Tannus FAQ

The tyres are available in many different size to accommodate all common wheel sizes.

Before you place an order or enquire, can we please ask you to look on your rim, the metal bit of the wheel, and on that, there might be a few stickers.
On one of them, there is a very high chance it will show the code “ETRTO 622 x 16c” or something similar.

Here’s an example:

This is the only thing we need to make sure you order the correct tyre for your bike.
If you could let us know what it says this will enable us to ensure the correct tyre for you.

Here’s the tyre / rim compatibility chart.

      • 700 x 23c tyre will fit rim widths 13-15c (13-15mm)
      • 700 x 25c tyre will fit rim widths 17-21c (17-21mm)
      • 700 x 28c tyre will fit rim widths 14-16c (14-16mm)
      • 700 x 32c tyre will fit rim widths 18-20c (18-20mm)
      • 700 x 40c tyre will fit rim widths 19-21c (19-21mm)
      • 16 x 1.25″ tyre will fit rim widths 17-20c (17-20mm)
      • 20 x 1.50″ tyre will fit rim widths 19-21c (19-21mm)
      • 26 x 1.75″ tyre will fit rim widths 17-20c (17-20mm)

I got the 700×23 110 psi version, really pleased.

been riding them for two weeks now and just think of them as a normal tyre, I do 18 miles a day and although they are slightly slower down hill I’ve only found my journey to be a few minutes longer if not broadly the same.

The tyres feel grippy are no heavier than the gatorskins I had before, as for comfort they are much like a hard pumped up tyres with only a slight loss of comfort over the bumps.

I would still go out for a ride on a sunday through the north downs with them, it’s almost weird not having the puncture worry.

in short, ace

(Posted on 28/11/2014) by Gavin

I ride 30 miles a day through central London through rubbish and they’ve kept their bright red colouring.

I’ve purposefully rode in areas where before with ‘normal’ tyres id get a puncture or slip out. They’ve stayed true they haven’t changed in their ability to roll or to hold grip so all good there. BUT when going round corners at around 25/30 kph the back slides out and feels a bit weird.
Rolling resistance is quite high but weighing up rolling resistance to being puncture proof is well worth it. Maybe worth designing a harder tyre not at such a high spectrum that they’re solid but so that they have a bit of give but increased rolling resistance. I’d have liked a more solid tyre making it easier to maintain a normal cadence, but with added resistance my legs are working harder.
The bright colouring helps me to be noticed by other road users which is always good.

To be honest I’ve enjoyed the tyres massively, the thought of constantly pumping my tyres up to 120psi and then riding has gone, the fear of puncturing on the crappy London roads have gone too.

These tyres are well worth the money, safety, puncture proof and alot of fun.

(Posted on 27/11/2014) by Adam

We are one of the very few Uk suppliers of Tannus tyres. We hold stock of many sizes and colours. They can be purchased though our website and these will be delivered to you in 2-5 days depending on availability.
If you purchase the tyres along with our mobile fitting service, we will take the tyres with us for the booked date.
If you purchase the tyres along with a workshop fitting, we will reserve your tyres until you come into the workshop for the booked fitting date.

We are the only Tannus Mobile fitting company in London. If you work within the congestion-charging zone in London or just outside, get in touch (shopping@nipnip.co.uk) and we will organise a date and time to suit you for the tyres to be fitted at your convenience.

If you would rather have them fit in the workshop, let us know in advance what you want done, and bring them in and meet us. You can ask any questions or quieres you have about them at the same time.

If you prefer to fit them yourself, this can be a relatively simple task depending on what size tyres you need. 700 x 23 and 700 x 28c tyres are the least hardest to fit. All the other tyres may need a trained mechanic to do it, or you might need to watch a few how to videos and read a few instructions.

No, We are only open 9-5, Monday – Friday, excluding public holidays. Outside of these hours, you can book a fitting or buy any other parts needed using our website. NipNip.co.uk

The grip that these tyres provide is nothing short of impressive. Many tyres that come standard on bikes can feel quite sketchy and slippery when the road gets wet, this can be very un-nerving and dangerous. The Tannus tyre is constructed using a special polymer compound. Not only does this mean that the ride quality is on par with many mid range tyres, pumped right up at the recommended pressure, the grip they provide is similar to top end tyres in the dry and wet. But most of all, the durability is just leagues above anything I have rode before. I have mainly used Continental gp4000s and gp4season tyres, which are both high-end and very highly regarded clincher tyres. And I am confident to say the Tannus tyres are almost as grippy, a lot better than ‘gatorskin hardshell’ tyres and just as good as the standard gatorskins. – Matt at NipNip

These aren’t racing tyres, so they don’t roll as fast as a Continental gp4000s, which really are the fastest tyre around. But they don’t roll that slow either. If your after a tyre that wont puncture and will get you from a to b safely, this is it. They won’t make you win any races, nor will it feel like you have a parachute attached to you at all times. There is no breaking in period either.

