Tire Inserts: Tannus Tubeless vs. Cushcore

[@RideTannus]

Cool review! Tire inserts are a must have. Saving rims one insert at a time. Stretching the insert before installing helps the install a whole heap! Cheers

[@brokenspokesMTB]

Thanks!!! Agreed, I've found out too many times they are a must have. Since this review, I've done a few tire changes (flats, new tire, and I just cracked a rim) and I definitely recommend you guys suggest warming both tire and insert up before install/removal. I did the install in a freezing, December garage, and have done the other changes when it's warm out. Once it's warm I've had zero issues and it's about as easy as claimed. Food for thought! Thanks again for checking it out.

[@RideTannus]

@@brokenspokesMTB You're spot on there with the warming up method. I personally run 2.6 wide tires and have never had a tuff install. The narrower tires do require a little more elbow grease, but manageable! Glad you're liking the inserts! Cheers

[@sicksidemadness]

So... if I go out there to ride on a cold freezing day my concern is: 1. It won't work as well as in hot days talking about feeling and protection. 2. It won't be easy to uninstall and reinstall on the go if necessary. Sorry, but it does not look practical to me, we cannot get the perfect conditions to install and uninstall ring protection at each ride. Instead, I always have some worms and cold tyre welding as well as a camera and a bag of tubeless fluid with me. I think this rim protection could be good to protect the rims with really low tyre pressure as well as avoiding some snake bites, but I've never seen a video of someone heavily smashing the rim against a square edge to test the protectors. Last time I smacked my ring against a spiky rock y got some nasty cut on my tyre, I'd love to see the capacity of the protector to avoid damaging the ring in that situation, as well as avoiding tyre damage.

[@besnkinic]

@@brokenspokesMTB I used a hair dryer, and then resorted to a space heater. finally I asked for a 2nd set of hands (delicate wife hands no less) and got it. thanks for the heat suggestion!

[@af31ns]

"For those of you that have ADD...." Lol...I guess that's me, and that must be why I hate videos that take 45 seconds to start talking about the subject matter. I also hate videos that have fancy and loud intros. For me, your video style is perfect!

[@brokenspokesMTB]

I’m the same way most of the time! Why restate your title?!? Glad you liked it. Thanks for checking it out

[@kungfupro]

The temperature makes a great difference during the installation. In cold, this thing is like a tough plastic, impossible to bend. In warm, it is pretty flexible and with a bit of dish soap on the rim and tire, it is relatively easy to install. I use two tire levers and my knee to do it, but it takes 5 to 10 mins and that's it. In winter some warm it up with hair dryer or a radiator, I simply do it in Summer or in warm kitchen.

[@ToddNZMTB]

Warm + dish soap, good tips there! 👍🏻

[@iliketoridebikes]

Nice comparison! I agree with installation troubles. They market them as being easier to install than cushcore, but I've never struggled so much installing a tire.

[@brokenspokesMTB]

Dood! 100% Yeah I couldn't really knock it if they didn't lie about how easy it was to install.... Thanks for checking it out \m/

[@nicholas8811]

I got em over a year ago, everything to save my race face wheels!! Installation, a pain in the rear!

[@brokenspokesMTB]

Since this video I’ve found getting everything as warm as you can helps!

[@Daniel-dj7fh]

have your inserts held up their shape, I read alot that they just become flat. And is there room to squeeze the tirewalls abit when there is no air in the tubes, got a slight clearance issue with my rim brakes.

[@nicholas8811]

@@Daniel-dj7fh it was so hard getting the tires on, that I'm not even planning of taking them until my tires are completely used!! It does say to deflate the tires when not in use.

[@Daniel-dj7fh]

@@nicholas8811 Technically you could deflate your tubes or tire and see by squishing down if there is still any thickness to the insert, to not have to take off the whole thing. But thanks

[@Daniel-dj7fh]

Heard the installation was a pain in the ass but have you checked if the thick part of the insert stayed thick. Been reading alot that they become flat eventually which doesn't really do much for the protection bit but maybe they just got the sizing wrong. Also is there any flex when squeezing the tires at the sides with the insert in. I've got a gravel bike, my rimbrake clearance is abit tight and I usually need to deflate the tires abit to get the tires past the brakes to mount them. Wondering if I am even able to squeeze the tires with the insert installed, I think I need ~32mm clearance, since I went up from a 700x32 (which had 0 clearance issue) to a 700x42 (where I now need to squeeze the sides abit to get it in) tire.

[@Daniel-dj7fh]

It's either get these for ~40bucsk a piece, a new set of rubber because my rears aren't really tippy toppy anymore for around 35bucks a piece and a new tube every month or so because one always tears.

