Hello, I'm fairly new to MX and am interested in finding out what tire sizes the top riders use. I have 19" ITPs w/10" wheels on front and 18" ITPs w/10" wheels on rear. I am considering getting beadlock wheels because of all the flat's I get with my 10" rears.

1. Do beadlocks do a sure job of keeping dirt out of the sidewall resulting in a flat tire?
2. It seems to me that most top mx riders use 8" or 9" wheels in the rear. I would assume that this is for one, because they have lesser potential of getting flats from wheel damage and dirt getting into the sidewall, and two they get a little bit better suspension because of the extra "sidewall" height.

Any thoughts on these two subjects from people who have experience?

 

1. It's very rare that beadlock get dirt in between the bead and the tire, they do load up on the inside of the wheel, but you could get wheel covers to prevent that.

2. The reason for the 8 or 9 inch wheels is that you could run them at lower pressure (to get more traction) without getting a pinch flat or bending the rim. Smaller wheels are also structurely stronger and lighter.

I had 18 inch tire on 10 wheels and I had to have them pumped up like a car tire to keep from messing them up when I took a jumps. Then they where pumped so high that they would not grip on anything but asphalt.

I also noticed that they (the 10 wheel and tire combo) weighted about 2-3 lbs more per tire than the 8 inch wheel tire combo.