Trike Tutorial: Tannus Tire Armour Installation

After trying Every brand Tire Liner Tape I could find for my 26" x 4.00" Fat Bike Tires, (RinoDillos, Mr. Tuffy, Slime flat protector Liners & Thorn Buster), in combination w/ the popular sealants, Stan's, Slime & Flatout, I Still got Flats. The Liners almost Always migrate into a side to side pattern and end up protecting the sidewalls. I ride 5 to 6,000 miles a season, mostly on improved Biking Trail & maybe 15% on Streets, and after 10,000 miles of trying to defeat Flats w/ the Tapes & Sealants, I finally vested in a Tannus Armour Insert. First, I must say that in 16,000 miles of riding my Fat tire E-Bike since 2020, I've only gotten 1 slow leak on the Front Tire w/ just sealant inside, no Tape, No Tannus Insert. I always carry spare tubes, sealant, tooling & water to deal with most any condition I might run across in my travels and so my E-Bike is heavily loaded, and most of that weight is on the Rear Tire. That explains the reason the Rear gets All the flats and so that's the only Tire I added a TA Insert to. A mystery leak appeared shortly after installing the TA Insert, which turned into a "blessing in disguise". A hardened wire had buried itself into the foam Insert and I had the Rear Tire & Insert off three times before discovering the hidden wire. What surprised me however was how the Tannus Insert was slowly polishing all the rough textured rubber bits from the inner wall of my VEE Tire Co ZigZag Fat Tire. There was a LOT of rubber dust and chunky particles that had been rubbed loose from the tire inner wall and had migrated into the area between the Tube and Insert. This Rubber Dust debris was gathering in some spots & chafing on the Tube and eventually wore enough to cause a leak. This happened well after removing the wire hiding in the foam insert. This all happened within about 500+ miles. The polishing effect pretty much stopped after about 1,000 miles and didn't require cleaning again before the Tire is worn out. So that's a Must w/ these Tannus Inserts on Fat Tires, ya gotta go in a few times within the first 1,000 miles and clean out the chaffed Rubber particles that get worn from the Tire inner wall by the Insert. Lastly, there's another inherent problem w/ these Inserts, (at least as far as Fat Bike Tire Inserts go), and this problem is related to the vast majority of complaints about these Foam Inserts. Tannus, shamelessly, barely mentions this problem at their website and within the install instructions, and only really suggests a temporary fix for the problem. I'm speaking from my experience w/ the Fat Tire Insert only and this may not be as much a problem w/ the smaller Inserts (but I'm guessing it is an issue w/ all of them). At 20 PSI, the recommended Max pressure on most 26" x 4.00" Fat Tires, these inserts compress and cause the Tube to lose about 1 psi each hour after initial pressurization which slows after several hours. Tannus only recommends checking your tire Pressure after installation. After a Week your tire will be around 10 psi. If you refill the tire to 20 psi again as Tannus suggests, the Insert will continue to compress even more. Keep repeating that cycle and you get the "Dead Blow Hammer" effect that everyone complains about after owning these Inserts for more than a few months. These Inserts will continue to compress until they are essentially Useless if you keep filling the Tire up to running pressure and Tannus has Never mentioned this in their Instructions or at their Website. I made it over 6,000 miles on my heavily loaded Fat Tire E-Bike w/o a flat by doing the following w/ the Tannus Insert. Install the Insert and be prepared to clean out the polished Rubber particles a few times within 1,000 miles. I Always use some sort of Sealant, mostly for its tire Balancing effect on big Fat Tires, and as added insurance against punctures, (though I didn't see a Drop leaked out for 6,000 miles). But most importantly, after each ride, I support the bike by tilting it towards the Kickstand, this gets the Rear Tire off the ground and then I put a stick under the seat to keep the rear tire off the ground. I then remove the Valve Stem Core and fully deflate the tire. Supporting the Rear Tire prevents a Flat Spot in the Insert caused by the weight of the bike. If you use sealant, deflate w the Valve Stem @ the 3 or 9 o-clock positions to avoid a mess. I usually place the Core removal tool in the Stem and cover w/ a paper towel and then remove the Core, any Sealant spooge that spews out will get absorbed by the paper towel. I usually insert a cheap Q-Tip into the Schrader Valve Stem to clean it out and then remove the dirty end and reinsert the clean end of the Q-Tip. Leaving that Q-Tip there serves as a reminder that the Valve Core needs reinstallation next time you go to ride. So, reinstall the Valve Core just before your next ride and give the tire a pound or three more than usual. I usually pump the Fat Tire up to 23 or 24 psi and 90 minutes later, when I'm done w/ my ride, the pressure is just above 22 psi. Tannus Inserts amount to a tradeoff in labor. Some preventative maintenance up front prevents Flats along the trail. This routine only ad's a few minutes to any ride and becomes second nature once you've made it part of the routine. Happy Trails !

Great job Tyler! Nice informative video. Cheers!

Hi and thanks for presenting those fine products! Good continuation to the Team! 😉👍

Great job you guys i enjoyed it and thank you for sharing with us.

Want Tannus inserts, but Tannus also shows undersize tubes to account for space taken up by the Tannus insert!

The music makes it hard to hear the instructions....

Crazy.

Buenos días desdé ciudad México e visto su bicicleta y me gustaría comprarme una con cambios de velocidad cómo puedo comprar una yo mido 1.60 de altura y peso 65 kilos Vivo en la ciudad de México

I was told by my LBS that I should only inflate my tire with a tannus insert to 1/2 of the maximum tire pressure. Is that correct?

😂

Or you could install it the way Tannus recommends. 🤦🏽‍♂️