[fluider]

just another 'what if' discussions

I'm sure some of you have already seen these pictures. What do you think about using such a wheels in MTB sport? No tubes to puncture, no tubeless tires to pray for working, no spokes to true, just one solid wheel on solid bearings. I found it at czech car side where they mention it's made of thermoplastic materials, so it should be pretty easily recyclable.

Bridgestone claims they have developed a product ready for serial production and are prepared to start it. While Michelin shown their first functional attempt in 2005.

Bridgestone.
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Michelin 2005
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[frango]

I think this design comes from lunar/martian vehicles.
I see some, potential problems for bikes...
1. lack of possibility of changing pressure. Everyone of us prefers different pressure. There is no "recommended" pressure like for regular cars, motorcycle.
2. such multi-spoke design collects tons of mud. Image the weight of a wheel after muddy run

 

[Deano]

all those other things aside.. would it be able to deform/reform fast enough ??

how would you actively be able to do things like rebound control and compression ??

obviously im just speculating .. and have no real credentials other then im awesome at e-speculating anything i find on ze interwebs..

 

[norbar]

Im curious how would it react to low speed loads. Imho it would not rebound fast enough and compress way to easy for dh aplications. Well unless you can make it stupid stiff and still quite durable for dh.

 

[c101aviojet]

Bikewise, I think the problems have already been mentioned; factory-fixed pressure and rebound characteristics. Now, you can vary the first with a pump at any time, and the second just requires a tire swap.

If you ride in a certain area, perhaps you end up using the same pressure and tires for most of the year (so a set of wheels would do the trick), but for competitions and very changing weather it would be a trade-off.
So, unless there's a simple way to do that (chainging the rubber band in contact with the ground, for example) or a cheap one (changing the whole wheel), I doubt they will find use in any specialized bike field soon.

However, they would work great in conmuters, kid's bikes, touring bikes, etc. where (at least for me) low maintenance and reliability are more desired than ultimate "tweakability".

 

[captainspauldin]

I imagine you would need specific rims as well? Dunno how hard it would be to swap tires also..

 

[Pslide]

I work in the tire industry and have seen the Michelin tweel and other airless tires before.

The bottom line is that your tire is a spring. It has to support the full load of you and your bike. When all is said and done, AIR is the cheapest and lightest spring you will ever find. This is why the pneumatic tire has been around for so long and changed very little in overall configuration*.

These other concepts are good for survivability in tactical situations, but when it comes to out performing a pneumatic tire, they don't cut it.

*That's not to say tire technology hasn't progressed - it has done so tremendously, but at a refined level that the consumer generally doesn't see.

 

[woodsguy]

Didn't open the link but I read an aritcle a several years ago about these tires and it said the big obsticle for cars was that they are super noisy. But I can see it working for recreational bikes. For mtn bikes I'm guessing they would be too heavy. Not sure but I think stiff rubber fins are heavier than air.

 

[Bikael Molton]

 

[Uncle Cliffy]

I doubt it could ever be light enough.

 

[-BB-]

When the tire wears out, how much of that thing do you have to replace? Seems like it might get expensive with how fast we go though our rubbers.

 

[IH8Rice]

theres been other advancement besides the Tweel

The University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Wausau, Wis., company have come up with a 37-inch, bullet and bomb-proof Humvee tire based on a polymeric web so cool looking there's no need for hub caps....

Resilient Technologies and Wisconsin-Madison's Polymer Engineering Center are creating a "non-pneumatic tire" (no air required) that will support the weight of add-on armor, survive an IED attack, and still make a 50 mph getaway. It's basically a round honeycomb wrapped with a thick, black tread.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13639_3-10098240-42.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/f2/move-over-tweel-wheel-has-been-reinvented-again-211930/

 

[Pslide]

Surprised no one has posted this yet:

Joyriding Ron's bike........ on Vimeo

 

[blackohio]

first time john lydon has probably received a PIL royalty since 1992.