The allure of having a tyre that can never puncture is hard to resist. For years I thought this was an impossible dream. In fact I’m probably on record saying that it would never happen. Then Tannus tyres comes along and changes my mind.
I got my first Tannus tyre last week. This is just my first impressions of the tire. Not a full review.
The first thing you need to know is that fitting Tannus tyres is as hard as you think it’s going to be. But it’s also not as hard as you think of going to be. What I mean by that is at first it seems impossible but if you watch some videos online and get the correct technique it then becomes difficult but not impossible.
You’ll notice in the photo above, I’ve installed the tyre backwards. I noticed this halfway through installation and thought, bugger it. Too hard. And probably no big deal.
After working up a sweat for a while I went to YouTube and watched several videos on installing the tires. Once I got my first little tab to click into place I knew I was off and running. Working my way around the tyre was still a chore, with several stops to rest my aching arms, but in a matter of minutes I had a fully installed tyre. And with no punctures it’s likely to be a long time before I have to repeat this exercise. Good trade off then.
My concern with Tannus tyres was that I would lose some of the joy of cycling and perhaps have a harsher ride. The harsh ride wasn’t such a concern as how the tyres rolled. Cycling is such a pleasurable experience and I would hate for anything to diminish that. I can’t comment on that at length yet but can say that the ride is not unduly harsh. I did notice some difference over broken concrete. But I did not notice any great difference when riding on the roads. I think if I hadn’t been aware of the fact that I was riding with new tires comma and hadn’t been analysing them the whole ride, I would perhaps have not even been aware of them at all.
So far I have only done one short ride to the shops and back. My confidence in the tires is growing. The first couple of corners I worried that the tires would be slippery but they have proved to be at least as good as a regular tire.
I’ll do a full review and posted here once I spent more time on that these tires.
