Redpanda123

Hello everyone!
I purchased a road bike with a tubeless setup 2 years ago. I have always been scared of puncturing and my tyres have always lost air very rapidly and I have had to pump them before each ride. I have been very busy with new jobs, moving ect. and my road bike has not seen use for at least a year.
Having solid Tannus tyres on my city bike and very very happy with them I got the idea of putting some on my road ike so I could go out without the hassle of pumping them or worrying about puncturing.
I contacted the company and they told me to take off the tyre and measure the rim. I did this and tried to order some tyres... A month later I have not heard from them despite concacting them several times. This got me researching tannus tires for for road bikes a bit and a lot of people seem to dislike them?
I decided that maybe I should put the tubeless tire back on and live with the fear of puncturing but I am worried that I have damaged the tyre when taking it off. I have not touched the tape.
1) can I simply put the tyre back on and fill it with the tubeless liuid?
2) can both tyres have taken damage from resting on the wheels for a year with no air in the tyres?
3) does anyone have expereince with tannus road tyres? (the ones I tried to order are the 25C)

Any help or advice is appreciated!
I appologize for any typos, I have typed this out on my phone and seem to be in a constant struggle with autocorrect

robbyville

Hey there,

no experience with solid tires so can’t help there. But many years with tubeless including one of my bikes which only get used once per month.

doubtful that you damaged the tire during removal, assuming you took it off using normal means (tire levers and your hands). It would be good to clean any dried sealant remnants from the tire beads and the rim hooks. Any large dried clumps in the tire could be taken out as well so long as they’re not sealing a puncture as intended.

Then simply reinstall the tire, seat the bead and add sealant. Plenty of YouTube videos and instructions here if you haven’t done this in the past. I’m a big fan of tubeless for the exact reason you fear pneumatic tires, they are much better than tubes when it comes to punctures (no pinch flats with no tubes and sealant generally self seals most small punctures), although I certainly agree that I do check my pressure a little more than with tubed tires. Which also gradually lose air.

good luck and ride safe!

Iride01 

What did Tanus say about using their inserts with tubeless tires? And for the narrower tires you usually find on a road bike.

Welcome to BF, but I think you are going to get all sorts of stuff thrown at you on this while others sit back to enjoy their popcorn and read the hullabaloo of comments! <grin>

datlas 

Put the tyre/tire back on and fingers crossed it holds air.

Redpanda123

Well Tannus have not said anything about this. I do not know how they manage their buisness because they are certainly not trying to sell anything 🤔 This is why i feel as if I have to give up on the idea. I didnt know you could get the inserts for road tyres. Maybe I should look into this!

Iride01 

I've never seen much mention of anyone using inserts in any tire, much less a road bike tire. I'm sure there are some that do, but obviously not many since you don't see them banging out replies to your post.

Why are you scared of flats? Just learn how to fix them. If you are tubeless and they aren't sealing up fast, then you might be using the wrong sealant. I can't help with this though as I still use innertubes.

Are you going a week or two between rides and then finding your tires low on air? That's normal.

eduskator

1) can I simply put the tyre back on and fill it with the tubeless liuid?
Yes if the tire is not damaged. Why exactly are you worried of having damaged it? Make sure the inside of the tire and the inside of the rim are clean and 100% free of previous sealant.
2) can both tyres have taken damage from resting on the wheels for a year with no air in the tyres?
No.
3) does anyone have expereince with tannus road tyres? (the ones I tried to order are the 25C)
N/A

My tires tend to lose 5-10PSI per ride and it's within the reasonable range. I do use Muc-Off sealant (thicker than the average stuff) which helps.

Note that you may have lost air with your original setup due to insufficient sealant quantity or simply dried up sealant. 6 months seems to be the average sealant lifespan.

Redpanda123

Well I know how to fix flats on normal tyres, but I am scared of being stranded on tubeless ones in case if the sealant doesnt work (IT has not happened yet).
I go a few days between rides (2-3 rides per week) but maybe its normal for tubeless?

Redpanda123

So does the sealant also help keep the air in the tyre? When emptying old sealant out of the old tyre I presume that you take your tyres off or is there another smart way og doing this?
Also cleaning it, IT normal washing up liquid sufficient or do i need to use bike cleaning products?

Iride01 

The common experience with tubeless is that you flat less. Anything you run over on a tubeless tire to flat it will likely be just as unfixable for a tubed tire too. At least not without some extra stuff. Cuts can be fixed, at least temporarily for both tubed and tubeless. You just need to learn what to do, and maybe even practice. Plugs are an option too for tubeless if it's just large puncture that doesn't seal up.

Still, no reason to be scared. Do you not have options for getting back home?

Maybe some of the tubeless users will chime in. Unless you live in an area of thorns or roads filled with broken glass, you shouldn't be flatting much at all. If you are, then finding out what caused the flat will help get you better answers.

eduskator

Yes - the sealant helps since it makes a barrier between your tire bead and rim. My tires don't stay inflated very long when there is no sealant inside.

You can inspect the sealant by simply un-seating a portion of the tire (4-5 inches where the wheel touches the ground) and check inside to see if your sealant is still good and in sufficient quantity, but if you want to change it completely, yes you need to remove the tire completely so you can clean the inside of the tires and the rim completely. The sealant ends up drying on the long run and it sticks everywhere.

Iride01 

More direct to the question about Tannus inserts is if you are going to use them you need to know the inner width of your rim to select what to buy. Do you know what your inner rim width is? If there is an ISO or ETRTO size printed on your rim then you have that dimension.

Not sure if their inserts will work with sealant in a tubeless tire, but I guess you could run without sealant. Or just get their airless tires. Though you still have to know the rim width. And I still can't imagine an airless tire or one with inserts being comfortable or rolling very well. But I'll wait and see, I've changed my mind on 27" to 700C wheels, rim to disc brakes and many other things. But I still don't think their time has come for me until the are in the peloton on World Tours and Grand Tours.

Still, it seems like you could just use a normal tubed tire or tubeless tire without inserts and just learn how to fix what should be a very infrequent flat while on a ride. If you flat often, and it's not for punctures from thorns and other road hazards, then something else is wrong.

Redpanda123

Really appreciate everyones advice so a huge thank you to all of you. I have no one around me who are bike smart. I have learned a lot and i am no longer afraid of comitting to tubeless 😁
I have managed to clean everything as much as I could and have reseated the tyre. Had to take IT to a bikeshop to get enough pressure to reseat the wheels but there was No pressure indicator on it. Inflating it with a manual pump I cannot get the pressure above 50 psi and I can hear the air loss. I think it is only from where the rim meets the tyre. I dont know if it is supposed to be able to be completely inflated without sealant.
Will sealant make it 100% tight and enable me to pump it to 90 psi or is there something wrong with the tyre?