Flat Tire Solutions From Tannus

Jim’s Tech Talk

By Jim Langley

During the Sea Otter Classic cycling festival in Monterey, California, which took place in April, I was contacted by Tannus. They specialize in products to prevent or eliminate flat tires. I couldn’t make it to their booth at the Otter so I asked if they’d provide me with some samples to give them a try. (In case you’re interested in joining the fun, next year’s Sea Otter Classic takes place April 16-19.)

I provided Tannus with the sizes of the wheels I would use the products on and they sent pairs of their Airless tires, Armour tire liners and their Tubeless Gravel tire inserts. Prices vary from $39.99 – $74.99 per tire depending on which part and model you purchase.

To explain how these Tannus products prevent flats, their Airless tire is a solid rubber tire (actually they describe the material as a patented lightweight multi-cell foam). Because it’s solid, it uses no air, never needs inflating and can’t be punctured. Tannus says the tires typically last from 3,000 – 5,000 miles.

The Tannus Armour tire liners go inside standard tires and the tubes go inside the liners. The name Armour is appropriate because the liner surrounds the tube protecting it from whatever sharp items you might run over or smack into, which greatly reduces the chances of flatting. The Armour also provides rim protection. Should an impact bottom out a tire, the Armour is in-between the tire and rim to cushion the blow. Also, if you should flat, Tannus says that in some cases, the Armour allows you to keep riding.

For gravel riding and mountain biking, Tannus makes four different tubeless tire inserts providing tire and rim protection and they’re all compatible with sealant. The Tannus tubeless inserts are used by several mountain bike and gravel pros. Shown is their Tubeless Gravel, which was what I chose to test out in my gravel wheels.

Have Solid Tires Become a Viable Option?

Upon first hearing from Tannus, I was most interested in their solid tires. Solid tires have been around almost since the beginning of cycling. I actually have them on my 1886 highwheel bicycle (you might know these antique bikes as “penny farthings”). As I mentioned above, the beauty of these solid tires is never having to air them up and never suffering a flat tire.

Working as a bicycle mechanic for ages, I’ve run into solid tires over the years on bicycles that came in for repair. There were 3 issues with them: 1. They were significantly heavier than tubed tires; 2. They felt like they slowed you down and made it harder to pedal; and 3. Back then, before spokes were as high quality and high tension as they are today, the solid tires tended to vibrate and loosen the spokes.

A New Material and Tire Attaching Method

Speaking to Tannus I learned about the patented foam material used in their solid tires and also about the unique way the tires are locked onto the rim. The solid tires I had experience with were not locked onto the rim. They just fit tightly enough not to come off, but not so tightly that they couldn’t squirm under pedaling pressure. And that gave a feeling of having to work harder to pedal.

Tannus solid tires are held in place on the rim with plastic pins that go beneath the rim hooks. In my 700c Tannus Airless tire, there are 40 of these pins. They hold the tires on so well, that in Tannus’s video on tire removal, they give cutting them off as a good option since they do not come off easily.

So How Do They Ride?

So far I’ve taken test rides on all three products. With the Tubeless Gravel insert, I don’t notice anything different. I know it added 66 grams per tire but I can’t feel it. So I can see how pro riders might love added flat prevention like this. After all, you can’t win if you can’t finish the race. Pro gravel racer Keegan Swenson uses Tannus Tubeless Gravel inserts.

With the Armour tire liners, which weigh 200 grams each, I do feel that there’s added weight. I also notice that the Panaracer Gravel King 700 x 30c tires are stiffer now. I think I made a mistake stuffing them into these tires and should have used them in wider tires. The reason is that they and the tubes inside take up most of the space inside these tires.

It made for a challenging installation. After reading comments from other users, I’m sure the Armour liners for wider rims would be easier to install and likely offer a smoother ride too.

As far as the Tannus Airless/Solid tires go, they were also difficult to install. But not as bad as the Armour tire liners. And the special tools Tannus provided for installation worked nicely to make the job go the way they said it would in the instructions.

The Airless tires can’t compare to the ride quality of a nice clincher tire and tube. The tire size I used comes in two hardnesses Regular and Hard, equivalent to a standard tire pumped to 100 and 110 psi respectively. I got the Regular.

You’ll definitely feel vibration coming up through the handlebars and seat from these tires. The smoother the road the less noticeable it is, but it’s there all the time. It could cause your hands or bum to go numb, especially if that ever happens with standard tires.

The 700c Airless Tannus tires I installed weigh 456 grams each, so they’re not that much heavier than a clincher tire and tube. And the way they’re held on the rim with so many pins eliminates the tires moving on the rim, which means that apart from the vibration, they do roll along okay.

Conclusion

I don’t think most cyclists are eager to give up the comfort of a cushion of air in their tires. So, even with Tannus solving the issues with lesser solid tires, I see the Tannus Airless tires as special purpose use tires. 

For example, they would be ideal if you hate getting flats and will do anything to avoid them and aren’t worried about a rougher ride. Or maybe you commute to work and it’s not that far back and forth. A tire that can’t go flat would guarantee you’d never get stopped by tire trouble. Plus, never having to top them off would be one less thing to worry about on your daily commute. Another good use might be on rental bikes or share bikes since many people riding them might have no idea how to deal with a flat if they got one.

The other Tannus products, the Armour tire liners and the Tubeless Gravel inserts won’t guarantee you never flat, but they will definitely reduce the chances. And if you ride hard enough on gravel or dirt, you will probably love the added protection from flats and rim damage.

Watch My Video To Learn More

There’s a lot more detail about these three Tannus flat fighters in my video here. The funniest parts are installing the Airless and Armour liners, which I could only do with the use of zip ties plus tire levers! I also did a visual vibration test that shows the difference between 100psi with air and without air. Enjoy the show.

If you’ve got a favorite flat tire cure, please help your fellow roadies by sharing it in a comment. And if you’ve ridden Tannus products let us know how it went too. Thanks!

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Jim Langley is RBR’s Technical Editor. A pro mechanic & cycling writer for more than 40 years, he’s the author of Your Home Bicycle Workshop in the RBR eBookstore. Tune in to Jim’s popular YouTube channel for wheel building & bike repair how-to’s. Jim’s also known for his cycling streak that ended in February 2022 with a total of 10,269 consecutive daily rides (28 years, 1 month and 11 days of never missing a ride). Click to read Jim’s full bio.