Solid tires

[pcolbeck]

An interesting video on a new British solid tyre that's 100% recyclable and seems to overcome some of the limitations of other solid tyres.

https://youtu.be/SXAkzNTL2tc

[Notfromrugby]

yet another one...
I was one of the first to try the Tannus tyres about 8-9 years ago and I found them useful but dreadful... wouldn't mind commuting 3 miles on them, but wouldn't want to ride on them for leisure.
Time will tell if these are any better... not in a rush to try them

[Peter]

I tried Green Tyres years ago, partly out of loyalty (they, like me. were made on Teesside).  They were hard to get on and pretty uncomfortable.  The new type looks interesting.  I'm attracted by anything which will make punctures less likely as my arthritis worsens.  If I get a puncture anywhere further than a mile from home in the winter, I think I'll probably just curl up in the ditch and die - that's how unattractive the prospect is.  Fortunately, I don't get many punctures and I've changed them so far, with just a small amount of blubbing.  Nothing a boarding-school boy can't handle.  Putting one on with a mallet looks fun and should help to expel frustration!  Not sure about carrying a spare, or what the plod would think about going equipped!

Oh, and the presenter means "objectively" not "subjectively" ...

Thanks for posting, Pat.

[MikeFromLFE]

I too had GreenTyres on my commuting roadster. They were bullet proof but they gave such a harsh ride every, but every, bolt was eventually shaken loose. The road holding was spectacularly awful in the wet.
I may still have a new one hanging up in the shed somewhere.

I wish the developers well, because it's a useful want in utility cycling. I'm not hopeful though.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Not particularly convinced by the choice of Gatorskins as a comparator, but nevertheless, if these are as good as the presenter claims, they'll be... good.

[Peter]

I didn't see anything in the video about how you would get one OFF.  If you have to hammer them on, so that they "clip in", I imagine getting them off is going to require a "proprietary" tool.  You might not need to do it for punctures but what about spokes?

[Cudzoziemiec]

I imagine you have to cut the tyre up, which is counterproductive in the case of spoke replacement but seeing as these are unlikely to be used on lightweight wheels, how common are spoke breakages?

[Peter]

Probably not quite as common as pot-holes but they do happen - and so do broken hubs!  But I'm still interested from the hand point of view, especially in the cold season, say June - May.

[Kim]

From my limited experience of wheelchair tyres, cutting them off is the easiest way, but you can usually prise them off with a sufficiency of ultra-violence.  The results are rarely pretty for either tyre or rim, thobut.

With a solid tyre in the way, the nipple probably isn't going anywhere, so you stand a reasonable chance of replacing a spoke without accessing it from above if you're careful.

[Tim Hall]

Interesting stuff and nice that they did a (not very scientific) comparison with Tanus tyres.

Odd that the presenter claims about 1 puncture per month yet hadn't developed ninja puncture fixing skillz so had to leg it to work (twice?) when he got punctures during the pneumatic phase of the trial.

[Peter]

Probably late for but also near enough to work when the puncture occurred.

[cycleman]

I saw this 🙂

https://youtu.be/SXAkzNTL2tc

[rogerzilla]

The insoluble problem with solid tyres is that a pneumatic tyre absorbs irregularities in a fairly unique way (pressure acts in all directions) that causes the least rolling resistance.  You can make a solid tyre with a comfortable ride but it will have higher rolling resistance, worse grip, or both.

Various non-pneumatic or semi-pneumatic tyres have been tried on cars, but you can add more power and/or tweak the suspension to offset the disadvantages.  And they're still crap.

[mzjo]

The insoluble problem with solid tyres is that a pneumatic tyre absorbs irregularities in a fairly unique way (pressure acts in all directions) that causes the least rolling resistance.  You can make a solid tyre with a comfortable ride but it will have higher rolling resistance, worse grip, or both.

Various non-pneumatic or semi-pneumatic tyres have been tried on cars, but you can add more power and/or tweak the suspension to offset the disadvantages.  And they're still crap.

Once you factor in suspension and a motor on a bike and try to sell it to non-cyclists (and make it last the time a non-cyclist will expect their bike to last before they change it - 'cos it needs a new battery or transmission or just isn't a new enough model) you may have a fiable business plan. But such customers probably won't be on YACF!

Interesting video but in the terms in which he puts it I am not likely to be a target customer. The only major advantage to me is the recyclability (assuming that you don't junk the wheel getting the tyre off!)

[spesh]

I didn't see anything in the video about how you would get one OFF.  If you have to hammer them on, so that they "clip in", I imagine getting them off is going to require a "proprietary" tool. 

I guess it's a job for the most destructive hand tool on the planet.

The mole grip.

[Cudzoziemiec]

An absolutely incredibly fantastic genius idea has just occurred to me. Surely it would be possible to make solid tyres with integrated yellow LED strips functioning as indicators, thus combining both perennially recurring "bicycle improvements" in one product.

 

[Jaded]

Ah! Yes!!

Maybe the tyres could have helmets airbags built in to them too? Ready to burst out in the event of a car being hit by a bicycle.

[Cudzoziemiec]

A three in one!
Thus confirming the triune nature of the Great God Velocipede.








Or something.

[Jurek]

None of you are taking this in any way seriously, are you?

[Tim Hall]

TFFT

[Asterix, the former Gaul.]

My last puncture occurred at the same time the first case of COVID was reported. Both happened in York. Coincidence? Possibly not. Could solid tyres prevent COVID? Hardly anyone has not had COVID, hardly anyone uses solid tyres.

[Karla]

My last puncture occurred at the same time the first case of COVID was reported. Both happened in York. Coincidence? Possibly not. Could solid tyres prevent COVID? Hardly anyone has not had COVID, hardly anyone uses solid tyres.

Your solid tyres transmit 5G radiation AICMFP.

[Lightning Phil]

My last puncture occurred at the same time the first case of COVID was reported. Both happened in York. Coincidence? Possibly not. Could solid tyres prevent COVID? Hardly anyone has not had COVID, hardly anyone uses solid tyres.

Your solid tyres transmit 5G radiation AICMFP.

The spokes and rim as used to transmit / receive radio waves with the electronics hidden in the wheel hub. When the wheel turns it generates electricity to power it all.

[Karla]

Unfortunately for this delightful theory, two spokes on a fullsize road/MTB wheel would make a half-wave dipole antenna that was resonant at about 250 MHz, which is well outside any 5G band.  It's within the military reserved spectrum though, so there's still ample room for conspiracy 

[rogerzilla]

My last puncture occurred at the same time the first case of COVID was reported. Both happened in York. Coincidence? Possibly not. Could solid tyres prevent COVID? Hardly anyone has not had COVID, hardly anyone uses solid tyres.

Surely the only link here is that Bad Things happen in York.  The York Minster fire, Richard III, £10 for a box of fudge.