XPremium tannus armour inserts

[BeenLectric]

Anyone running the tannus armour inserts and tube yet? Planning to install them on the XPremium in their 20x4 tires and wondering if I should be using an inner-tube any larger than 20x2.5 and if anyone recommends a good heavy duty tube or slime vs. any other puncture sealants.

 

[Johny Rocket]

Haven't had any flats last 3k miles since my pain in the @$$ tannus install. Tried slime and others before and didn't like not being able to get a patch to hold if the slime didn't fix the issue, something in it that prevents the patches from staying on.
I would suggest tannus, and a decent spare tube you may never need.

 

[Dorkyman]

I've done Slime in the past, but there are YouTube videos out that show FlatOut is like Slime 2.0, with superior sealing and handling properties. We've put FlatOut in both our XP 2.0 st bikes but it's only been 6 months. Nonetheless, tires are perfect so far.

 

[Johny Rocket]

I've done Slime in the past, but there are YouTube videos out that show FlatOut is like Slime 2.0, with superior sealing and handling properties. We've put FlatOut in both our XP 2.0 st bikes but it's only been 6 months. Nonetheless, tires are perfect so far.

I agree, I also had better experience with Flat out. Home Depot has a great price on the equipment version that works great on fat tires like the Lectric XP has. Not so good on skinny standard width bicycle tires though

 

[BeenLectric]

FO seems like the better product on paper. Gonna roll the tannus w/o anything in the tubes and see how that goes. I live right on a n/w of bike path and would like to try riding a bit in the winter and it looks like both Slime and FO could be problematic when it gets too cold. I really don't plan on biking when it's less than 10F but you never know as I'm usually outside in temps below that. Definitely too cold to be charging lithium batts.

Ended up bringing the bike into a local shop to swap the rear sprocket with a nickel plated one and the chain with a gold X8 - so they've been tasked with the T-inserts as well. What do you guys use for chain cleaning and lube in the colder climates?

 

[tomjasz]

After being burned by the inadequate testing of the earlier versions that collapsed or flattened, many have abandoned the product. An expensive field trail that cost BUYERS at retail pricing

 

[BeenLectric]

Unloaded my bike from the truck this morning and the front tire was flat. Erik's bike shop did the tannus swap and installed the nickel plated rear sprocket. They were unable to swap my X8 gold chain because it's too short.

Ended up pulling the front tube and notices a small hole about 10" from the valve stem on the outer edge of the tube however nothing sharp inside the wheel at all.

Cleaned everything up took my time and installed a second tube. Pumped up gradually making sure the tire and tannus insert where perfectly centered. Felt good at 15psi. 10 minutes later it started letting out all the air.

Pulled the tube and saw the same size hole on the opposite end of the valve stem and this time closer to 12". Rechecked and can find nothing sharp or that would make a pin hole. Took the wheel and tubes back into Eric's to see what they can figure out.

 

[Johny Rocket]

Generally, a flat tube with no obvious reason that shows up just after a tire service is due to a pinched tube. Either tube pinched between the rim and tire bead, or the edge of the tannus and tire. The tube has to be carefully spread inside the tire, very difficult to do when dealing with a tannus insert.
The LBS I worked at would install everything carefully, then with very low pressure 2-5lbs in the tire squeeze by hand the tire all the way around to work kinks out of the tube, let the air out, work it again around the tire, low pressure back in, work the tire again sometimes repeating the process as many as 10 times increasing pressure each time a little to prevent punch flats with Tannus inserts. A real pain and why the LBS charges extra.

 

[tomjasz]

FO seems like the better product on paper. Gonna roll the tannus w/o anything in the tubes and see how that goes. I live right on a n/w of bike path and would like to try riding a bit in the winter and it looks like both Slime and FO could be problematic when it gets too cold. I really don't plan on biking when it's less than 10F but you never know as I'm usually outside in temps below that. Definitely too cold to be charging lithium batts.

Ended up bringing the bike into a local shop to swap the rear sprocket with a nickel plated one and the chain with a gold X8 - so they've been tasked with the T-inserts as well. What do you guys use for chain cleaning and lube in the colder climates?

ACF50 or Boeshield T-9 SE MN winters. Both offer salt protection too!

