Tannus armour vs tubeless?

[autopsyhater]

Hi, I'm halfway through a tubeless conversion on the rear wheel on my Carerra Crossfire 2.

I'm not exaggerating, when I say between both wheels, I've probably suffered about 20 punctures since I've had it in March.

I think it's the lower profile hybrid tyres that are more susceptible than the cheap knobbly pattern that my previous more budget machines have had. Also perhaps 29'ers which the Crossfire is are more susceptible as well.

Anyway, I use the bike as my daily rider, I do not have a car or a motorbike (well, I do, but uninsured so can't ride) as I am long term unemployed and live at home still.

I like to use my machine for trail riding, commuting and dirt jumps.

I went trail riding yesterday, all fine, then this evening when I was going to go somewhere I find the rear tyre, flat!

So I would like two things from the good people of PH.

1. What are some good tubeless tyres. I've been on the Schwalbe website and it's not clear which tyres are tubeless and which aren't.

Schwalbe Land Cruisers which I have currently fitted do not seem to grip the wheel rim anywhere near tightly enough to seal for a tubeless setup. Massive loose gaps between tyre and rim.

2. Would this Tannus armour be a good alternative to a tubeless setup? The obvious downside to me is that it is size specific to the wheel, so if I wanted to run a different wheel size, I would need to get a new insert.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tannus-Armour-Puncture-...

[wobert]

autopsyhater said:

Hi, I'm halfway through a tubeless conversion on the rear wheel on my Carerra Crossfire 2.

I'm not exaggerating, when I say between both wheels, I've probably suffered about 20 punctures since I've had it in March.

I think it's the lower profile hybrid tyres that are more susceptible than the cheap knobbly pattern that my previous more budget machines have had. Also perhaps 29'ers which the Crossfire is are more susceptible as well.

Anyway, I use the bike as my daily rider, I do not have a car or a motorbike (well, I do, but uninsured so can't ride) as I am long term unemployed and live at home still.

I like to use my machine for trail riding, commuting and dirt jumps.

I went trail riding yesterday, all fine, then this evening when I was going to go somewhere I find the rear tyre, flat!

So I would like two things from the good people of PH.

1. What are some good tubeless tyres. I've been on the Schwalbe website and it's not clear which tyres are tubeless and which aren't.

Schwalbe Land Cruisers which I have currently fitted do not seem to grip the wheel rim anywhere near tightly enough to seal for a tubeless setup. Massive loose gaps between tyre and rim.

2. Would this Tannus armour be a good alternative to a tubeless setup? The obvious downside to me is that it is size specific to the wheel, so if I wanted to run a different wheel size, I would need to get a new insert.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tannus-Armour-Puncture-...

The bit in bold might be your problem if you’re doing it on this.....???

[Poppiecock]

I've suffered really badly with punctures on my road bike this year. Worst was last weekend, pulling the bike out of the van with an hour to go before the start of a triathlon and finding a flat tyre, even though it was absolutely fine for a race the previous day.

All of them were caused by plastic rim tape slipping around under pressure and allowing the tubes to snag on the spoke holes.

I've now replaced the tape with sticky fabric tape, that's a little wider, and think I may have solved the problem.

The other thing was that I think I got some fake tubes from eBay, as all of them, despite being sold as Continental, failed in a similar way.

[Pupp]

What? Just fill them with nitrogen; all proper PHers know that solves all tyre problems

[Pupp]

And then fold down the back seat for max effect

[autopsyhater]

Poppiecock said:

I've suffered really badly with punctures on my road bike this year. Worst was last weekend, pulling the bike out of the van with an hour to go before the start of a triathlon and finding a flat tyre, even though it was absolutely fine for a race the previous day.

All of them were caused by plastic rim tape slipping around under pressure and allowing the tubes to snag on the spoke holes.

I've now replaced the tape with sticky fabric tape, that's a little wider, and think I may have solved the problem.

The other thing was that I think I got some fake tubes from eBay, as all of them, despite being sold as Continental, failed in a similar way.

That's a good point about the rim strip.

In the process of my tubeless conversion, I have actually removed the rim strip and covered the spoke holes with some soft, air tight and very sticky 3m tape to make the rim airtight.

So these latest punctures can't have been caused by that.

My puncture two weeks ago in the front tyre was from a thorn which actually took the rest of the twig along for the ride and was flapping around as the wheel was turning, so that one was an easy one to diagnose!

My most recent puncture I believe was caused by a short trail ride I went on the day before.

I have topped the tube up with sealant and pumped it back up-puncture fixed, at least for now!

All my most recent tubes have been from Halfords, cheap and cheerful but I don't think particularly puncture prone.

Anyway, I'm kinda wondering if tubeless is worth it anyway, when a combination of this Tannus armour+tube sealant ought to be just as reliable as a tubeless setup.

At the moment I am running sealant in both tyres, I guess the simplicity of tubeless appeals to me more than anything, just having the tyre and the sealant, but I'm considering the tannus armour and tube sealant of an alternative.

[shouldbworking]

If you're getting that many punctures you are either riding with the tyres massively underinflated or your routes made of carpet tacks.

If it's the former, inflate your tyres properly, if it's the latter, get more appropriate tyres.

[GOATever]

Tubeless road tyres won’t help with puncture protection. They really don’t work well on road bikes, with high pressure to volume ratios. If you’re lucky, you may get some small intrusion punctures, which may seal ( dependant in picking a decent sealant ) but if you get a side wall slice, it’s game over ( more often than not ) and a massive faff, if it happens in the dark, and cold, wet weather days. I had tubeless road tyres / wheels ( because the Mavic wheels I bought, came with them ) they were superb as far as not getting pinch flats, and being able to run very low pressures ( for comfort ) were concerned, but total st as far as side wall cuts, and intrusion punctures which defeated the sealant were concerned, and I used the Stans ‘Race’ sealant, which has twice the concentration of sealant particles as the standard stuff, and can cope with up to about 6mm holes. I just reverted them back to sealant filled tubes, after 3 of the four were knackered beyond rescue, within about 3000 miles. I use 25mm Tannus Aither airless tyres on my most wintery road bike, and I’ve had about 10000 miles out of them, and they are still not totally finished yet. They take a lot of getting used to, but for short, commute type rides, in cold, dark, wet conditions, they take some beating, as far as time saved, through not getting punctures is concerned.