The look: apart from the lack of a valve stem (and the fact I'd got crazy colours) you would be hard pressed to tell that the tyres were any different. There is the obvious lack of valve stem but I have enough trouble finding the valve when I need to pump up tyres.
The ride: I was a but worried for the first few km. Not because of how they felt but of a weird noise they made, sort of like my rim had a kink and was rubbing on the brakes every wheel revolution. Fortunately after about 20km the noise was gone, obviously a nob or something similar from the moulding when the tyre was made.
For a solid tyre they feel remarkably similar to a normal tube tyre. They actually are a little nicer over rough surfaces tending to smooth them over a little more. Bigger bumps though you do feel a little more, probably because they can't compress as much as a tube filled with air could. The ride is by no means unpleasant and I think if you hopped on the bike you wouldn't really notice until someone told you.
They gripped very well, maybe even as well as the gatorskin tyres that were on previously. I threw the bike into some corners relatively hard and it never felt near their limit. They actually make an almost suction cup sound as your roll making it at least sound grippy.
This comes to the only real downside of the tyre. Rolling resistance. Something they seem to have a fair bit of. Comparing the effort on the ride today was a lot more than a similar one a few weeks ago. I took the power meter with me and the power and hr was a lot higher for the same loop at a slightly slower speed. While it could be just having a bad day rolling down the slightest down hill my riding partner consistently pulled away at some speed with both of us freewheeling. I have the soft version which is supposed to mimic 95psi so it would interesting to see if the hard version lessened the rolling resistance.
The extra rolling resistance is a small price to pay for the guarantee of no flats. My riding partner even had a flat on the ride this morning. I rode in the shoulders covered with glass just because I could and there is never any worry about a puncture or a cut which is quite nice. I didn't take a pump or co2 or even tyre levers today which was quite liberating.
They will never be a race tyre but as a training tyre you never have to worry about they are perfect. A bit heavier and a bit slower on the roll but that's not a bad thing for training. I'm almost considering replacing the Gatorskins on my Sunday club bike with the Tannus Musai when they wear out. As a commuter tyre they are perfect. Speed isn't a concern but never having to worry about checking tyre pressure or if you'll get stranded is ideal.
So on first impression the tyres are everything you could ask for at the small sacrifice of some extra rolling resistance. Only time will tell if they keep going this way.
