Tannus Insert Final Conclusion
I think I am going to abandon the tannus inserts. Thats what I get for trying to solve a problem that didnt exist. I will just go with my old standby of tubes and sealant (stans until I run out then flatout). Oh well, no regrets.
Some of the tannus quirks (for me):
The foam is just to squishy for me no matter what tire pressure I use. While I definately notice the improved traction offroad and the inserts are pretty much perfect there, my rides are a compromise of different trail conditions including asphalt/concrete. Cornering on paved surfaces has to be tamed down quite a bit and I dont push it that hard in this scenario anywho. This will likely change as the foam compresses so its an ever changing thing to deal with.
Temperature dependent squishiness. Today was much warmer than usual and the first decent turn on a paved surface had me panic enough when I leaned over that I had to correct my steering input as I thought my front end was washing out.
These tires just feel slow and its not because weight or pressures. As I have mentioned before I think its the dampening (although I have nothing to back it up other than than at 14:45 in the following video
Who knows if this is 100% correct but I cant explain the feeling any other way.
Comparing my rides, for the same ride and the same wh/m pulled from the battery, a 1.5hr/25mile/1500ft vertical ride is about 1mph faster with the GMAC bike than the BBSHD with the tannus inserts. While there is ALOT of potential variablility in this, my rides have been pretty consistent between the BBSHD and GMAC with the only variability being wh/m vs average speed.
KInekt Seatpost Opinion
I decided to try a Kinekt Suspension Seatpost on the BC-BBSHD bike and I am 100% glad I tried. Potentially trying to solve another problem that didnt exist. I tried a suspension seatpost on a friends bike about 15 years ago and thought it was just a silly thing to do. I have owned/ridden FS MTBs since 2005 and must say I am very impressed with the Kinekt seatpost.
Just ordered a Redshift suspension seatpost to try on the GMAC bike