Accessories that didn’t work out?

dmourati said:
I'm considering repurposing one of my Anker Powercore battery banks...
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Excellent info. Thank you!

I have several portable USB battery banks here I can use. Since the RTL515 is mounted on the back of the rack of my Sondors MXS, it'll be easy to slip in a spare battery into the bag and connect a short USB cable to the Garmin radar.
 
Ergonomic pedals. Ergon PC2 pedals. Loved them but no more parts or replacements. Failure driven I think.

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I overbought batteries and several will age out before being worn out. By all new builds are sippers. 36V 15A-18A 250W 350W 500W.
A nasty fall today made me happier I dumbed down to 20MPH. Had I been riding my BBSHD I’m certain I’d be really screwed up. Now it’s just 6” circles of flayed off skin.
 
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tomjasz said:
I overbought batteries and several will age out before being worn out. By all new builds are sippers. 36V 15A-18A 250W 350W 500W.
A nasty fall today made me happier I dumbed down to 20MPH. Had I been riding my BBSHD I’m certain I’d be really screwed up. Now it’s just 6” circles of flayed off skin.
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Sorry to hear of your fall! But “dumbed down to 20 mph”?🙄
 
Tannus Armour. It took me nearly a year of riding with them to finally stop doing so. I installed them in order to reduce flats. They did that but did not eliminate them, as I had two during the year I used them, about a 50% reduction. I initially liked the ride quality as they really quieted down the road noise which created an impression of smoothing things out. That was an illusion as it really was simply noise damping.

What convinced me to stop using them was having tubeless tires installed on my gravel ebike and the revelation how reducing rotational weight increased acceleration dramatically, produced notable increase in battery range and also the fact that it provided vastly superior flat protection. I have had 0.0 flats on the WTB Byways on my Cannondale Topstone Neo Carbon 3 in over 2,400 miles. I did notice a patch of dirty, rubbery substance on the rear tire. It turned out to be a patch of dried sealant. I pulled it of the tire and revealed a half inch staple stuck straight into the tire. I pulled it out and checked the pressure on the tire and it had lost 2 psi before sealing itself. That made me a believer in tubeless.

The tires I like for my R&M Mountain (Schwalbe Johnny Watts) and my Trek Allant (Schwalbe Hurricanes) are not tubeless so I am using Tubolito tubes which are more puncture resistant than butyl rubber tubes and weigh around 60% less, easy to patch. they weigh about the same as the amount of tubeless sealant needed for a comparable sized tire.

It also helps that I have become more adept at changing out tubes on the road so it is not such a big deal to me to have a flat and fix it.
Now if Schwalbe would just come out with tubeless versions of their Hybrid touring tires.
 
tomjasz said:
I overbought batteries and several will age out before being worn out. By all new builds are sippers. 36V 15A-18A 250W 350W 500W.
A nasty fall today made me happier I dumbed down to 20MPH. Had I been riding my BBSHD I’m certain I’d be really screwed up. Now it’s just 6” circles of flayed off skin.
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Ouch! I was at the dentist yesterday and I overheard a kid in the next room with his mum explaining why his teeth were so messed up...yup you guessed it ...a bike crash.
 
Alaskan said:
Tannus Armour. It took me nearly a year of riding with them to finally stop doing so. I installed them in order to reduce flats. They did that but did not eliminate them, as I had two during the year I used them, about a 50% reduction. I initially liked the ride quality as they really quieted down the road noise which created an impression of smoothing things out. That was an illusion as it really was simply noise damping.

What convinced me to stop using them was having tubeless tires installed on my gravel ebike and the revelation how reducing rotational weight increased acceleration dramatically, produced notable increase in battery range and also the fact that it provided vastly superior flat protection. I have had 0.0 flats on the WTB Byways on my Cannondale Topstone Neo Carbon 3 in over 2,400 miles. I did notice a patch of dirty, rubbery substance on the rear tire. It turned out to be a patch of dried sealant. I pulled it of the tire and revealed a half inch staple stuck straight into the tire. I pulled it out and checked the pressure on the tire and it had lost 2 psi before sealing itself. That made me a believer in tubeless.

