good. Jan doesn't like tubeless, and is only doing it because the market is kinda forcing him to.

Personally, with a tire like that, I set it up with a tube, ride it for a week or two to ensure it stretches, seats, and takes its shape properly. Then I remount it using a skinnystripper to seal the tire into a psuedo "tubeless" tire so it can't blow off or burp. That has worked for me on iffy tires, but maybe I'm lucky. Ultimately I think it depends a lot on the diameter of the tire and the wheel (which are NOT standard).

Compass tires are not great tires. I have seen many sets come in with complete side wall cuts. The side walls are very soft and supple. I honestly had no idea they were that expensive. We stopped selling they last year.
Chalk it up and grab some new tires or try running them with tubes but the sides walls are still soo soft in my opinion.