Despite the tyres being actual solid tyres, i.e. no air, don’t let this make you think it is a fully solid ride.
The tyre is made from a Nano foam compound. If you think of foam, its not a very solid type of material, it can be soft and very grippy because of its ability to squish.

Whereas if it was a solid rubber, it would be very hard and not very grippy either as it doesn’t deform over imperfections in the ground, hence why rubber tyres require an air cushion, ‘inner tube’, to make it a comfortable ride.

You will only feel a noticeable difference if you don’t usually take care of your tyre pressure and ride it way below recommended inflation. We see hundreds of bikes everyday, being largely a mobile mechanics company, and its safe to say more than 60% of cyclist bike tyres are way below recommended pressure.

What this means for the people with too soft tyres is that they will instantly notice how much faster these tyres are than their old tyres, and that it’s harder than before.
But the other 40% or less who have their old tyres at the correct pressure will notice a firmer ride difference over bumps and will notice they roll slightly slower.

Yes there is. The tyre that you are after is currently only available in black but other colours are likely to become available this year.
The tyre that you need is the Tannus Nymph, 16×1.25″.

Step 1: This is the bit to determine what tyre will fit your bike.

Can we please ask you to look on your rim, the metal bit of the wheel, and on that, there might be a few stickers.
On one of these stickers, there is a very high chance it will show the code “ETRTO 622 x 16c” or something similar.

Here’s an example:

This is the only thing we need to make sure you order the correct tyre for your bike.
If you could let us know what it says this will enable us to ensure the correct tyre for you.

If you can’t find it, we will need you to measure the width of the rim with a vernier caliper or something similar. Please no guestimates as this won’t help and may result in a much longer delay.

To know in advance what will fit your tyres, here’s the tyre / rim compatibility chart.

  • 700 x 23c tyre will fit rim widths 13-15c (13-15mm)
  • 700 x 28c tyre will fit rim widths 14-16c (14-16mm)
  • 700 x 32c tyre will fit rim widths 18-20c (18-20mm)
  • 700 x 40c tyre will fit rim widths 19-21c (19-21mm)
  • 16 x 1.25″ tyre will fit rim widths 17-20c (17-20mm)
  • 20 x 1.50″ tyre will fit rim widths 19-21c (19-21mm)
  • 26 x 1.75″ tyre will fit rim widths 17-20c (17-20mm)

If your still not sure, you can bring them in to our workshop and ask us to have a look or measure them up. From here, we can arrange in person the fitting of the correct tyres that day.

Step 2: Arrange booking

You can either give us a call or email us to do this. Have any details about your bike ready at this point.

What we will need from you is:

If you want a Workshop fit:

  • ETRTO code or the width of the rim in ‘mm’.
  • What tyre you want.
  • The days / times when you will be available.If wanting a mobile fit, same as above plus:
  • What building / Postcode.
  • Whether this building has indoor space or off street covered space to do this.What we will give you:
  • Date and time available based on you preferred times.
  • We will confirm if the tyre you want fits or is available.

Step 3: Add the tyre that will fit to the basket

Here is the link to the Tannus Tyres in the NipNip store; (Please note, the cost offered is for a SINGLE tyre).

Tannus tyres

You need to select; (in this order)

  • Colour,
  • Size.

*If any selections are un-clickable, or the tyre size of choice doesn’t show for specified colour, this is because they are out of stock. We have deliveries often so check back in a week or ask us on availability. We try our best to keep our stock levels accurate and up to date, but sometimes during busy periods it may be un-accurate.

Add your selection to the basket.

Step 4: Add your choice of fitting location to the basket & place the order.

You need to choose how you wish to get them fitted to your bike.

Tannus tyre fitting

There are two options;

  • We come to you and fit them for you, or
  • We fit them at NipNip HQ for you (cheaper option). Our address is;

NipNip & Squeaky Chain C.I.C.
St Mungos.
1 Kings Bench Street
London.
SE1 0RB.

Add your choice to the basket and place the order.
Everything will then be sorted and we will see you on the date specified.

We are currently only accepting payments though the website. We cannot process any payment over the phone.

A workshop fitting is currently on a 1-day turn around.

This means, if you dropped your wheels / bike in to us on a Tuesday any time, it will be ready for pick up next day, Wednesday, after 10am.
If you dropped the wheels into us before 10am on a Tuesday, it will be ready for collection after 4pm the same day.

A Mobile fitting takes about 1 hour to fit 1 pair of wheels with the tyres from entering to leaving the building.

We offer a 3-month manufacturer fault warranty policy. If you find there is a major defect in the tyre let us know and we will help.

