Tire Liners

6zfshdb

6zfshdb

Well-Known Member
Region
USA
City
Northeast Pennsylvania
After 5 seasons, I'm finally giving up on Tannus Armor. They are just too difficult to install and make on road tire repairs almost impossible. With some effort, I installed them on two bikes in 2020 but when I recently tried to replace them, I was simply not able to do it. Not sure why since they are the same bikes, same rims and the same tires. Perhaps Tannus changed something in the manufacture?

The product also looses it's profile and becomes flat over time. In their flattened state, they still offer some additional puncture protection, but no more so than plain tire liners, which are much easer to install.

For those who use these tire liners, such as Mr Tuffy, what has been your experience? I have seen product reviews about the edges of the liner cutting into tubes and causing flats. Is this really a significant problem? The great majority of the 4K+ Amazon reviews seem to be positive.

Any tricks to keep the liner centered on the tube during installation? The instructions provided on the Mr. Tuffy liners are overly simplistic and don't deal with the centering problem. I've seen you tube videos of people using duct tape to hold them in place inside the tire. I understand this is not recommended since the liner is supposed to be able to move slightly after tire inflation. One guy I saw used pieces of string which he later pulled out.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated.
 
I started out with Mr. Tuffy liners for my 4" fat tire Radrover in 2016. Mr. Tuffy wasn't enough for extra long goat heads stickers and I needed to add two 4oz bottles of Stans tire sealant per tire as a back-up. The combo reduced my flats from 1-2 times a month to 1-2 times a year compared to not having the combo. The flats I did get were usually from large debris or very sharp objects and a liner+sealant wouldn't of stopped. I would still need to add a 4oz bottle of Stan tire sealant every 4-8 months because of it working patching X-long goat heads on most rides.

The problem I had with Mr. Tuffy was:
- Difficult to center; needed to air the tube enough to rest Mr. Tuffy securely against the inside of the tire, unseat the tire from both sides of the rim, use both hands to center Mr. Tuffy along the tube (hard to slide within the tire if you have too much PSI), re-seat tire, and sometimes use 3-5 Velcro strips to maintain seat around the tire to air up with electric pump (I had very floppy 120 tpi Vee8 4" fat tires).

- Need to cut to length; I had some overlap and figured it would just be extra protection in that area. Mr. Tuffy overlap would slide a bit, bunch up, and caused a pinch flat in the tube. Zero issues once I trimmed Mr. Tuffy with minimum overlap.

- Extra large goat heads would break off on the outside of the tire and the pointy end of the sticker stuck in the tire and/or sometimes in the Mr. Tuffy liner poking the tube (reason for Stan sealant). I needed to remove my tires every few months to run my hands along the inside of the tires and Mr. Tuffy to remove those extra long stickers. Found a very sharp box cutter blade works best are removing goat heads from tire tread and Mr. Tuffy.

- Mr. Tuffy didn't seem to protect from really sharp road debris (glass, nails/screws, auto debris in bike lane, pointy branches on single track). Needed to carry a spare tube when the hole was too big for Stans to fix.

I purchased my Himiway Cobra Pro with 4.8" fat tires back in the Fall of 2023. The bike shop sold Tannus and offered to install for free if I purchased. So far, zero flats and I haven't noticed any tq steering with Tannus unless my PSI is under 20. I added Stan tire sealant to my Himiway out of habit; but, haven't noticed any wet spots like I did with Mr. Tuffy+Stans with my Radrover.

I liked Tannus so much and decided to dump Mr. Tuffy on my two old 2016 Radrovers. I've learned Tannus is difficult to install straight out the package when in it was folded up. It was much easier to install on the 2nd ebike when I removed from the package and let sit unfolded for a week (only had time to work on it on the next weekend).

Tannus is still new to me and I haven't experienced the long-term issue just yet.
 
I’m no bike mechanic, like @stompandgo or @PedalUma, and I don’t have experience in centering liners. I wonder if some type of liquid might be useful. Not glue or other epoxy, but maybe vegetable oil or toothpaste (like) substances could work. It would be very convenient if brake fluid would work.

