Do not use Tannus Armour on high speed e-bikes

[Altema]

I had to come face to face with reality. It's been many years since I've had a flat, and that includes 3000 miles on my RadMini with no flats. Then I installed Tannus Armour, and I've had SIX flats due to tube failures. I took the Tanus Armour liners out, and stopped having flats. The last group ride was also the last straw, with two flats on the same ride. A clue to what is going on came in the form of finding shredded rubber inside the tire. The Tannus Armour liners create internal friction, and the friction apparently causes failure of the tube. In addition to emptying a handful of shredded rubber, the liner has rubber bits melted into it, and my tire was worn down to the bare cords on the INSIDE . The heavier the load and the faster the speed, the more internal friction is generated and the quicker the tube fails. My last tube only lasted 6 miles.

Below are photos of the inside of a tire without Tannus Armour, and one tire that was used with Tannus Armour.

Just a word of warning.

[Ryan]

Interesting, thanks for sharing. This is the first I've heard anything negative about the liners. Do you think it is due at all due to traveling at faster speeds? I'd be curious to hear what Tannus support has to say if you shared these photos.

[Altema]

Interesting, thanks for sharing. This is the first I've heard anything negative about the liners. Do you think it is due at all due to traveling at faster speeds? I'd be curious to hear what Tannus support has to say if you shared these photos.

The faster speeds do accelerate the process, but I have had two failures during RiDetroit events were the average speed is only 8mph. The response to my first flat was hostile and I was blamed for the flat, so I did not see the point in contacting anyone further regarding the 2nd flat, or the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th flat. That was the final straw and I don't plan on ever using them again. I was forced to ride 20 miles at night through questionable neighborhoods, knowing a tire could go out again at any time, and it was not a pleasant experience.

[Ryan]

Interesting, thanks for sharing. This is the first I've heard anything negative about the liners. Do you think it is due at all due to traveling at faster speeds? I'd be curious to hear what Tannus support has to say if you shared these photos.

The faster speeds do accelerate the process, but I have had two failures during RiDetroit events were the average speed is only 8mph. The response to my first flat was hostile and I was blamed for the flat, so I did not see the point in contacting anyone further regarding the 2nd flat, or the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th flat. That was the final straw and I don't plan on ever using them again. I was forced to ride 20 miles at night through questionable neighborhoods, knowing a tire could go out again at any time, and it was not a pleasant experience.

Man, sorry to hear that. Thanks for sharing.

[crorris]

I'm hesitant to even share this because it will probably jinx me. I have Tannus Armor in my tires on my Rover 5. I had them originally in the stock Kenda tires that came with the bike where I put about 300 miles on them. I then changed my tires to Origin8 Supercells and moved the same Tannus Armor and tubes into those.  After I moved them to the Supercells I added Slime to them. Since then I have put another 1000 miles on them. I never deflate them, and I have never had a flat. I've ridden on some pretty tough roads where I've seen/heard other people get a fair amount of flats, like from Key Largo to Key West and back. Maybe I've just been lucky so far. My experience seems to be the opposite of what many other people have seen though.

[Altema]

I'm hesitant to even share this because it will probably jinx me. I have Tannus Armor in my tires on my Rover 5. I had them originally in the stock Kenda tires that came with the bike where I put about 300 miles on them. I then changed my tires to Origin8 Supercells and moved the same Tannus Armor and tubes into those.  After I moved them to the Supercells I added Slime to them. Since then I have put another 1000 miles on them. I never deflate them, and I have never had a flat. I've ridden on some pretty tough roads where I've seen/heard other people get a fair amount of flats, like from Key Largo to Key West and back. Maybe I've just been lucky so far. My experience seems to be the opposite of what many other people have seen though.

I think you'll be fine. For me I think it's the combination of high speed (sometimes past 40mph) and long distances, but two of the flats were on very slow rides, so maybe the damage was already done before those events.

[handlebar]

I had to come face to face with reality. It's been many years since I've had a flat, and that includes 3000 miles on my RadMini with no flats. Then I installed Tannus Armour, and I've had SIX flats due to tube failures.

On my Radrunner, I had a tube go flat with two pinch holes. When it almost happened to another tube, I discovered the cause: part of the tube was between the bead and rim when I began to inflate it. That's a hazard when a bike uses 3.3 inch tires and 4 inch tubes. Is your Radmini like that? Tannus Armour would exacerbate the problem by leaving even less space for the tube. I'm glad the Radmission uses a standard tire size.

[crorris]

My Rover 5 has 4" tires. The Tannus Armor came with 3.5" tubes to install with them to account for the smaller size. 

[Altema]

I had to come face to face with reality. It's been many years since I've had a flat, and that includes 3000 miles on my RadMini with no flats. Then I installed Tannus Armour, and I've had SIX flats due to tube failures.

On my Radrunner, I had a tube go flat with two pinch holes. When it almost happened to another tube, I discovered the cause: part of the tube was between the bead and rim when I began to inflate it. That's a hazard when a bike uses 3.3 inch tires and 4 inch tubes. Is your Radmini like that? Tannus Armour would exacerbate the problem by leaving even less space for the tube. I'm glad the Radmission uses a standard tire size.

I have 3.3 inch wide tires and the tubes Tannus sent are 2.5 or so. The Tannus Armor has about a half inch of extra material, and you have to tuck it in after the tube so it wraps around it, so it makes that scenario kind of impossible. None of the flats have been snake bites, and on almost all of them the hole is where an abraded piece of rubber has been ground or melted into the tube.

[jbfoster]

Tannus Armour is not worth the money. Mine lasted about a year and a half. Who knows how long they were flat but hey were flat as a pancake. The disclaimer was buried on their website that you have to deflate your tires so the liners retain their shape. You should not have to do that. Bad design. Sorry but I am not going to deflate my tires every day or week. Another selling point that you can ride slow on a flat but that does not apply to fat tire bikes.


Jim

[rjp]

I'm in, Tannus sucks not worth the money. Flat out and Mr Tuffy for me. Over 10,000 miles only had 3 flats, all with Tannus.

[g33kyfr34ky]

Old trick from back in the day before tubeless, try putting baby powder in the tire between the Tannus and tube.

[handlebar]

Old trick from back in the day before tubeless, try putting baby powder in the tire between the Tannus and tube.

I use it to make it easier to remove rubber gloves.

[Rover]

I've had Tannus in multiple ebikes. Including both of my current Rads (Rover 6 Plus and City 5 Plus) with original tires. So far so good.

[Altema]

I've had Tannus in multiple ebikes. Including both of my current Rads (Rover 6 Plus and City 5 Plus) with original tires. So far so good.

That's good, and I'd expect that from most bikes. I've changed the title to include the term "high speed", as most e-bikes won't find themselves going 30 to 40 mph for long distances.