Terkroller

I recently got involved in the airless tire world and would like to know the opinions of other riders who HAVE tried them. The tires I am working with are made by a company called Marvel, they are made in America and claim to have a superior product for durability ( wear and tear/ flat proof ) but I want to know how they ride. The site claims to have "HP" tires that simulate high pressure performance tires and "HD" tires that are good for off road , sand ect due to a low pressure type simulation in the tire. WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK ?

AlexCyclistRoch

I think that, just like every other person who comes along here every 3 or 4 years with the same idea, it's gonna fail miserably. The problem is that air and rubber make a very strong, pliable, lightweight, and INEXPENSIVE medium to connect the wheel to the road. Even the best airless tires might excel at 2 out of those 4 criteria. Good luck, but you're gonna be disappointed!

BTW, since you seem to be a schill for Marvel tires, let me be the first to say that your website stinks!

CliffordK

I've got a pair of Tannus solid tires on my winter commuter (700x23)

Several notes here:
https://www.bikeforums.net/general-cy...olid-tire.html

I much prefer riding on pneumatic tires during the summer, occasional flat and all.

It is my interpretation that rolling resistance on the Tannus tires is a little higher, as well as a moderate increase in road buzz.

Nonetheless, winter is apparently worse for getting flats, and it is nice not dealing with flats in the rain or adverse weather conditions.

Unfortunately, I also felt the tires were one of the most slippery when wet tires that I've used... so much for winter, although I have bene using them in the rain.

It looks like I got my tires installed in February of last year, and have been usng the bike for most of the rest of last winter, and off and on since. The rear tire appears compressed a bit, but otherwise wear is minimal.

A couple of really deep gashes in the tires. I don't know what it would have done to a pneumatic tire. The pure rubber will cut deeper than rubber over some armored fabric. And, perhaps the pneumatic tires will deform around debris that will cut the solid tires.

It is hard to tell, but I think the Marvel tires use a similar pin installation to the Tannus tires. You have to select width to match your rim. Tannus sells a special pliers tool that I found to help a lot with snapping the pins in place. My rims were narrow vintage box shaped narrow clincher rims, and narrow for the tire width (and Tannus didn't ship the narrowest pins with the tires by default).

fietsbob

You see them in institutional Wheel chair wheels ..

Maybe Garden carts .. you could put one on a trainer-stand wheel to increase the workout

they certainly require more work, from you.




.

SquidPuppet

Marvel needs to hire a high school graduate to write their "About Us" section.

JanMM

"High Pressure version tire is heavier and denser and feels like it is inflated to a higher pressure." (one of the 559 tires, which weighs 3 pounds.")

thumpism 

There used to be a company called Green Tire and some of the Marvel offerings look suspiciously similar. Whatever, they are bound to be light years ahead of the plasticky Zeus Airless tire of the '70s. Treacherous and ugly, these.

JonathanGennick 

The Teton HP 26er model is 3lbs and $49. Anyone willing to throw down a $50 dollar bill for one tire is: a) Going to be discerning enough to want air and lighter weight, or b) Have some unusual need for a solid tire regardless of the disadvantages. And three pounds per tire is a pretty big disadvantage all in itself.

CliffordK

A little work on the whole website.

No photo of the installation tool?
No description of how the installation works, and the apparent pin retention system?
I can't find the "sizing chart" that is supposed to be on the page?

Rounding weights to the nearest pound or half pound? Everyone else uses grams... perhaps use both pounds/ounces, and grams?

My Tannus tire (700x23) + pins comes out to about 408g or about 14.4 oz.

My Schwalbe Marathon Plus 700x25 is about 640g or 22.5 oz.

exmechanic89

To me airless tires fall into the same category as auto-shift drive systems. For some reason many non-riding people think that both these items are the holy grail for people that do ride. Both never really seem to pan out in the real world. I do think if the airess tires cost a lot less and really did simulate pneumatic tires there would probably be a lot of takers, but it seems like they cost a lot more and don't ride well.

Editing to add: Ive never ridden airless tires - have zero experience with them.

CliffordK

I've used airless wheelbarrow tires.

For those people who don't mind going out and pumping up their tires once a year or so, and picking out the occasional nail, the standard tires are just fine.

But there are those that are maintenance challenged, that do much better with just "ignore it" types of tires. Roofing?

I presume the same thing is true on a bike.

Another issue... say one is commuting on a tight schedule. It might be better to be 10% slow all the time, rather than that once a month flat that makes a person late. New tires are better, but not perfect.

I had my nephew on 24/520 tires, and he dearly loved the bike, but always seemed to have tire problems. And I couldn't help him from 500 miles away. I would say that he should be able to learn to deal with flats and pumping, but it would have been so much easier to just give him a flat-free bike. I've now got him on 650c gatorskins... Fingers crossed.

dabac

I've used airless tires from greentyre.co.uk extensively. Even made myself a studded set for winter use.
On cobbles, it sounded like the bike would shake itself apart. Cutting across a (slightly raised) lane marker would feel a bit squirrely. But on decent roads they worked fine. Although since the tires went on my commuter, it's not like I've pushed the envelope particularly hard.
The one use feature that caught me out is that they appear to be temperature sensitive. A tire that's hard in summer will be like riding with a fan belt wrapped around the rim when temperatures drop to freezing.
One feature I didn't like in the set-up stage was that you need to start with which tires fits your rim. Then you can look at which widths and treads you have to choose from. I didn't quite find the combo that I wanted.
Assembly was a challenge - until I realized I could use a carpentry work bench as a rack, and stretch the tire over the rim. With that, install was a breeze.

