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Opinion on Tannus airless tires for clydes

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Opinion on Tannus airless tires for clydes

Old 10-13-20, 08:26 PM
  #1  
khyatt
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Opinion on Tannus airless tires for clydes

Hiya, so at around 315 I am generally concerned with pinch flats, even riding at max inflation pressure on road tires. Have any of you tried out these Tannus airless tires? I'm not worried about grams or super low rolling resistance. What's the group consensus? FWIW I'm in downtown LA where the streets are bad and generally filthy.


https://tannusamerica.com/collection.../tannus-portal

Considering these in 28c.
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Old 10-14-20, 06:46 AM
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chadtrent
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Are you concerned with pinch flats because you are getting them? Or just worried you will?

I have tried airless tires in the past. Not the ones you posted though. To be honest I hated every second of riding with them. They had no give at all. I felt every single bump. I don't know if those are any different, but I would stay away from them.
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Old 10-14-20, 07:00 AM
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shelbyfv
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A friend tried some version of airless tires a few years ago. They were unrideable.
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Old 10-14-20, 02:30 PM
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Originally Posted by chadtrent
Are you concerned with pinch flats because you are getting them? Or just worried you will?
I 2nd this. Are you actually getting pinch flats? I’ve spent a decent portion of my 13yr road bike life in the 135-140kg (~300-310lb) and I’ve never suffered from a pinch flat. I do ride with tyre liners too and I rarely get flats. Most of my tyres I throw from being too worn. Not riding the same urban environment as you though, I do mostly country roads
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Old 10-15-20, 05:57 PM
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I am in the 350lb range and my road bike only fits 25c/23c Gatorskins and no pinch flats in 10,000 miles. I run them max pressure.

I just don't see it being an issue on 28's.

DaveW
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Old 10-22-20, 01:10 AM
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Originally Posted by khyatt
Hiya, so at around 315 I am generally concerned with pinch flats, even riding at max inflation pressure on road tires. Have any of you tried out these Tannus airless tires? I'm not worried about grams or super low rolling resistance. What's the group consensus? FWIW I'm in downtown LA where the streets are bad and generally filthy.


Considering these in 28c.
I actually just switched from tannus airless tires (700x23). I rode them for about a year on both the front and the rear. I liked the idea of not having any flats (including pinch flats). Right after installing them, I could fell that they had a completely different feel from tires with air. Unless you are riding in completely smooth roads, I would not recommend those tires. They rattle the bike, which unscrews things you have installed. Also I used my bike to commute (about 37 km one way) and snapped a spoke several times riding on uneven terrain (not crazy dirt roads, more like gravel roads with cracks, holes,etc.). I would not recommend riding in downtown LA with Tannus airless tires.
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Old 10-22-20, 01:13 AM
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If you can fit 28 tires, have you considered using Tannus foam armor inserts? My bike can't fit 28 tires, so I can't, and don't know how they feel, but since there is an inner tube at the middle of it, I imagine there is some pneumatic pressure to absorb some of the bumps from the road.
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Old 10-22-20, 01:27 AM
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How about getting some BMX tyres (high pressure and voluminous) with tubes? It's what I use on my (sometimes very heavily loaded) cargo bike. It's especially important on my front. BMX tyres are often available in 20" (obviosuly), but also 26". Currently, I'm running a Schwalbe Billy Bonkers in the front, but when available again in Europe, I will be back to a Maxxis DTH (1.95", but up to 110 psi!).
I have just swapped out the 26" rear tyre for a Naches Pass from Rene Herse which goes to 75 psi, but Herse sells mostly 700c tyres, and I think that some of them goes even higher than that.
Another idea to alleviate the risk of pinch flats is to get wide rims. I use Ryde Andra 40 rims back and front, which are pretty wide. Not as wide as the widest bmx rims or "fat bike" rims, but very wide for "Normal" rims and super strong even for high pressure tyres and loaded heavily.
I'm not a clyde myself, but when loaded with a 40 kg child, my own 95 kilo plus 10-15 kg of bags, I am up there (145-150kg/320-330 lbs) - without counting the bike itself.

Edit: The reason I'm talking high pressure voluminous tyres is that it really does protect against pinch flats. In order to carry even a little weight, a narrow tyre has to be pumped really hard. And there's a limit to actual pressure you can put in in a narrow tyre (160 psi?). For the same ride quality, but in, say, 1.8 inches, you only need, say, 60-65 psi (guess, I can't be bothered to calculate it precisely). So if you get a 1.8 inch tyre that goes to 75 psi or 90 psi (or 110!), you get several times the protection of a narrow tyre at 110 psi.

I mentioned it is important on the front of my cargo bike especially (and also on the rear if you don't stand and use your legs as suspension). The reason is that when heavily loaded I can't pull up the front over, say, a sharp kerb (curb for you Americans), so I have to rely on the front tyre to provide protection. These kinds of tyres prevent pinch flats from that.


Edit #2 , added photo:

Tyres for thread

Last edited by CargoDane; 10-22-20 at 01:48 AM.
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Old 10-23-20, 02:46 PM
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Don't do it.
Originally Posted by Sheldon Brown
Of all the inventions that came out of the bicycle industry, probably none is as important and useful as Dr. Dunlop's pneumatic tire.

Airless tires have been obsolete for over a century, but crackpot "inventors" keep trying to bring them back. They are heavy, slow and give a harsh ride. They are also likely to cause wheel damage, due to their poor cushioning ability.
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/tires.html#airless

I you could fit wider tires that would help.
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Old 10-23-20, 02:47 PM
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I ended up picking up some Gatorskin hardshells in 28c. We'll see how they work out.
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