ProductsServicesAboutT & C'sContactTuatara Armour is designed to be placed inside your tubeless tyre setup to protect your rim and tyre from large multiple impacts. It also gives your side walls more support which in turn makes your bike feel more stable when cornering.
We recommend you pair Tuatara Armour up with a lighter weight tyre to gain the maximum benefit of lighter faster rolling tyres with the impact protection you would normally get with heavier reinforced tyres.
Tuatara Armour is made up from a specific polyethylene polymer resin foam. This foam has been trialled with different density and thicknesses to achieve a product that provides resistance to multiple impacts, superior support within the tyre but isn’t too dense to feel like you have planks of wood in your tyres.
We were also concerned around making the product too thick as this would make it awkward to install and add unnecessary weight. We believe we have found the sweet spot after 2 years oftesting to arrive to the produce you see here.
The specific polyethylene polymer resin foam we have chosen, was invented in our home town, Christchurch, New Zealand. This foam is completely closed cell and will not take on any water or tyre sealant while inside the tyre. We have conducted long term tests with this and although some sealant will inevitably dry to the surface of the Tuatara Armours, it can be easily washed off.
Tuatara Armours come ready for 27.5 inch wheels AND 29ers via an extra extension included.
Any sizes beyond this please get in touch for custom sets.
If you fall between sizes, please select the size up.
Tuatara Armour provides excellent protection against the dreaded “pinch flats”.
The Tuatara Armour insert provides a cushioning layer between the tyre and the rim so at all times they will never touch each other.
This will stop 99% of all punctures, BUT… we do want to state, it will not stop any extremely sharp objects both natural or man-made from slicing or tearing the rubber of the tyre, this is more about the tyres compound and its resistance to this type of object rather than what is inside your tyre.
Almost equal to the Puncture Protection, Tuatara Armour has the ability to also protect your Rims from impact. Tuatara Armours can handle large multiple impacts while dissipating the force through the polyethylene polymer resin foam and away from a direct point on the rim.
In simple terms.. ensure it would protect from denting yourrims on not just one event but on multiple events.
This does not give you license to purposely aim to impact athigh speed every obstacle you find, as there will still be a limited life spanto the absorption of the Tuatara Armour in larger events. Ride fast but ridesmart!
The Tuatara Armour has been specifically sized in both width, depth, and shape to ensure it does not move or twist within your tyre once installed, even when the tyre is deflated. Due to this the Tuatara Armour is touching both side walls of your tyre at all times.
Due to this new connection, the Tuatara Armour acts like a sway bar or torsion bar in a racing or sports car. The Tuatara Armour foam connects the sides walls together and creates superior support for both sidewalls at one time. It basically makes your tyre stiffer and more resistant to the forces you are putting on it.
This means when you ride into a corner, the inside tyre sidewall is not taking up all the force on its own. It has the combined force of the Tuatara Armour structure and the outside or opposite side wall to support against the force being exerted on it. This leads to more grip, less of a “wall” feeling meaning more confidence in your tyres and bike and an increase inperformance.
We are by no means saying you HAVE to run lower pressures, BUT.. you can.
The beauty of the Tuatara Armour inserts is due to the added support and protection you can afford to run less air pressure which increases your grip tremendously and enjoyment while riding as your confidence will soon get a good boost.
We would suggest you start with at least 3psi less than you normally run in the back tyre, and 5psi in the front as a starting point, but we have test riders running anywhere from 3-12psi less depending on conditions and still feel this outweighs the added rolling resistance due to the higher cornering speed, grip, and dampening that the Tuatara Armour provides.
If you are racing the clock, it will always be a trade-off to rolling resistance, and we suggest you treat the Tuatara Armours more as AA+ Insurance for your tyres and race run, so pump those psi’s back up to roll as fast as possible. You will still be getting the full side wall support at all times.
Firstly this does NOT apply if you are simply tubeless and adding Tuatara Armour.
The exception is changing the tyre casing thickness which may reduce the overall weight. If you are going from tubes to tubeless + Tuatara Armour this certainly does apply.
The average tube within your tyre weighs 295 grams. When you compare this to Tuatara Armour weighing 77 grams (large size for 27.5inch wheel) plus sealant at anywhere from 40-100 grams, you are roughly just under or around half the weight within your tyres.
This will improve your rolling resistance and acceleration. For those of you who have in the past run heavier casing tyres, (ie DH casings) can now go back to lighter casings but still retain both the side wall support, and improved protection for the wheels / rims. We highly recommend this to gain the maximum effect of the Tuatara Armour inserts.
