Pro Tip - Just Say NO - Tannus "Tires"

[Robert Holler]

Please... I am begging everyone... just say NO to these ridiculous "solid" tires. "Tannus" or whatever... they are NOT good and also not safe. John Boyd Dunlop invented the first air bike tire in 1887 to save his son from headaches he had while riding his bike on - SOLID tires. His son also raced his wild new invention against other old school solid tire cyclists and he blew them out of the water winning races left and right. Why? Because solid "tires" are DUMB.

Vehicles that are suitable to "solid tires" include:

Horse and buggy wagons crossing the Oregon Trail
Baby strollers
Mars rovers



Fast forward to 2023 I still have to contend with these things - as people doing the marketing hype suck people in - as if they are "new" technology. They aren't. Unless there is some miracle of the cosmos that makes them better - and proven better - and as safe or safer than air tires - they aren't.

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

 

[castlerobber]

Did someone mention Oregon Trail?

 

[Bill Wightman]

I agree. I fell for it back in 23mm days and had ringing in my hands after just 30 minutes of riding on concrete and they are so slow. On the flip side, if you are riding bigger tires, the Tannus liner works really well to stop any flats. I use them on 29" x 2.5" tires on my trekking DF in combo with a kevlar shield. Slows me down a little but I don't care, strictly a 10-12 mph sidewalk and dirt trail bike. No flats for a couple years now. Good for flats, bad for speed, slightly pricey. Put the liner next to the tube and the Kevlar shield outside the liner if you use both. The Kevlar shield can rub and cut the tube over time if next to it.

 

[Beano]

If you are worried about punctures just fit some Marathon+ tyres - problem solved.

The ride will only be slightly less harsh than if you were riding with Tannus tyres fitted.

 

[Tuloose]

Please... I am begging everyone... just say NO to these ridiculous "solid" tires. "Tannus" or whatever... they are NOT good and also not safe. John Boyd Dunlop invented the first air bike tire in 1887 to save his son from headaches he had while riding his bike on - SOLID tires. His son also raced his wild new invention against other old school solid tire cyclists and he blew them out of the water winning races left and right. Why? Because solid "tires" are DUMB.

Vehicles that are suitable to "solid tires" include:

Horse and buggy wagons crossing the Oregon Trail
Baby strollers
Mars rovers



Fast forward to 2023 I still have to contend with these things - as people doing the marketing hype suck people in - as if they are "new" technology. They aren't. Unless there is some miracle of the cosmos that makes them better - and proven better - and as safe or safer than air tires - they aren't.

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

I ran into one of these solid tires last week.
I was pulling mechanic duties at our club's Covered Bridge Bicycle Tour and a rider came up and said her wheel was making a thump thump noise.
I checked her bike and saw a phillips screw embedded in her tire.
I removed the screw and noticed that the tire had lost no air.
When I mentioned this she said no worries, she had solid tires.

 

[Frito Bandito]

On tubed tires and even tubeless tires when there is a flat, there is a chance for the tire to come off the rim, and if it does the rider is in big trouble. Even worse if it is during a turn, and worse still if it occurs on the front wheel.

Tubeless Ready or Tubeless Easy tires seem to fit a tad tighter than the tubed version, so there is a slightly better chance the tire will stay on the wheel during a flat. True Tubeless tires seem to fit even a little more tightly than TLE or TLR so it seems that they would stay even better.

Tubular tires are glued on, so those seem to have the highest chance of staying on when punctured.

If we are talking about pure safety during a flat, I would think that Tubular is the way to go. Even then, that still wouldn't be enough to make me switch to Tubulars.

As for a solid tire like Tannus, the antennae on my head were wiggling like crazy when I first heard of them because the first thing that came to my mind was that depending on the wheel bed depth, in a turn there was a chance that that tire would roll out of the wheel bed like an O-ring rolling out of the groove on a shaft. Descending at almost any speed with the knowledge that a solid tire could roll off the wheel depending on the speed, wheel bed depth and the rim wall height was a lot of load calculations my noggin is incapable of computing.

A lot of the smart guys on Slowtwitch were slamming those tires in a thread when I used to frequent that site, and I couldn't find any reason or evidence to dispute what they wrote, so it was a big "NOPE!" from me.

 

[Beano]

On tubed tires and even tubeless tires when there is a flat, there is a chance for the tire to come off the rim, and if it does the rider is in big trouble. Even worse if it is during a turn, and worse still if it occurs on the front wheel.

Tubeless Ready or Tubeless Easy tires seem to fit a tad tighter than the tubed version, so there is a slightly better chance the tire will stay on the wheel during a flat. True Tubeless tires seem to fit even a little more tightly than TLE or TLR so it seems that they would stay even better.

Tubular tires are glued on, so those seem to have the highest chance of staying on when punctured.

If we are talking about pure safety during a flat, I would think that Tubular is the way to go. Even then, that still wouldn't be enough to make me switch to Tubulars.

As for a solid tire like Tannus, the antennae on my head were wiggling like crazy when I first heard of them because the first thing that came to my mind was that depending on the wheel bed depth, in a turn there was a chance that that tire would roll out of the wheel bed like an O-ring rolling out of the groove on a shaft. Descending at almost any speed with the knowledge that a solid tire could roll off the wheel depending on the speed, wheel bed depth and the rim wall height was a lot of load calculations my noggin is incapable of computing.

A lot of the smart guys on Slowtwitch were slamming those tires in a thread when I used to frequent that site, and I couldn't find any reason or evidence to dispute what they wrote, so it was a big "NOPE!" from me.

You are 100% right about safety, this is the main reason that tubs are used in the pro peloton. You get a puncture, tyre stays on, hand goes up and you slowly drift out of the back and get the tyre changed.

The advanacement of tyre technology now means that a modern day clincher with a latex tube is the fastest way to go. Ganna proved this when doing the hour record on Conti 5000 with latex tubes. You do get riders that run them in the pro peleton but as you say it is easier to roll the tyre.

Watching Milan San Remo this year I recall Maciej Bodnar of TotalEnergie punctured and rolled the tyre, he had some nasty road rash and the latex innertube/tyre was completly off the wheel.