Airless tyres. Something that could be developed for bikes?

maybe for off road riding?

http://www.geekologie.com/2009/09/military_experimenting_with_ai.php

Already exist (google green tyres). Although from feedback it would appear much more development is required.

and incredibly loud compare to normal tyres too which is the biggest downfall so far, especially if you're doing says, 50mph.

been around for decades? and from what I've heard horrible shock absorption.

Like everyone said, it already exists and is terrible/pointless. Normal tires are light, responsive and comfortable. Why fix something that aint broke.

It won't be long before someone suggests getting rid of gears soon and going fixed like they did 100 years ago, oh hold on..........

Like everyone said, it already exists and is terrible/pointless. Normal tires are light, responsive and comfortable. Why fix something that aint broke.

..punctures

Pcuntures can be kept at a minimum when taking the correct precautions. But yeah, I know what you mean, the current set up isn't all DFP cracks it up to be

..punctures

There's the kickside, if you want to have a fast tyres, it need to be very light, airless tyres aren't that light.

in fact, it'd be better to buy a thicker touring tyres that are impossible to get puncture, after all it'd weight the same as those airless tyres, maybe even lighter.

Whoever comes up with the punctureproof tyre is onto a winner

it exist already mate, those heavy 'city' tyres that are found in dutch bike, even the cheapest one is pretty tought.

Althought I think you meant a puncture-free 23c tyres.

it exist already mate, those heavy 'city' tyres that are found in dutch bike, even the cheapest one is pretty tought.

Althought I think you meant a puncture-free 23c tyres.

Aye, tis what I meant

I did use the green tyres for a time to ride from Harrow to Clerkenwell every day, wonderful training, shite ride, as they felt like steel tyres, they shagged headsets at a fast rate.

I bust one trying to get the sodding thing on a rim

No punctures though-

All round, a bad experience not to be repeated.

Most peeps swear by Armadildos

i like this: GET OUT OF MY HEAD GOVERNMENT! Quick, somebody Reynolds Wrap me, STAT!

Comon...

If it was good enough for this guy here, it will be good enough for everyone!

Comon...

If it was good enough for this guy here, it will be good enough for everyone!

I see an old fella cycling on one of them in London the other day, in Holborn.
I was quite, amused.

Would of got a photo but too much hastle to grab my phone from my rucksack at the same time. Eyes on the road! Eyes on the road!

I'd heard of this concept of non-pneumatic honeycomb tyres a few years ago but hadn't realised these things have begun to hit the mainstream. Apologies for any repost, UTFS has been employed.

Here is a vid of a non-pneumatic army tyre, which shows the tyre structure and the way it flexes in use:

Cool new army tire technology - YouTube

But this video of the Michelin "Twheel" product discusses the engineering advantages - which probably apply to bicycles at least as much as they apply to cars. Mainly that you can begin to do away with the rigid wheel to mount the pneumatic system on and can have a lighter, flexible wheel which can act as part of the suspension system by flexing where needed:

Без воздушные шины на ауди / Without air tires on Audi - YouTube

If this technolody works in the extremely narrow wheel profile of bicycles then it could potentially lighten or even replace suspension systems for many cycling applications. The possible benefits seem pretty far reaching to me.

Puncture-free cycling on shock-absorbing wheels that won't ever need spoke tension adjustment? I'm in.

something similar was discussed earlier this year, was being promoted for offroad use. clearly the people behind it had not really thought about muddy conditions

ERW - Airless Bicycle Tires - YouTube

You cannot adjust the tension for weight/terrain and who knows what the ride characteristics will be, looks like it would be awful for a bicycle.

Nice one, thanks DJ.

Those airless tyres are pretty interesting. But they are still just fitted to standard spoked wheels though, which seems to me to be a bit of a halfway-house and misses a lot of the possible shock absorbtion benefits. The tyres on that army vehicle had several inches of deformity available to them, which I would have thought would be much more useful. Smaller wheels, at maybe a 20" diameter with really deep honeycomb airless tyres several inches thick - that's what I would want to see.

Mind you, bicycle tyres can't use the same kind of flat profile that car tyres use though, so maybe it wouldn't work for cyclists. :-(

The main advantage of pneumatic tyres is that it's a cheap, light and very effective form of rising-rate suspension. When compressing a pneumatic tyre, you're compressing all the air within the whole tube, rather than compressing just one section - meaning a small tyre (weight, aero, cost) will provide low RR on smooth tarmac, deform very easily over small pebbles and lines in the road, and still provide enough cushioning to prevent rim damage if you hit a pothole - pneumatic tyres give extreme rising rate suspension. For an airless tyre to provide this extremely high rising rate suspension, it would need to be large and deep, otherwise you'd either have shit ride quality over small bumps or it'd bottom out over large bumps. Technology may reduce the size/performance of airless tyres, but it's difficult to see a scenario where anyone could make it lighter than a pneumatic tyre, because a pneumatic tyre is suspended by air alone!

For racing, with current technology I think a tubular wins, and for comfort there are balloon tyres. I think the advantage of airless tyres is for utility - if you don't mind weight and ride quality, you can get a puncture-proof tyre. Dutch Perfect sell a foam-filled tyre for this purpose, but it's not very good, apparently.

Mind you, bicycle tyres can't use the same kind of flat profile that car tyres use though, so maybe it wouldn't work for cyclists. :-(

I can sort of imagine a complex three dimensional mesh that compresses in all directions. But I cant see it being anything more than an engineering folly as it would be ridiculously difficult to design and manufacture.

The tyres on that bike in the promo vid do not look good at all. They are well stiff, not deforming around the boulders at all. But if you made the flex greater, they would squirm laterally like nobodies business.

My first thought when I saw the Twheels was for fatbikes/offroad. Doubt they would work for racing, as you say.

Already exist (google green tyres). Although from feedback it would appear much more development is required.

This thread: http://www.lfgss.com/thread89359.html

The tyres on that bike in the promo vid do not look good at all. They are well stiff, not deforming around the boulders at all.

That what I was thinking too, when I went MTBing, I have to stop a couple time to let some air out to get some grip (especially on those slippery tree roots), I can't imaging that being any better in the slightest.

Only advantage I can think of is a dutch bike, it's probably the last piece to the puzzle in making it maintenance free (and provided a lots less headaches to the mechanic to replace inner tube).