Tannus Solid Tyres - Any experience/comments

arlowood

I've just read a review by a cyclist who reckoned they were pretty good although they felt a little bit slower than a conventional tube/tyre set-up. However they did survive all the normal test that would kill a pneumatic tyre.

http://tannus.co.uk/videos.html

The installation looks a bit of a faff (the only video shows some sort of Heath Robinson jig being used) but if you're looking for a p******e free winter then they could be an option.

Cost about £90- 100 per pair depending on size.

Undertones

Are punctures that big of a problem for you...

I'd go tubeless before even considering a big solid unyielding blob of a tyre.

ademort

arlowood wrote:

I've just read a review by a cyclist who reckoned they were pretty good although they felt a little bit slower than a conventional tube/tyre set-up. However they did survive all the normal test that would kill a pneumatic tyre.

http://tannus.co.uk/videos.html

The installation looks a bit of a faff (the only video shows some sort of Heath Robinson jig being used) but if you're looking for a p******e free winter then they could be an option.

Cost about £90- 100 per pair depending on size.

Buy 2x Schwalbe Marathon Plus 700x25c and you won,t regret it. No installation problems either.
Ademort

cycleclinic

If you want to avoid punctures so much by fitting solid tyres get in a car. Schwable marathon plus is the other solution but the ride qulaity is not great. Fine tyres for commuting though possibly perfect if you commute at senisble speeds. You may wonder why no one currently uses them it is not because non one has thought of it it simply because it is the worst possible solution to the puncture problem, which is not a huge problem anyway unless you have a electric bike other bike with really faffy rear wheel removal. In which case get a different bike.

redvee

Years ago there was something called Green tyres which one bloke in work fitted to his bike, with a struggle. After a month or two the tyres had squared off from the road use and he reported back that they were hard work. He could roll down a hill then virtually stop when he lost momentum. They were removed after 3 months, a lot easier than they went on cause we cut them off the rims.

northpole

Such a lot of naysayers!

Solid tyres may be completely rubbish at the moment but so are many products when they start out. IF (and it's a big if) tech dev produced a solid tyre which ticked several cyclist's requirement's boxes, what's not to like? I for one would love to bid farewell to the p*ncture fairies - not so sure the same could be said of the tyre/ tube manufacturers - the number of posts on this and other forums bears witness to that!!

Peter

cougie

If it works then great - but I dont think thats proven.

Another one for the Marathon tyres - I used them on my cross bike and it handled some really crappy conditions. Great for winter rides when you really dont want a flat - sure you have to work a bit harder - but hard work never killed anyone..

Bobbinogs

I am a big fan of the Marathon Kevlars. The ride quality ain't great and they're not the lightest option but since they are on my wife's commuter bike then that is fine by me

Pretty much fit and forget. No issues, at all, in about 4 years.

arthur_scrimshaw

ademort wrote:

arlowood wrote:

I've just read a review by a cyclist who reckoned they were pretty good although they felt a little bit slower than a conventional tube/tyre set-up. However they did survive all the normal test that would kill a pneumatic tyre.

http://tannus.co.uk/videos.html

The installation looks a bit of a faff (the only video shows some sort of Heath Robinson jig being used) but if you're looking for a p******e free winter then they could be an option.

Cost about £90- 100 per pair depending on size.

Buy 2x Schwalbe Marathon Plus 700x25c and you won,t regret it. No installation problems either.
Ademort

Thats pretty much riding on a solid tyre too.....

ugo.santalucia

If you want to cut the weight of rubber and make a solid tyre that doesn't weigh 3 Kg, you need to increase the porosity... if you do that, you compromise strength, mechanical behaviour and durability.

I think any solid tyre has to be rubbish by its very nature... don't forget that the single biggest innovation of the past 100 + years is probably the pneumatic tyre, in terms of what has done for our civilisation and how it has allowed distances to be cut dramatically and our lifestyle to perk up.
I think we owe more to mr Dunlop (I think it was him) than we do to those who invented computers and internet... I certainly feel that way

earth

ugo.santalucia wrote:

I think we owe more to mr Dunlop (I think it was him)

John Dunlop did patent the pneumatic tyre but his patent was soon overturned because another Scot, Robert William Thomson, was found to have patented it already.


Why don't Dunlop make bicycle tyres anymore?

ai_1

northpole wrote:

Such a lot of naysayers!

If the appropriate answer is "Nay" then being a naysayer is perfectly reputable as I'm inclined to think it is in this case.

northpole wrote:

Solid tyres may be completely rubbish at the moment but so are many products when they start out.

