Just getting into gravel biking with my wife and have been debating on tires, someone mentioned airless but I haven’t found very much info on people actually using them. Any information would be appreciated.
I know airless tires exist. But as far as I know there are no gravel tires like this, they would ride very harsh and give poor handling. There are foam inserts that go in your tires but these still require you to fill the tires with air. Perhaps what you mean is tubeless, meaning tires that do not use inner tubes?
I have heard of running tubeless with sealant, she has tubes with a tire guard between the tube and tire. Just didn’t know if there was an airless or solid foam such as Tannus that anyone has heard of.
Jrodthomas wrote:I have heard of running tubeless with sealant, she has tubes with a tire guard between the tube and tire. Just didn’t know if there was an airless or solid foam such as Tannus that anyone has heard of.
Airless/foam tires have been around forever. None are worth the sales tax you would pay to purchase them, even in states without sales tax.
As you can see, airless tires are generally regarded as complete crap. They're generally designed for bike commuters who value convenience over performance and cost. Why are you interested in them? Do you have problems with getting frequent flats? Are you, or she, not capable of changing a tube in the field? This is an honest question, not a criticism, as it's more common than you might think. If this is the case, learning some basic field maintenance is one of the most empowering things any cyclist can do.
If flats are indeed a frequent problem where you ride, using sealant in your tubes is better solution than tire liners or airless tires. Liners add a lot of weight and adversely affect the way your tires ride. This is especially true in cool or cold weather, when the plastic liners get stiff. Sealant, on the other hand, adds minimal weight and has no effect on tire performance. It's also easier to squirt sealant into a tire than to try to maneuver a liner into place and keep it there while you mount the tire on the rim. You don't need to have tubeless rims and tires to use sealant; you can use sealant in tubes, as long as they have removable valve cores. Sure, tubeless is better, but either one works just fine.
Thanks for the input bnystorm, they were mentioned by a friend who rides on the road. We live out in the middle of nowhere and Sandburs, goatheads and thorns are a common occurrence, the backroads we ride on are old railroad rock and is sharp and jagged and mostly shale and sand. So far we have had good luck with keeping flats to a minimum. since we are both new to real cycling not just bouncing around on Walmart bikes just wanted to see what options are out there. We both come from a mechanical background and changing tubes and fixing flats are no big deal but it seems on longer rides we just don’t want to be left stranded if there were other options that we didn’t know about.
There are several gravel tires that are designed to provide more flat protection than the average. I suggest looking for that and also for fairly tall knobs that provide more rubber between thorns/rocks and the tire casing. If your bikes will handle them, you may want to consider narrow (~2" / 50mm) MTB tires (I'm assuming you have 700c wheels). Another possible option is 650b / 27.5" wheels with MTB tires. They won't be as efficient on smooth surfaces, but that doesn't seem to be a significant concern for you.
Use a high-quality sealant like Stan's or Orange Seal and consider spending the extra to get their "race day" version that contain extra solids for improved sealing. This should keep the flats at bay, for the most part.
Beyond that, there's probably not much you can do other than getting fast at fixing flats.
Thanks so much for the help, we have been planning routes that take us by either our house or small towns Incase we have an issues around the midway point of our ride so we can leave extra gear and supplies at friends houses if need be.
I tested the Tannus liners for my LBS about a year ago. They have some pluses. If you had loads of thorns, I could see they would be a help. I road them for over two weeks and decided there were too many things I did not like and doubted many of the claims the company said.