[@brokenspokesMTB]

Yo Daniel, Thanks for checking it out! I haven't ever checked if the thick part stayed thick. In the comments, a few others and I have found installation really helps if you get the combo warm, keep it in the room w/ you while you shower or something. This video was done in freezing temps where Im at and it's been much easier now that it's summertime. I've had to fix a few flats (unrelated to the insert) since it's been installed and nothing stood out. My latest combo does have more wobble than I like. You can definitely squeeze the sides in a bit on mine when the tire isn't inflated. Whether that'd get around your rim brake, not totally sure. Sounds like for your gravel bike something like a Huck Norris might be better? I've never ridden one of those before but it's a relatively cheap experiment IMO.

[@Daniel-dj7fh]

@@brokenspokesMTB Thanks for the reply, will look more into it. The Huck Norris thing looks like a tubless insert, I run tubes tho :s

[@lite31]

Strangely I have no problem with installing my tannus tubeless, can do it easily in 5min however I"m just using Maxxis exo casing. For sure there's more info that Tannus isn't showing such as leaving the insert to set in the shape under the sun for a while or spraying some soapy water around the bead which makes significant difference compare to installing it dry. Also another note that this insert is not suitable to run flat as there's high chance the insert with push the flat tire and rubs on the frame when rolling.

[@brokenspokesMTB]

Thanks for the comment! Oh man good to know on some of those tips like the sun and soapy water. It felt to me more like my issue was stretching it over the damn rim rather than its interaction with the tire. Which makes me wonder if, like you said, temperature of the foam itself played a big role and if it did, shouldn't they publish that????

[@lite31]

@@brokenspokesMTB well the less instruction the easier to promote it in marketing term, however I find both tips are necessary as it help to reduce wobbling once you have it installed. Also Its not recommended to ride it flat, high chance of rubbing frame and damaging the insert, happened to me, probably ok if you still have few psi left.

[@brokenspokesMTB]

How was it to take out mid trail? I was wondering if it's hard to put on it'd be even harder to take out with a flat.

[@lite31]

@@brokenspokesMTB not sure, I haven't reach that point yet. I know cush core can put a tube over the insert temporary to ride it out instead of removing the insert. Wonder can we do that with tannus too. At least a slow ride to the car.

[@brokenspokesMTB]

@@lite31 funny enough, I got a flat a few days ago. Quick video should be coming soon

[@elisiodc]

I have a 29er with Nobby Nic 2.6". Was hell to install Tannus Armour. I fully agree it is the challenging part. Frankly considered to give up few times during the hour I struggled.

[@brokenspokesMTB]

Good on you for getting it in under an hour! Is your Nobby Nic normally pretty easy to install?

[@elisiodc]

@@brokenspokesMTB I just love Nobby Nic's grip and always use them front and rear. Find it easy to install in the Cube EX30 32H rims of my Stereo. The Tannus Armour I use is 2.1" to 2.6" size. Maybe the fact tyres are 2.6" made it "easier". Don't want even imagine if was 2.1".

[@patsung8804]

I’ve noticed a lot of slippage inside the tire on my case which cause to unnecessary more rolling resistance on my tires. Decided to remove it after a few rides

[@brokenspokesMTB]

As in the insert was 'spinning' inside the tire? That's kind of wild, I've never had that issue.

[@patsung8804]

@@brokenspokesMTB not really “spinning” per se but the inserts are slipping specially when I turn my bike ausing a lot of rolling resistance to my tires for some reason

[@troymortimer3487]

I have been running tunnus on 27.5 for a while now. I noticed it gets harder and harder as you move up the casing. ie exo is the easiest, exo+ a bit harder, DD hard and DH very hard. I have to use the soap and have to keep going back to center the tyre. it takes about 20 to 30 mins for me to install. that being said I still have trouble with getting rid of wobbles. I originally thought it was a bad maxxis tyre. but it happens on most tyres. I'm about to do it on a 29 and see if it's any easier on a larger rim.

[@brokenspokesMTB]

How do you like them compared to cushcore? And have you had a flat w/ them that you've had to fix? The tire casing comment makes total sense! pulling that bead up and over would definitely get harder w/ the stiffer casing! Thanks for checking it out!!!

[@troymortimer3487]

@@brokenspokesMTB I managed to get a rim and tyre which has cuschcore in it. (I'm currently using this as it has minion hdr 2 over my other rim with assegai) unquestionably slower going up the hills. even compared to the assegai with tannus. downhill it feels similar. I've had some holes with the tannus when we had just exo protection. I could feel it squirm as i went down the hill. I suppose it was running flat however it still has probably 10psi in . I'm 95kg so 10 psi should be a death trap. I'm glade you did the video. I wish there were more comparions. as it is a tough decision when your trying to figure out if you want inserts and then which brand. especially that cushcore seems to be default goto

[@brokenspokesMTB]

dang man! 10psi is LOW. I'm still running 23psi in the rear and I only weigh (let me convert...) 77kg fully loaded. Something I didn't hammer on nearly as much as I should have, is that I think of these inserts much more as protection rather than the ride feel. I don't ride hard enough to really benefit from the roll over resistance. To me it's all about keeping air in that tire. BTW on my big bike I now have an Aggressor DD w/ the Tannus.... had to end up riding that after doing 2 rides w/out an insert.