I’m imagining brushing the oil, or dabs of paste, to the inner surface of the tire then placing the liner against the liquid. Finally inserting the tubes and inflating. Of course, you’d want to put a bit of air in the tube while seating into the tire, to be sure the liner doesn’t slide out of place.
 
My first ebike cruiser I purchased I ended up with a flat the 2nd or 3rd time out, real pain in the butt. I purchased Tannus and never had a flat afterwards (2 yrs). I had then sold my cruiser and bought a Cobra Pro 2+ yrs ago and with the Tannus I added I have yet to get a flat. I installed all of my own liners and the first was a challenge, but you get the swing of it and its all good. I have never tried to install them on a road bike if that's what your doing?? There are plenty of YouTube video's out there that walk you through it.... Maybe just bite the bullet and have a bike shop install them, be done with it?
 
MrHyak said:
Dish soap is what you use to lube tires... I learned this in auto shop in highschool way back when they had auto shop classes... :)
Click to expand...
Though most soap is considered safe to use.. Most commercially available tire mount lubes are vegetable oil base.
On my bike I've used some diluted Simple Green with good results.
 
I run Mr. Tuffy liners in all my ebikes. First trick, get the correct width for the tire your installing them in. Second, inflate the tube just enough to hand center the liner. Some on the wider Tuffy liners have a adhesive peel strip to stick them to the center of the tire. I've never used the center strip. Finally, I've only had one Tuffy "bunch up" and put a slice in the tube. Not sure if running higher tire pressure helped cause the issue?

I tried Armour Dillos? and thought they were to stiff and harder to work with.
 
sc00ter said:
put a slice in the tube
Click to expand...
I think with Tuffy you need to schedule an annual tube replacement. They will eventually press in and slice a tube. But it is something that you can do on your own timing and not just random flats. My last flat was from hitting a 3 inch high protrusion sideways last week. I just used a friend's bike to go back to the shop for a pump, tube, lever, and 15mm spanner.
 
Yeah, I hate to give up on the Tannus. 5 seasons, two bikes and 15K miles without a flat. It did save my bacon recently when I hit a rock and broke a chunk out of my mag wheel rim. If it weren't for the stiff sidewall on the Tannus Armor, the tube would have blown out.

1752083530345.jpeg


Not sure why I wasn't able to get the Tannus on this time. It was the same bike, same tire, same rim, same size tube and the same size Tannus. I've installed four of them before, have the tools and know most of the tricks. I used an excessive amount of force trying to seat the tire bead this time. I was afraid I was going to snap the bead wire or damage the rim. It was like trying to install a 24" tire on a 26" rim.

I don't ride roads and most of my riding these days is on paved or packed gravel trails. I'm not sure I even need the extra protection offered by the TA's.
Instead, I'm going to try Slime filled, heavy duty Schwalbe 13D Downhill tubes with the Mr. Tuffy liners, inside my puncture resistant Marathon+ tires. If I do get a flat, at least I'll be able to repair it on the trail, which is something I wouldn't attempt with the TA's
 
6zfshdb said:
After 5 seasons, I'm finally giving up on Tannus Armor. They are just too difficult to install and make on road tire repairs almost impossible. With some effort, I installed them on two bikes in 2020 but when I recently tried to replace them, I was simply not able to do it. Not sure why since they are the same bikes, same rims and the same tires. Perhaps Tannus changed something in the manufacture?

The product also looses it's profile and becomes flat over time. In their flattened state, they still offer some additional puncture protection, but no more so than plain tire liners, which are much easer to install.

For those who use these tire liners, such as Mr Tuffy, what has been your experience? I have seen product reviews about the edges of the liner cutting into tubes and causing flats. Is this really a significant problem? The great majority of the 4K+ Amazon reviews seem to be positive.

Any tricks to keep the liner centered on the tube during installation? The instructions provided on the Mr. Tuffy liners are overly simplistic and don't deal with the centering problem. I've seen you tube videos of people using duct tape to hold them in place inside the tire. I understand this is not recommended since the liner is supposed to be able to move slightly after tire inflation. One guy I saw used pieces of string which he later pulled out.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
Tried Tannus inserts in my Luna Z1 and and my Aventon Level. They worked pretty good against flats. But still.
Finally went tubeless in all my bikes two years ago. Never a problem since going tubeless. Easier and cheaper.
 
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