Tannus Armour Tyre Insert

The Tannus Armour Tyre Insert is the ideal solution if you are running tubes and want some bomber puncture protection as well as increased ride quality.

Who’s this item for: DH, Enduro, and Trail bike riders running tubes who are hard on tyres and get lots of flats!

Tubes / Tubeless: This system has been designed to be used with tubes.

Tannus recommends these sized tubes with their inserts:

• 2.0-2.5″ insert: 1.75”-2.1” tube 
• 2.6-3.0″ insert: 2.0″-2.4″ tube

Materials: The Tannus Armour Tyre Insert is made from Tannus’ very own Aither. Aither is a special breed of Micro Closed-Cell Polymer Resin which is manufactured in Korea

Theory: Tannus Armour Tyre Insert provides nearly 360-degrees of puncture protection. At the top of the armour (tyre tread area) there is 15mm puncture protection as well as 2mm down the side walls. The Armour Insert actually slips down into the rim well so the tyre is protected from anything that might cut or puncture through the tyre. Due to the reduced air volume within the tyre you use a smaller tube which saves on a bit of weight.

The location of and characteristics of the insert offer great support for the tyre so you can run lower pressures than you ever thought possible with tubes.

Durability: This is where these things shine. They are tough. Really tough.  There are accounts of WC DH riders using Tannus and cutting holes in the side walls of their tyres and not realizing until their mechanic changed their tyres! Crazy!

Fitment difficulty 1 – 10 (10 being the most difficult): 7 or 8.
CushCore seems to have set the standard for being difficult to fit. Depending on who’s review you read these can also be a bit of a battle. Although Tannus says they are suitable down to 2.00″ tyres you are probably going to be stretching the friendship trying to fit them into anything smaller than 2.20″. If you follow the guide in the video below, take your time and use plenty of talcum powder you should be sweet though!

Suggested tyre pressures: This is a preference thing but we recommend you drop at least 5 to 7-PSI to start with. See how that feels, if you aren’t dinging your rims drop a few more. Once you feel regular rim dings bring the pressures back up. You can run remarkably low tyre pressure with these.

Stand out Features: Terrific puncture protection. No tubeless sealant means no mess! The foam reduces vibration and other nuisance handlebar hum. When you drop your tyre pressure you gain traction!

What’s in the box: 1 x Tannus Armour Tyre Insert.

Pros: If you are the kind of rider that needs to run 40-PSI in DH case tyres just to avoid punctures get your credit card out. These will change your life! These offer improved ride quality over a standard tubed or tubeless set up but their main advantage is protection. Since the protection is so good you can generally drop down in tyre casing which also saves weight.

Cons: Weight. The 26″ are about 300-grams per insert while the 27.5″ is 310-grams and the 29″ is 320-grams.