The tires I like for my R&M Mountain (Schwalbe Johnny Watts) and my Trek Allant (Schwalbe Hurricanes) are not tubeless so I am using Tubolito tubes which are more puncture resistant than butyl rubber tubes and weigh around 60% less, easy to patch. they weigh about the same as the amount of tubeless sealant needed for a comparable sized tire.

It also helps that I have become more adept at changing out tubes on the road so it is not such a big deal to me to have a flat and fix it.
Now if Schwalbe would just come out with tubeless versions of their Hybrid touring tires.
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I’m in the midst of my Tannus ”testing”, after three flats in less than a year on my SCHWALBE G-Ones, all on the rear tire. I changed my Allant to Tannus along with a new G-One over a couple of months ago and all went well for about a month then I found it flat in my garage one morning. Shocked after a close exam of the tire revealed nothing, I took the tube out and quickly realized I had used a patched tube. I examined the Tannus and the tube but found nothing. I decided to put a new tube in and all has been fine since. The flat is still a mystery.
 
Dallant said:
I’m in the midst of my Tannus ”testing”, after three flats in less than a year on my SCHWALBE G-Ones, all on the rear tire. I changed my Allant to Tannus along with a new G-One over a couple of months ago and all went well for about a month then I found it flat in my garage one morning. Shocked after a close exam of the tire revealed nothing, I took the tube out and quickly realized I had used a patched tube. I examined the Tannus and the tube but found nothing. I decided to put a new tube in and all has been fine since. The flat is still a mystery.
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My wife and I have had 2 flats in 50,000 km total riding since adding Tannus AND we were able to continue to ride the bikes with no damage to the rims ( albeit in limp mode ) over 10 km to our destinations! Far from being items that did not work out I would put the Armours near the top of my list of upgrades. But we have mountain bikes with 2.35 to 2.8" tires , not road bikes with super thin tires.
 
steve mercier said:
My wife and I have had 2 flats in 50,000 km total riding since adding Tannus AND we were able to continue to ride the bikes with no damage to the rims ( albeit in limp mode ) over 10 km to our destinations! Far from being items that did not work out I would put the Armours near the top of my list of upgrades. But we have mountain bikes with 2.35 to 2.8" tires , not road bikes with super thin tires.
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Definitely a great reason to have Tannus!
 
After 2 decades of cycling, I have a pretty large parts bin full of stuff that didn't work out. Lots of saddles and grips, some shoes and pedals. Several sets of bars, a few stems. I have lots of lights from my commuting days that are rarely used these days (except my Dinotte taillight which lives on whatever bike I'm riding). I honestly forget most of what I have until I have to dig through a drawer for something.

Probably my most expensive purchase that never really got used was my set of Ortlieb panniers and my Soma touring bike. I was planning on riding a large part of Adventure Cyclings atlantic route in 2011 with a close friend. After getting the bike built and purchasing the bags, I lost my job and funds for the trip ended up going into food and shelter. We discussed ressurecting the trip a few times over the years, but never did and he passed away suddenly last year (on his bike, which is fitting for him). The Soma is in storage and the bags are in my bike room but I've had very little use of either in the 10 years since purchase, but can't bring myself to get rid of them.
 
My Tannus Experience so Far:

I asked to have Tannus installed by my LBS on my R&M Load 75. The bike arrived yesterday with Tannus Amour on the front but not on the rear. I can only assume the shop didn't have the rear size in stock.

I noticed that Armour wasn't quite centered on the wheel. When I went to leave my driveway, the front wheel rubbed against the inside of the front fender. I loosened up a couple allen bolts and repositioning the front fender to at least get going.

Like @Alaskan, I went with Tubolito's for spares. I haven't tried combining Tubolito's with Armour to ensure fit. May get to it this weekend.
 