Please Note: We have tried very hard to provide all the information needed to ensure you get the correct fit. Make sure you have read this information before ordering or emailing to save time and confusion.

If you have ordered the wrong size and need to exchange the tyre due to incorrect measurements or details provided on your behalf, a postage charge of £5 applies for us to send out the replacement when we have received your tyres in the post or in person to the workshop.

Yes this is a problem. The tannus tyre is a long term fit and forget solution and putting them on wheels that are on their way out, with worn hub bearings, worn rim surface, or corroded spokes isn’t the best idea. If this is the case and you still want the tyres, we can sort a new wheelset for you to make sure all compatibilities are correct.

We won’t install tyres on wheels that, upon inspection, are worn out or are not in good condition, as we wont be held responsible for any issues regarding wheel breakages due to old and worn out wheels.

Remember, we are the only Tannus specialist in the UK so we know what tyres will fit what wheels. If you cant see what wheels we can get hold of on the website, its because we haven’t uploaded them yet. But we supply Campagnolo, Shimano, Miche and Zipp wheels. If you want any of these, let us know and we’ll get you rolling asap.

Take a look at our wheel selection.

Yes. Drop us an email at Service@NipNip.co.uk.

If your not sure of what bikes services we offer, take a look Here.

The tyres use a Locking Pin System (PAT No: 0-0943331), which is designed for the safety of Tannus tyres. It has a high performance in stability so the tyre will never dislocate at any weight or speed. The system enables the tyre to assemble firmly on to a clincher type rim.

The Tannus tyre remains -1mm of deformation range after a 6000km (3728miles) run. The Japanese JIS standard only requests -5mm of deformation range after a 5000km run.
You can expect to see mileages of 9000 miles. Base this on an average of 20miles per day commuting distance, with 253 working days in a year = 5060 miles travelled. That’s about a 2-year life span of comppletey puncture less care free cycling. If you only do 10miles a day, that’s 4 years of life from these tyres!

Tannus is using the “Only Material in the World” which perfected a unique combination ratio of polymer resins, a unique type of plastic which create the tyre compound called “Aither-1”. Tannus presents tyres made of “Aither-1” to customers with confidence. The tyre looks and feels more like a ‘foam’ material rather than rubber.

Tannus comes from from the Celtic God “Tannus – God of the Wheel”. The people behind the company are mainly family based with father and son both being Korean Chemistry Engineers with many years of experience.
Here’s a brief history of Tannus:

  • 1985 – Established Fine Chemical co. ltd (The parent company of Tannus).
  • 1990 – Carry out co-development of EVA foam injection molding technology with NIKE-sports shoe midsole.
  • 1993 – EVA-POE foam injection molding technology – Sports shoe outsole.
  • 1999 – Rubber Foam injection molding technology – Sports shoe outsole.
  • 2000 – Shock absorbing foam injection molding tech – American Football helmets.
  • 2003 – Starts development of airless bicycle tyre.
  • 2004 – Develop first prototype of airless bicycle tyre.
  • 2005 – Develop Texol material that is soft, cushiony and shock absorbent.
  • 2007 – Start developing tires with advanced plastic that has high elasticity, thermal endurance and safety.
  • 2009 – The core technology of the airless tyre “Locking Pin System” is patented.
  • 2010 – Base material of Tannus tyre is developed.
  • 2011 – Completed the development of material ‘Aither-1’ for bicycle tyres.
  • 2012 – Upgraded LPS structure to become safer and better compatibility.
  • 2014 – NipNip.co.uk joined to distribute the Tannus tyres to the UK.
  • 2015 – Possibility of the ‘Aither -1 V2’ to become available in very limited numbers.
  • Current – Tannus is now available in over 20 countries and counting worldwide

We are proud to be the sole online retailer of the Tannus puncture proof tyres. We’re so behind the tyre and the technology that all of us here at NipNip HQ choose to equip our commuter bikes with this super reliable, fit and forget, puncture proof tyre.

Sure they’re not as comfortable as a 100psi Continental GP4000s, but what do we really expect. These are by no means a top end, clincher, race tyre and were never designed to be raced.

The Tannus tyre is designed for those journeys when the last thing you want to deal with is pumping flat tyres up, getting punctures and worrying about what roads or even off road paths you might be taking.

The grip that these tyres provide is nothing short of impressive. Many tyres that come standard on bikes can feel very skittish and slippery when the road gets wet, this can be very unnerving and dangerous. The tannus tyre doesn’t suffer from this at all.

The Tannus tyre is constructed using a special polymer compound. Not only does this mean that the ride quality is on par with many mid range tyres, the grip they provide is similar to top end tyres in the dry and wet. But most of all, the durability is just leagues above anything you have rode before.

If you are after the most durable, reliable and safest tyre out there, the Tannus Puncture Proof Tyre is it.