[@tategriffiths8039]

one thing looking at the video is there is a slot in the insert where the valve is supposed to be placed and it doesn't look like you lined that up correctly, this could have made it more difficult to install as ive seen lots of others install it in 10 minutes

[@brokenspokesMTB]

Oh man! You think that the little valve would have that much of a difference? And if it does, seems like that would be a pretty important thing to put in the non existent instructions. Well I hope it's that simple of a fix! I thought I tried exactly that I saw no improvement.

[@brokenspokesMTB]

Yo ma dude. I ended up having to reseat this thing a few times and the valve thing wasn't the big help, it was more temperature. Getting the tire and the insert up to about 70F or so made all the difference in the world. Lesson learned, don't install in freezing weather.

[@theantiqueactionfigure]

Bud you really need to take some time to finish that drywall, Haha!

[@brokenspokesMTB]

lol love that that's what you got out of it! Thanks for checking it out!

[@theantiqueactionfigure]

@@brokenspokesMTB hey it was a very informative video. My garage walls are original cracked 1924 plaster over clay blocks. I call it "a state of arrested decay" wouldn't want to ruin the historic value, Lol!

[@thetruelefty9302]

My Tannus Armour x 2.4 is a breeze too install. Using soapy water makes it easier.

[@brokenspokesMTB]

I’ll try the soapy water next time. Thanks for the suggestion!

[@carlosbarragan6729]

after breaking another rear rim im doing inserts and probably still keep it at 35-40psi

[@andrewmazzer]

agree that taking a tyre off the wheel with cushcore is a nightmare on the trail. BUT it offers superior protection, I've tried the Tannous and as you said its far worse to install. Pros and cons as with everything. For me cushcore is waäaay better.

[@brokenspokesMTB]

Nice! Yeah we all have our preferences for sure! I've gone full circle on since making this and now run higher PSI, Aggressor DD casing, and no insert. Experimenting and having fun is the name of the game and one of the best things about MTB! Thanks for checking it out, Cheers!

[@LoamerMTB]

You can ride out on a flat with cushcore. I don’t carry a tube at all. Might be biggest benefit IMO.

[@waldowsxxghostxx8577]

I love deity bars I’ve ridden on black label bars for about 2 years I just purchased the race point in stealth 38mm rise for my riftzone 3

[@brokenspokesMTB]

Heck yeah dude! Ride what feels good and you don't have to break the bank to do it. thanks for checking it out

[@HarborEdwin]

The new Tannus tube wraps way easier to install! : )

[@TinyBoatNation]

Edit out your pauses and overlay B-roll in the midst of editing commentary.

[@brokenspokesMTB]

Thanks for the feedback! I’m learning and real novice level haha somehow this video, one I slapped together pretty quick, has the most views on my channel 🤷 been working on it and thanks for the view/comment

[@josedavalos1223]

Worst experience using Cush core, It feels like a flat tire. I had a terrible accident jumping on a downhill tracks, It was like the bike don't roll or go the correct speed for jumping and It feels heavy on the rear tire. I prefer to break the rim, but not myself. I prefer using tubeless with a good tire compound or regular tubes with the liner band tube protector the bike rolls better or gain speed for big jumps. Cush core maybe good for tracks without long distance jumps, small jumps or rocky terrain to give more protection to the rims. My recommendation, never use Cush core for long distance jumps. Some other reviews say that tannus tubeless could be a good option, or just putting some tubeless sealant inside the regular inner tube to prevent a puncture. I would go for tannus

[@brokenspokesMTB]

Thanks man! interesting how much we all have our preferences isn't it??? Just happy we can all try it out for a relatively small price! Thanks for checking out the video

[@daviddevale]

Tannus absolutely suck! 2 years here in Bentonville zero flats or damaged rims on Cush core. Got a new canyon strive, shop only had a tannus in 27.5” Bought it. 45 minutes in and that with a dinged wheel. 2 rides later second flat on them. Throwing the Tannus in the trash.

[@brokenspokesMTB]

Huh, not the experience I had. Lighter than Cush core, better ride feel... I had no complaints. Sounds like you charge pretty hard, makes me wonder if you had thinner casing tires because it was a new bike. Either way dude, doesn't matter now, hope you're rolling! Bentonville looks rowdy!!

[@buckZor]

Have the bike shop install it, DUH!!! Sometimes saving a few bucks isn't worth it!!!

[@brokenspokesMTB]

haha! You sound much less stubborn than I am OR start projects when you don't have a ride planned the next day and it's 10pm the night before :) since this video, just leave the insert in the house for a day if it's cold out and it installs like a dream. But if you're riding in colder weather, man I hope you don't get a flat cause it's a bear to take off

[@Epicdave22]

Must install warm….. super easy.

[@brokenspokesMTB]

Nice! Sounds like I need stronger hands and to move to a warmer climate!