One note about bicycle tires is that over the last 20 years or so, there has been increasing emphasis on better tread protection. I can remember a trip into REI, I think in the late 90's, just asking for any tire with Kevlar belting. They were happy to sell several tires with Kevlar Beads, but nothing with Kevlar belts.
The tire companies didn't go to Kevlar belts, but all the major companies have some kind of protection, from the Marathon Plus tires with some kind of debris absorption layer like the liner below, to far more lightweight road tires.
Originally Posted by
MikeyMK
The nearest i've found is half'n'half. Tanus Armour.
There is an inner tube, there is a conventional tyre. There is also a foam tyre you place in the normal tyre with a cavity for the tube... Not only does this mean the tube is far away from the road surface (about an inch, in the case of my bike) but it's pedalled as 'run-flat' technology by Tannus, as they claimed the bike can be ran in limited form with the tube deflated.
I intend to find out. It's not easy to remove the wheels on my bike, so i'm waiting until i fit new tyres. They're not cheap, certainly not priced in line with manufacturing costs given they cost more than the tyres... but a flat tyre can cost me considerably, so i can justify it.
I'll be interested to know of any experiences with Tannus Armour, and any other such product that utilises a conventional tyre.
Wow, I hadn't heard of that liner.
I have tried the Tannus 700x23 tires. An interesting solution. Not perfect with traction and ride, but no flats.
My guess is that Tannus Armor is specific to MTB applications (the smallest size seems to be 700x35.
The airless tires may do reasonably well with the narrow tires, but would quickly become unwieldy on larger applications, as well as not giving the cushioning and rock crawling ability that would be the point of the larger tires.
One might note that the Tannus tires are going mainstream, and I believe Specialized was putting them pre-mounted on some of their bikes.
https://bikerumor.com/2017/01/02/rev...d-alibi-sport/
I don't think the bikeshare fleet bikes had gone to Tannus solid tires yet, but I could imagine they would very much consider those Tannus Armor liners.