Solid tyres are not starting out. That's what was used before pneumatic tyres, long, long ago....and they're still used for some purposes but not generally for cars, bikes or other vehicles where comfort, grip, rolling resistance or weight are of any importance.

northpole

Ai_1 wrote:

northpole wrote:

Such a lot of naysayers!

If the appropriate answer is "Nay" then being a naysayer is perfectly reputable as I'm inclined to think it is in this case.

northpole wrote:

Solid tyres may be completely rubbish at the moment but so are many products when they start out.

Solid tyres are not starting out. That's what was used before pneumatic tyres, long, long ago....and they're still used for some purposes but not generally for cars, bikes or other vehicles where comfort, grip, rolling resistance or weight are of any importance.

You never know - someone may crack the puzzle one day. Maybe Dunlop stopped bike tyres due to the high p*ncture rate! Used to be that milk floats were one of the only electric vehicles and that energy source was written off. Toyota persevered and then along came Tesla which was initially poo pooed and is now being taken very seriously by the big gun manufacturers. So I'll stick with an optimistic hat on for this topic, no disrespect to Mr Dunlop intended!

Peter

djhermer

If punctures are that much of a problem then go tubeless. 2000 miles in, crappy farmer infested country roads and no punctures. :shock: :shock: that's blown it.

northpole

Ha Ha! In fairness I was out for a ride on Sunday and one of the guys had tubeless with some kind of gunk sealer inside which he told me had saved him a few times - the tell tale psst psst psst noise falling silent as it sealed itself. The stuff of dreams!

Peter

cycleclinic

I think Mr Dunlop mastered the art of vulcanisation which allowed the tubed tyre to become a relaity. Could be wrong. either way Mr. Dunlop deserves more recognition.

ai_1

northpole wrote:

Ai_1 wrote:

northpole wrote:

Such a lot of naysayers!

If the appropriate answer is "Nay" then being a naysayer is perfectly reputable as I'm inclined to think it is in this case.

northpole wrote:

Solid tyres may be completely rubbish at the moment but so are many products when they start out.

Solid tyres are not starting out. That's what was used before pneumatic tyres, long, long ago....and they're still used for some purposes but not generally for cars, bikes or other vehicles where comfort, grip, rolling resistance or weight are of any importance.

You never know - someone may crack the puzzle one day. Maybe Dunlop stopped bike tyres due to the high p*ncture rate! Used to be that milk floats were one of the only electric vehicles and that energy source was written off. Toyota persevered and then along came Tesla which was initially poo pooed and is now being taken very seriously by the big gun manufacturers. So I'll stick with an optimistic hat on for this topic, no disrespect to Mr Dunlop intended!

Peter

I'm not sure that's the appropriate puzzle to crack however!
Solid tyres quickly started dissappearing because pneumatic tyres perform so much better. The deign and performance of pneumatic tyres have continued to be refined but there have been no revolutionary developments in reccent years that I'm aware of. You're perfectly correct to say we shouldn't ignore the possibility of future improvements but I don't think that will come from solid rubber tyres. If it does, fine.
Incidentally, I don't think your analogy with electric vehicles is valid. The possibility of electric vehicles was never "written off". The incorporation of electrical propulsion in most vehicles was simply dependent on a certain level of performance that was not available until relatively recently. It worked for low performance, low range vehicles like milk floats, golf carts and fork lifts where noise and/or emissions were an issue but where high performance and range were not required. For cars, bikes and planes it was not practically feasible until storage density of cells could be improved significantly but they were never written off in the long term. Battery technology was the main obstacle and with recent huge advances in that field, the possibilities for a multitude of mobile electrical devices have opened up, from vehicles to laptops, phones, bicycle lights, etc, etc, etc.....
Don't confuse criticism with negativity or lack of vision.

earth

thecycleclinic wrote:

I think Mr Dunlop mastered the art of vulcanisation which allowed the tubed tyre to become a relaity. Could be wrong. either way Mr. Dunlop deserves more recognition.

Vulcanisation is between Thomas Hancock and Charles Goodyear.

dwanes

Undertones wrote:

Are punctures that big of a problem for you...

I'd go tubeless before even considering a big solid unyielding blob of a tyre.

What kind of comment is that? If you puncture on a very dark lane at 10pm on a freezing cold wet night with very tight tyres, then yes its a problem. :roll:
As for tubeless, never tried it myself but I have also seen that go wrong on group rides.

northpole

Don't confuse criticism with negativity or lack of vision

No confusion on my part thanks!

Peter

ugo.santalucia

dwanes wrote:

What kind of comment is that? If you puncture on a very dark lane at 10pm on a freezing cold wet night with very tight tyres, then yes its a problem. :roll: .

I've got a feeling on the same night, I'd rather be on pneumatic tyres than solid ones, somehow.