 

[BeenLectric]

Generally, a flat tube with no obvious reason that shows up just after a tire service is due to a pinched tube. Either tube pinched between the rim and tire bead, or the edge of the tannus and tire. The tube has to be carefully spread inside the tire, very difficult to do when dealing with a tannus insert.
The LBS I worked at would install everything carefully, then with very low pressure 2-5lbs in the tire squeeze by hand the tire all the way around to work kinks out of the tube, let the air out, work it again around the tire, low pressure back in, work the tire again sometimes repeating the process as many as 10 times increasing pressure each time a little to prevent punch flats with Tannus inserts. A real pain and why the LBS charges extra.

This is the method I tried prior to reaching out to tannus. Tannus tells me they did in fact have a bad batch of tubes that all had a leak near the specific location. She refunded me for the two tubes I purchased however they had also included 2 extra tubes... Beginning to think the 3 tubes could have all been defective.

 

[BeenLectric]

ACF50 or Boeshield T-9 SE MN winters. Both offer salt protection too!

Both of these products are intriguing. Going to give each a try. Many thanks

 

[Alaskan]

I ran Tannus in two bikes for over a year. They reduced but did not eliminate flats. They also made the bike sluggish and dull in its road feel, slowed the bike down by at least 2mph and increased battery consumption.

Final verdict after a year long trial...I would rather have to fix a few more flats than suffer a loss of speed and range, have my overall experience of the bike reduced by excessive added rotational weight and a general feeling of my bike being dumbed down.

 

[BeenLectric]

What tire size did you have the inserts mounted in Alaskan and what type of flats?

Seemed like a cool concept. Was surprised how easy the 20x4 tire/rim combo is to swap a tube even with the inserts. If the shop can figure out what's going on with the repeated pin-hole appearing up front I'll roll with them and give em a chance. The mid-drive I put em in is pretty sluggish getting up to speed already compared with my other hub-drives.

 

[Alaskan]

I had them on a Riese & Muller Delite Mountain with 25.5 x 2.4 Schwalbe Hurricane tires and a Trek Allant 9.9S with 27.5 x 2.8 Schwalbe Johnny Watt tires. The usual run of flats from, staples, nails, pieces of wire from radial tires, etc. The Tannus compressed to around 3-4 mm.
They really gave a mushy ride quality and the added rotational weight was a real negative factor in speed and range.

 

[BeenLectric]

Running the 20" @ 15psi they ride over rocks at speed decent. They do feel more muted on the street but my speed up to 28 is dead even. I'll see how they break in on the 30 mile ride tomorrow.

 

[Vewlix]

From what I gather there are two different compounds with the earlier version being inferior.

Allegedly a tip is to not over inflate your tubes and deflate them regularly and let the Tannus armour regain its thickness otherwise it squashes down too thin and doesn’t prevent punctures. I don’t know how true it is but I just let them down every week as I have a battery pump and it’s no effort at all.

 

[BeenLectric]

From what I gather there are two different compounds with the earlier version being inferior.

Allegedly a tip is to not over inflate your tubes and deflate them regularly and let the Tannus armour regain its thickness otherwise it squashes down too thin and doesn’t prevent punctures. I don’t know how true it is but I just let them down every week as I have a battery pump and it’s no effort at all.

They held up well today. Noticably more comfort in the rear. Ended up adjusting the suspension firmer up front and put'em through the paces in a long stretch of game trail.

The material doesn't feel like it would compress much with 15psi. against it but I could be wrong. I'd think you tubes would gauge letting air in/out all the time. No?

 

[bradybunch84]

Running the 20" @ 15psi they ride over rocks at speed decent. They do feel more muted on the street but my speed up to 28 is dead even. I'll see how they break in on the 30 mile ride tomorrow.

I really like your handlebars. What are they? I'd like to put them on my XPremium.

 

[BeenLectric]

Thanks. They're 208 BMX freestyle bars with an 8 1/4" rise and 27 1/4" width.

Tried a bunch of different heights on the stem and had trouble getting enough bite at the headset. Ended going with a turtleneck stem on both Lectric bikes as of late which holds firm and the quick-disconnect for the bars is superior to the stock folding setup.