However, you don’t have to remove the wheel, but it is better to take the whole wheel off and do it properly. FLATBIKE ASSESSMENT: Hmmm. That’s…different. Can we still afford the rest of the bike? And do we have to clean the insides of the tires after a ride? Because it has become today impossible to sell tires that are not puncture protected, manufacturers needed something that doesn't increase rolling resistance much but can be sold to unsuspecting cyclists as a "puncture protection" technology. Thus, nearly every tire, even high-performance ones such as Continental Grand Prix 5000, has a tear-resistant fabric. It doesn't do what it claims to do, namely to eliminate punctures. Well, at least it doesn't increase rolling resistance much so it's not harmful either. Welcome to the two-part insert test. First up, some visual comparisons and my initial assessment of how they feel. The second part will feature a data led approach with impact resistance and real-world telemetry testing. Stay tuned for part two!

RUN FLAT - If you do get a flat tyre you can still ride for a limited period at up to 6mph without damaging your wheel. You can still roll the tyres with a flat tube (up to 6mph) with the cushioning that Tannus Armour provides, without damaging your rims or the tyres being displaced Having lived in the Mojave Desert of California where goat heads roam freely, I can tell you I got at between 1 to 2 flats a ride on average, and I used Kevlar belted tires, I also tried Slime Sealant and that was a joke for high pressure road tires, once you inflate to about 70 psi the slime would just blow out of the tire and the tire was flat again. Even tried Slime in a thorn resistant tube to no avail. Goat heads even penetrated Mr. Tuffy liners! while the liners did reduce the flat frequency to about 2 a week it didn’t stop them. Only when I switched to Specialized Armadillo All Condition tires did I no longer get flats, in fact I didn’t get a flat for about 15,000 miles, and when I did finally get a flat it was due to a Specialized Armadillo tire being worn down to where the cords were showing.The benefits of this could be three fold. A more supple tire that was yet further enhanced by running lower pressures to give higher levels of grip, combined with added support from the insert in turns while also offering better rim protection. I love my fat Bike. I have had two up to now. They are cheaper to charge and run than your car, the pain of any cyclist is getting flat tyres. You’re getting chronic flats on a bike that you love, and that’s hugely frustrating. Something–probably the same something–is causing all the flats. Before we get into some common causes, do one thing. Pump up one of your leaking tubes and hold it under water in a sink or bathtub, turning it until you see the stream of bubbles.

I did not experience any issue from using an old road tire as a liner inside my mtb tires. I ride 26×2.125 dirt trail tires, however I had already considered that issue prior to using the idea so I cut about 3/8″ from the liner tire and used rubber cement to glue the liner tire to the inside of my tire. There was a small (1/4″+/-) so I had to cut a small sliver off the piece I had originally cut out and glue it into the gap. I made sure there were no edges anywhere that could cause a self inflicted puncture and I also cut an old inner tube in half sideways, cut some pieces from the inner part with the valve stem on it and threw that part away. Now I have the outer half (tread up and sides) between my lined tire and my new inner tube. I also have cut pieces of old inner tubes and Christy’s 10mil house wrap tape for rim liners. I did the same thing with the inner tube that I did with the tire liner tire, cut a little out so there wouldn’t be excess from the reduction in diameter compensation for length. Tubeless tires seem to be a particularly fashionable technology nowadays. They attempt to solve punctures but fail in that. Tubeless tires still have punctures. Protect your tyres from flats with Tannus Armour that sits between your tyre and tube. Prevent Flat Tyres with Any Tyre U Can’t touch This! Tubes are defended by a tough 360 degree layer from Broken Glass, Drawing Pins or Nails and other road debris.

GET IN TOUCH

Unlike with limited tread patterns of Tannus Airless Tyres, you can use any Tyre with your inserts at half the price of a Tannus Tyre.

so, positives are a slight lighter weight system, more compliant tire for better grip, and better rim protection However, there are some situations where this "patch whenever needed" strategy is no longer optimal. For example, in northern climates where roads can have a layer of ice in them, they spread a particularly sharp form of gravel to reduce pedestrian accidents due to falling on slippery ice. The gravel bits can be thin, sharp and as much as 15 millimeters long. Many of these areas also erroneously combine pedestrian paths with bike paths, instead of placing the cyclist in the optimal location on the right side of the road. Often times, riding on the right side of the road is illegal if there's a bike path or shared use path nearby. Thus, cyclists have no option than to ride on the sharp gravel distributed on the shared use paths. Especially when the snow and ice melts, the roads have only a wet layer of this sharp gravel directly on pavement. The water acts as a lubricant, reducing the friction between the tire rubber and sharp gravel bits. The sharp gravel bits always puncture the tire rather than "puncturing" the pavement because the tire is softer than the pavement. In these conditions, it's often cold, wet and dark, and punctures repeatedly happen once every 100 km. Thus the "patch whenever needed" strategy is no longer optimal. Tell us what the product is for and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it? Tape the tyre liners to the inside of your tyre, obviously making sure it’s in the middle of the tyre, thus protecting the inner tube. The only downside is if you have to take the whole tyre off completely, but honestly, this is the best way, as the liner will stay and not move around, which it does a little normally anyhow. Tannus Armour can easily be changed to new tyres and wheels, the polymer compound lasts a long time and does not degrade over time, and can also be fully recycled when no longer needed. Free yourself of worryGreat question, Brody. First, yes, 4+” wide tires get us into “fat tire” territory, beyond where Armour inserts apply (up to 3″). So let’s work the problem another way. With a standard tube and Tannus insert being considerably lighter than the thorn-resistant Kenda (which, though generally pretty reliable, do add some palpable rolling resistance), acceleration is unaffected – another definite plus. Dropping the Road Cruiser to 55psi (slightly below the recommended 65psi minimum) bought some extra traction on some icy lanes without any hint of squirm or bad manners. Vittoria does make a larger and a smaller version of this insert to suit your needs. I think the Medium was great for my style of riding but if you wanted something a little more volumous or slender then there are options. This does give the option of mixing and matching to suit your needs. The larger size is almost a run-flat system and the smaller size is something I've used previously to give me one last layer of rim protection.

The other option is to go tubeless and use sealant, which allows you to use a lower tyre pressure. This setup does work better on electric mountain bikes and road bikes, but not so well on Fat bikes, which are more similar to car tires. which would provide a very tough armor like additional layer of goathead thorn tire puncture protection also as well, that would act like a nearly impenetrable stainless steel mesh tire armor shielding belt;Tire inserts are one potential solution. Maybe you need them, maybe you don’t. How we spec our wheels, tires and even our inserts largely depends on where and how we ride. It’s a really interesting topic. Some people would choose a heavy tire and no insert and some would combine the two for all out protection. What I’m interested in during this comparison is the idea of running a slightly lighter tire than I normally would while hopefully reaping all the benefits the insert has to offer. The bike came with Big Ben tyres - they are thin walled. They suffered more than their fair share of punctures hence my desire for an insert and I upgraded the tyres to 'Plus' as I learned about their availability when looking for an insert. A rear wheel puncture on an eBike is a little troublesome compared to a standard bike. On the surface, an update to this approach sounds appealing. Flat tires are the #1 maintenance issue bringing customers into many bike shops.