CliffordK

Has the OP left the building?
One question about a company that few have heard of.
Apparently the company is building their website.. New?

Terkroller

Have you ridden any airless ? I am looking for the opinions of people who have used any airless system.

Terkroller

I am not a shill, I am thinking about becoming a dealer / consultant for them. I already pointed out several of the company web site problems to the owner. Unfortunately the site was put together by a fossil with no creative muse, but they are promising to upgrade soon .... I hope so. I want to market the airless wheelchair tire line via my network as well as any decent product they can provide. I think it may be a decent way to provide some money to the veteran charities I support.
Thank you for your input, any specific criticism of the company site will be noted!

JanMM

I am sure that very few BF participants have ever ridden on airless tires. Not sure that I have ever seen a bike with airless tires. Maybe your thread title should have indicated Only Airless Riders Need Respond?

ahanulec

The Monaco tire might have a lot more going for it than being airless. The web site description states "Its one of our favorites because the cross section shape of the tire is anatomically correct."

Sounds like a great tire for those "group" rides.

Damn_it

Specialized is releasing an airless tire this year on their city bike, the Alibi. The tire is a 700x38 Nimbus Airless. I've seen it in person. My first impression is that it would be too soft for my liking, but we'll see!

BlazingPedals

Air-free tires? Is it that time of year again already???

JonathanGennick 

Wow. Sure enough:

https://www.specialized.com/us/en/bikes/fitness/alibi

My universe will now implode . Did not see this coming. Is airless tech really that good these days?

Azreal911

It's a interesting no nonsense bike made for just scooting around town and getting to work without worry from the looks of it. From the specialized site it linked to their youtube video which I saw on the right side someone testing tannus tires on their single speed ride and here's a interesting comment from a user in the video:

Ethan Jankowski1 month ago
just bought the 2017 alibi sport from specialized which comes with "nimbus airless" tires which i believe are made by tannus(but don't quote me on that). before buying the bike i test rode the 2016 specialized sirrus, which had air tires, and my 2017 alibi. after test riding both bikes, i couldnt tell any difference in rolling resistance or speed of the two bikes. i did notice the ride was slightly, slightly harsher in the airless tires, but like andrew, i can live with it. no more flats? hell ya

and also:

Ronnie Roach1 year ago
I've had a pair of 700c 23's on my Genesis Day I've had for the past 7 or so years. I decided to go for the Tannus tyres after suffering way too many punctures on my 25 mile round trip commute (plus miles visiting premises whilst working). My tyre of choice used to be Specialized Armadillos, They're pretty good but I got tired of picking shards out of them every night before they got the chance to work their way in. Also once they start to go off they go off really quickly and I've had issues with de-lamination. I tried Continental Gatorskin hard shell and they scared the life out of me!! Even in the dry I had a few close calls and in the wet they were dangerous. Would spin the back wheel pulling away from lights and leaning in the wet was gamble. The day I got rid of the Gatorskin was when the sidewall blew out close to Tower Bridge. After that I decided to go the whole hog and get the Tannus Tyres. They felt strange for the first few days until they bedded in and after that was pretty damn good. They sometimes "track" if you're riding on a road surface that has linear markings but you get used to that. The biggest plus is the no punctures, followed by not having to check the tyre pressures and then not having to pull shards of flint and glass out of them every night. Worth every penny!!


soooo from the looks of things they are slowly improving their materials and as harsh of a ride as some say there is a use for them like daily commuters that aren't looking for the best comfort ride of an air tire and couldn't afford to have a blowout in a bad intersection or high traffic area. And best for people that give very little maintenance for this bike, those grab and go crowds that don't even clean/oil their chain.

Leebo

So ride all of them and report back here. Or, send out some samples to bike owners, bike shops, geeks students or the like and get them to report back here. Not that hard. Don't make us do your work.

Robert C

Thanks, I am both surprised and interested to see a major manufactured stepping up with airless tyres. It is one of those things I will definitely watch with interest.

I see it most useful for commuting, where people have limited time to deal with flats. I am curious about wear resistance and replacement cost too.

CliffordK

Whew the rainy season is upon us. So, I pulled out my rain bike yesterday with the Tannus tires. They actually felt good. I'd ridden the bike a few times over the summer towing, but this was riding fairly light. If only I had remembered to toss my pump and spare tube out of the pack.

Any idea how easy it is to make different diameters of tires?

I'd love to see the tires offered in 20/23 x (520, 650c, & 27(630)) sizes.

CliffordK

Replacement cost appears to be about $50 per tire, plus or minus a bit for both the Marvel and Tannus tires.

I've watched an installation video which looked like it went fairly smoothly for those that do quite a few.

I seemed to wrestle with mine a bit, although I also was using pins that were 1mm or so too long, as well as having a tight fit of the tires onto a narrow rim. So, a bike shop offering the service might have to charge a little bit extra for the installation.

For me, Tannus 700x23, the wear of a few months winter riding seems to be minimal. It took quite some time for the center seam on the rear to disappear, and the front still looks like new. The rear seems to be slightly compacted/flatter, but this doesn't seem to be an issue.