There are tyres which are virtually punctureproof... they weigh 500-600 grams instead of 250 and people don't want to use them because they are too slow/heavy/dead feel and all of that. The same people are prepared to consider solid tyres, which in the best case scenario (and it's really the BCS) weigh twice as much and give a much worse ride

That said, I want to try them, I don't want to spend a penny though... let's see if I can trade a review on my blog for a freebe...

DeVlaeminck

Can't understand why a pair aren't already winging their way to you in the post!

dwanes

ugo.santalucia wrote:

dwanes wrote:

What kind of comment is that? If you puncture on a very dark lane at 10pm on a freezing cold wet night with very tight tyres, then yes its a problem. :roll: .

I've got a feeling on the same night, I'd rather be on pneumatic tyres than solid ones, somehow.

There are tyres which are virtually punctureproof... they weigh 500-600 grams instead of 250 and people don't want to use them because they are too slow/heavy/dead feel and all of that. The same people are prepared to consider solid tyres, which in the best case scenario (and it's really the BCS) weigh twice as much and give a much worse ride

That said, I want to try them, I don't want to spend a penny though... let's see if I can trade a review on my blog for a freebe...

'Virtually punctureproof' is not the same as as punctureproof. You only need it to happen once at an inconvenient time. Which tyres are they that weight 500-600g for a 23-25mm tyre?

Much worse ride? Have you, or anyone here, ridden said Tanus solid tyres?

ugo.santalucia

dwanes wrote:

'Virtually punctureproof' is not the same as as punctureproof. You only need it to happen once at an inconvenient time. Which tyres are they that weight 500-600g for a 23-25mm tyre?

Much worse ride? Have you, or anyone here, ridden said Tanus solid tyres?

I have ridden solid tyres many years ago and they were dreadful... having been involved in polymer research for a number of years, I can confidently say there isn't anything so revolutionary on the market to change things dramatically. So it is a case of rebranding a slighlty improved product, giving it a range of funky colours and see if the market gets it. I suspect not, but let's see.

Your puncture problems (if any) are simply due to poor tyre choice... have you ever seen a punctured Boris bike? I haven't... I've seen a few with embedded stones in the rubber, but still going.
You can run a Marathon plus or a Vittoria Randonneur 25 mm and should have a puncture free winter... it's not guaranteed, you might meet a nail or a screw, but it's a remote chance. The benefit in terms of grip of a pneumatic over a solid tyre in cold weather more than offset the slight risk of having a flat.

Ultimately, if you think it's waht you want, just buy them and find out for yourself how dreadful they are/not

navrig2

Horse for courses.

There will be a market for them in cycling - probably kids bikes, shopping bikes etc but not in road or MTB biking.

passout

Buy 2x Schwalbe Marathon Plus 700x25c and you won,t regret it. No installation problems either.
Ademort[/quote]

Agree - go for Marathon pluses. Good prices from Spa Cycles generally.

ai_1

northpole wrote:

Don't confuse criticism with negativity or lack of vision

No confusion on my part thanks!

Peter

It seems to me that your response indicated differently. Perhaps I misunderstand you.

ugo.santalucia

On the back of an envelope.... a 28 mm 700 C solid rubber tyre should weigh between 900 and 1200 grams, depending how porous the rubber.
A 37 mm Marathon winter with metal studs for snow and ice weighs just under 1000 grams... if I wanted to go extreme I'd rather have the latter

dwanes

What is your estimation for a 23mm solid tyre?
maximum width I and many others can fit are 25mm, so a 37 mm Marathon winter with metal studs for snow and ice is out of the question.

ugo.santalucia

dwanes wrote:

What is your estimation for a 23mm solid tyre?
maximum width I and many others can fit are 25mm, so a 37 mm Marathon winter with metal studs for snow and ice is out of the question.

800-1100 or thereabout. This would be the weight of a "sausage" of 23 mm diameter... then you probably need to add something for the "hook" part that sits inside the rim... the actual tyre will have a section more like a loaf of bread than a sausage

bendertherobot

Sorry, but if the question is which solid tyre, the answer is probably take up running.

There are many good tyres out there that will protect you 99% of the time. Anecdotally, M+, Durano +, GP4000S, Michelin Pro 4 have protected me 100% of the time. I've omitted what I'm currently riding not because of a lack of protection but because, well, you know.................

Of the above M+ and Durano + were used in winter. Really filthy winter for commuting every day. Trails, off road, tarmac, parks, after the effects of hedge cutting etc. There is a risk that they could have punctured at any time. Life is a risk. But that risk was balanced against having a really horrid tyre that put me off riding my bike. That to me is much worse than the possibility that, just maybe, I might have a puncture one day in the dark and rain.