One of the things I failed to mention in my post above is that my trust in Tannus Armour was conclusively diminished when I had to fix my first flat with a tire that had it installed. It was not the fact that I had the flat. I was that the armour had become so compressed that it was only around 3 0r 4 mm thick through the tread part and it is just foam not an aramid or kevlar layer like Mr. Toughy. It was no wonder that I got another flat two months later as the level of real protection is questionable.

They recommend one deflate the tires between rides in order to lighten up the compression and let them recover closer to original thickness, but who wants to have to inflate their tires before every ride?

If the reason for using them is to defeat flat tires, then tubeless is a far more effective option and I presume that a true hardened barrier like Mr. Toughy would be as well.

If being able to ride home on a flat is the reason then they may indeed serve. However, if I can change out a tube in 15 minutes, I will likely pass you on the road on the way home while you are limping along on your flat with Tannus, unless the flat happens less than five miles from home.
 
Alaskan said:
One of the things I failed to mention in my post above is that my trust in Tannus Armour was conclusively diminished when I had to fix my first flat with a tire that had it installed. It was not the fact that I had the flat. I was that the armour had become so compressed that it was only around 3 0r 4 mm thick through the tread part and it is just foam not an aramid or kevlar layer like Mr. Toughy. It was no wonder that I got another flat two months later as the level of real protection is questionable.

They recommend one deflate the tires between rides in order to lighten up the compression and let them recover closer to original thickness, but who wants to have to inflate their tires before every ride?

If the reason for using them is to defeat flat tires, then tubeless is a far more effective option and I presume that a true hardened barrier like Mr. Toughy would be as well.

If being able to ride home on a flat is the reason then they may indeed serve. However, if I can change out a tube in 15 minutes, I will likely pass you on the road on the way home while you are limping along on your flat with Tannus, unless the flat happens less than five miles from home.
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I just read their faq on the subject.

"The armour will compress some after it’s installed depending on the pressure of the tire. The higher the psi the more condensed the Armour will become. If you wish to keep the Armour as thick as possible then maintain a lower psi. You may also deflate your tire if you’re not going to be riding for a longer period. This allows the Armour to rebound back to its original size."
 
steve mercier said:
My wife and I have had 2 flats in 50,000 km total riding since adding Tannus AND we were able to continue to ride the bikes with no damage to the rims ( albeit in limp mode ) over 10 km to our destinations! Far from being items that did not work out I would put the Armours near the top of my list of upgrades. But we have mountain bikes with 2.35 to 2.8" tires , not road bikes with super thin tires.
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+1 on the Tannus. No flats in almost 2000 miles. I agree though, they are not for everyone.
 
Maybe all the parts I bought to reduce the gearing and put wider tires on our two Giant Expressway folding bikes; chainrings, bolts, washers, cassettes, tubes, tires, along with some associated tools.

I suspect the new e-bikes are going to mean the folders won't be used much, but it's too soon to tell. However, there's also the prospect of a Tongsheng TSDZ2 conversion. So, mark all this as a "definite maybe". ; )
 
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dmourati said:
My Tannus Experience so Far:

I asked to have Tannus installed by my LBS on my R&M Load 75. The bike arrived yesterday with Tannus Amour on the front but not on the rear. I can only assume the shop didn't have the rear size in stock.

I noticed that Armour wasn't quite centered on the wheel. When I went to leave my driveway, the front wheel rubbed against the inside of the front fender. I loosened up a couple allen bolts and repositioning the front fender to at least get going.

Like @Alaskan, I went with Tubolito's for spares. I haven't tried combining Tubolito's with Armour to ensure fit. May get to it this weekend.
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If you noticed that the tire is not seated properly on the rim and has a bad wobble then that is likely the fault of the mechanic at the LBS as it could mean they have blown the tire casing. It probably has little to do with the Tannus inserts and more to do with whoever mounted the tire. I had that happen to me when a novice did the work. I did not complain too loudly about it though as that LBS has been very good to me. I just ordered a Schwalbe ( blown casing was on a Maxxis ) and asked if my favorite guy could do the work this time.
 
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