Tannus Armour Tyre Inserts
| Cycling
In November last year either the front or rear tyre on my bike got a puncture on just about every ride. The tyres (Schwalbe Evolution Marathon Supremes 700 x 40mm) were fairly new. Lots of rain, shards of Kentish flint, thorns and broken glass all conspired against me getting home without having to stop at least once to patch a tube and fit the spare. I was getting a bit fed up with it.
Toyed with the idea of fitting Marathon Plus tyres since they’re pretty impervious to all the usual suspects. Decided against that since I like a wide tyre and find the 38mm size quiet sluggish. I’ve tried tubeless and they’ve been no good when it comes to tyres being sliced with flint, which happens quite a lot where I live.
After a bit of time searching for options Tannus Armour Tyre Inserts popped up. The reviews looked good. Not tried them before. Thought I may as well give them a go. Nothing much to lose.
Fitted an insert into each wheel the first week of December. Been out riding most days since then in all weathers. Not a single puncture.
They do add a bit of weight but seem lighter with the Supremes than I remember the Marathon Plus feeling. Since I ride a heavy steel bike what they do add doesn’t make that much of a difference anyway. Going fast is less of a priority to me than it is to keep going.
In short I would recommend them for anything similar to my use case - long rides in all weathers on crappy surfaces with a good helping of road shrapnel sprinkled on top.
