Airless Tires--Experience and Considerations

[Jeffrey Ritter]

I have been impressed by the new technology improvements in airless tires, notably those promoted by Tannus. I would welcome any experience within the tribe with these tires, suggestions or fair warnings. Seems, particularly for training, these could be quite useful.

Thanks in advance.

 

[RojoRacing]

I think @LarryOz has a pair

 

[jond]

Yes Larry reviewed them after sustaining a few offs from flats on went the red tannus tyres.

He found them understandably a little slower.

His thread was titled solid tannus tire testing on v 20.

I searched tannus and posts by Larry oz. dated 2015.

 

[Suz]

I have tannus tires on my S30. They are noticeably slower and oddly slick. The concept is great but I won’t buy another set.

 

[bladderhead]

I have them on my Grasshopper. I feel the bumps a bit more, even though the bike has springs at both ends. The steering feels a twitchy. I keep worrying about skidding.

 

[LarryOz]

I have been impressed by the new technology improvements in airless tires, notably those promoted by Tannus. I would welcome any experience within the tribe with these tires, suggestions or fair warnings. Seems, particularly for training, these could be quite useful.

As stated above, they are significantly slower. I did not notice they were "slick" or worried about going down - but of course you are going slower - so if you did it would not scrape off much skin.
They also had different types of tires for different applications - maybe different rubber
They were a challenge to put on and take off, and the little clips that snapped into the rim seemed to make a little ticking noise at certain speeds. It was odd.
I think this technology can only get better. They claimed that you only lost about 1kph, but it was much higher from what I remember without looking back at the thread. Maybe 3-4 kph. If you are training with power it doesn't really matter though, but it would make it harder to keep up with the "A" group. Hey Jason - that is what you should do instead of wear your vest!
Jeffrey - I still have mine hanging in my garage. I will bring them to the next CMS and let you try them out if you like.

 

[Jeffrey Ritter]

Thanks Larry. I first looked at them last year and, since then, they have introduced different tread types and "pressure" types, so it appears fairly customizable. You are right that I train with power, so speed is less of an issue except in racing. What I do know, remembering seeing you repairing a flat at Ramble last year, is that doing so can be a bit more than normal, esp. on our front wheels. Yes, do please bring them along to CMS-we will be there on May 1 and then roll up to Ohio for Calvins. If you don't have the clips, let me know and I will order them. Thanks!

 

[hurri47]

I have a high-mileage friend who got sick of fixing flats on her trike and went with Tannus. She loved them at first, seeing only a mild performance hit. Eventually the other kind of high mileage - the calendar kind - kicked in and the performance hit became unacceptably large. She is back on pneumatics again - Marathon Plusses I think - and is enjoying her restored range.

-Dan

 

[RojoRacing]

As stated above, they are significantly slower. I did not notice they were "slick" or worried about going down - but of course you are going slower - so if you did it would not scrape off much skin.
They also had different types of tires for different applications - maybe different rubber
They were a challenge to put on and take off, and the little clips that snapped into the rim seemed to make a little ticking noise at certain speeds. It was odd.
I think this technology can only get better. They claimed that you only lost about 1kph, but it was much higher from what I remember without looking back at the thread. Maybe 3-4 kph. If you are training with power it doesn't really matter though, but it would make it harder to keep up with the "A" group. Hey Jason - that is what you should do instead of wear your vest!
Jeffrey - I still have mine hanging in my garage. I will bring them to the next CMS and let you try them out if you like.

But I'm all about going stupid fast DH and that means hard cornering and I don't trust anything but a good quality clincher tire with air for that. I've run foam inserts in the motocross bike for racing and even though it meant no chance of pinch flats it completely ruined the feel I wanted out of my tires. If I ever set myself up with that perfect 5-15 mile commute that I can do every day I'll seriously consider solid tires for the piece of mind of not being late to work.