Product Spotlight – 45NRTH Hüsker Dü 26 x 4.8 Tires

Some time ago, 45NRTH released their tried & true Hüsker Dü in a 4.8″ width. Mi amigo Adam Blake had a pair and told me that they were the cat’s pajamas and hell man,  Jay Petervary rode a set on his Salsa Blackborow a thousand miles to Nome in the ITI. I’ve never tried to hide my love for really fat, moderately knobbed, fast rolling fat bike tires that possess a supple casing. It just so happens that just about perfectly describes the 45NRTH 4.8″ Hüsker Dü. One might easily add lightweight to the adjectives that describe the Hüsker Dü. That’s especially true when compared with other 4.8″ tires that are out there today. Let’s get right into the data, shall we?

Lab Notes

The two tires weighed in at 1345 &1355 grams. With the tire laid out flat the bead to bead measured 260 mm and the tread to tread width was 140 mm. When mounted on 100mm rims at ten psi the casing measured 124 mm wide and the tread to tread was 119 mm. The Gnomie Award Winning knob profile of the Hüsker Dü measured with a fancy digital tire depth gauge breaks down like this: Shoulder Knobs – 4.6 mm, Outer Intermediate Knobs – 3.3 mm, Inner Intermediate Knobs – 4.0 mm, Center Knobbage – 3.0 mm. I should really get a clipboard and a note pad for the shop but at least this way, I’m repurposing something before it gets recycled.

I like to think that I have a strong tubeless game, but this particular set of tires put up quite a tussle when it came time to mount them on a Set of HED BFR 100 mm wide rims. I got overconfident and skipped the step of pre-training the bead. I didn’t turn them inside out for a day before I tried to do a wet transfer after taking off Bud and Lou, I tried to get the beads to snap into place to no avail. My tubeless tire wizardry had met its match. So I put tubes in and inflated the tubes to set the beads. Opened one side of the bead and removed the tube, installed the tubeless valve and it still wouldn’t snap into place. Mind you, I’m using an air compressor in this battle. So I put tubes back in and inflated them to max pressure and let them sit for a few days and moved them from the super cold garage to the warm shop. After that, I took the tubes out and they snapped into place dry (no sealant). I injected 4 oz of Orange Seal Sub Zero Sealant and they’ve behaved very well since.

the proud bird with the golden tail

The wheel measured 94 7/16″ in circumference and that translates to a 30.06″ tall wheelset. I’m going to try to find some sweet groomed singletrack and maybe some spring beach riding to see how these big fat Hüsker Düs float my boat so look for a full review somewhere down the trail amigos!

For more information visit – https://45nrth.com/products/husker-du-4point8

About Gomez 2576 Articles
Just an old cat that rides bikes, herds pixels, ropes gnomes and sometimes writes stories. I love a good story.

7 Comments

  1. Always loved the band. Roll up on a set listening to “New Day Rising “ pure heaven.
    Think of the 4” as the “Land Speed Record “
    and the 4.8” more of like “Warehouse Songs and Stories “

  2. Neat tires.

    You name dropped JP at the top. Aka “cheatervary”.

    Ever asked him to go on record about his many instances of being busted cheating in endurance events?

    Your readers ought to know the truth, especially if you keep dropping his name as though he has credibility.

  3. How about an updated performance review in all conditions? There’s not much out there about these tires…

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