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Yeah I found this video interesting – I was aware of the “shape memory” properties but didn’t know the details of how it worked: https://www.youtube.com/watch?… [youtube.com]
How much force does that require? Would you still be cycling after such an impact, or sprawling on the road?
If you encounter the amount of force necessary to deform it on a bicycle, chances are that impact is also going to deform other parts of the bike, such as wheels and the rider when they get bucked off the thing and land on their head.
The deformed tire that has a method of reforming it is probably the least of the rider’s worry in that instance.
Poly-rubber material is just another word for transparent rubber to be able to boats to your friends that you have space tech in your bicycle.
Poly-rubber material is just another word for transparent rubber to be able to boats to your friends that you have space tech in your bicycle.
In defense of those addicts who spend more on a bike than any car and would actually spend $500 on tires alone, they probably do have ‘space tech’ in their bicycle.
Yeah, these tires, while cool, are not for me. They cost almost as much as my whole bicycle did.
Replacing air by a metal spring. Yeah OK.
It is supposed to be “green” ? Nope.
Ya, but you forgot the part where you can add “more” air to these airless tires:
(sigh)
In this case, it might only be that you put in a few pounds to adjust the ride. Like how some cars can adjust ride height by pumping more air into the shocks or such.
I think people would be attracted to the idea that you wouldn’t need a pump. Sounds like you do, though.
I like the idea of a tire that is still perfectly rideable even after it has been punctured by something on the ground; having to patch a tire by the side of the road isn’t much fun, and I’d much rather just keep riding and do any necessary repairs after I get home.
That’s with all else being equal, of course; the critical question is what kind of performance and cost tradeoffs have to be made to achieve that ability, and whether it’s still worth using after they have been taken into account.
I like the idea of a tire that is still perfectly rideable even after it has been punctured by something on the ground; having to patch a tire by the side of the road isn’t much fun, and I’d much rather just keep riding and do any necessary repairs after I get home.
That’s with all else being equal, of course; the critical question is what kind of performance and cost tradeoffs have to be made to achieve that ability, and whether it’s still worth using after they have been taken into account.
I like the idea of a tire that is still perfectly rideable even after it has been punctured by something on the ground; having to patch a tire by the side of the road isn’t much fun, and I’d much rather just keep riding and do any necessary repairs after I get home.
That’s with all else being equal, of course; the critical question is what kind of performance and cost tradeoffs have to be made to achieve that ability, and whether it’s still worth using after they have been taken into account.
I went to tubeless tires on my MTB, using Stan’s race sealant. There is some maintenance involved, the sealant needs to be cleaned out and replaced occasionally, which is a messy job I pay the bike shop to do, but they work quite well. Drive over a nail and you hear a hiss for a few seconds and then it stops. Has saved me many trailside tube patching sessions.
It might make sense somewhere like the Moon, where air is at a premium and metals might be cheaper.
It also would have the benefit of being naturally ‘run flat’, able to still function with more damage than an air based tire, or the downsides of run-flats.
I think these would wear out just as fast – as it’s tire tread. Unless you go back to “tubes” and just replace the outer tire?
But pneumatic tires are a well developed technology.
You didn’t even read TFS let alone TFA. The whole point is they can retread the tire cheaply instead of the entire thing being waste.
>> The whole point is they can retread the tire cheaply instead of the entire thing being waste.
Re-threading bike tires ?
Yeah. That is some industrial-grade B.S. right here.
Hint: we do not re-thread car tires any more since ages because it is not deemed worth the effort, only truck and plane tires are re-threaded today.
That’s the whole point, this changes the entire equation. All you need to do is refresh the consumable part instead of replace the entire tire, on top of the benefits in safety and reliability.
You are completely out of your element and don’t know what you’re talking about.
The whole point of one of these tires is that you buy the tire and it lasts the lifetime of the bike, because you can separately buy tread that affixes in some way to the much stronger tire that also is basically a run-flat without the downsides of a run-flat. A “retread” would essentially be buying a new circle of just tread from the bike shop or whatever, going home, removing the worn out tread and affixing the new one.
It’s n
It looks great, and is illegal.
Like putting random lights on vehicles.
Vehicle lighting is precisely regulated for a reason.
> Vehicle lighting is precisely regulated for a reason.
To kill cyclists? Because that’s the effect.
Fuck those guys – tyrefly away.
You both have valid points here. Tireflys are still legal products for a reason.
That said, my rear light could blind a damn driver if it’s positioned wrong. Yeah, bike light tech has gotten my-lumen-is-bigger-than-yours out of control with the marketing (no, I don’t need to see a damn deer 500 yards away), so yeah it’s important to regulate bike illumination with some common sense.
Bad enough the smartphone addict behind the wheel is already distracted.
How long does a traditional high-quality bike tire last? Car tires can last 20K, 30K, 40K miles… so how long will a bike tire function?
Given this tire uses half the rubber but needs to be re-treaded every 8K miles – that’s an important part of the equation. If a traditional tire lasts more than 16K, then this may actually require more rubber overall.
Car tires can last 20K, 30K, 40K miles
Car tires can last 20K, 30K, 40K miles
I’m more disappointed in how short the lifespans of shoes are. Many cost about the same as car tyres but don’t even last 1000 km, many just fall apart after a few years without any usage. Some even fall apart soon after being bought!
The shoe industry feels like a scam industry.
In contrast HDDs can spin for 5000-7200 RPM for 5 years and if they fail before 5 years you can send them to the manufacturer under warranty to get a replacement.
Car tyres can have warranties of many years too and put up with harsher
What an idiotic comparison.
Shoes which work for ages with little sign of wear have been used for centuries. The problem? They were all but comfortable.
Hell, in my country, in the past (not so long ago, first half of the 20th century), many people would use old tyres to make shoes of.
You either want comfortable/good looking shoes, or resilient shoes. Your choice. No, “both” is not an option.
You either want comfortable/good looking shoes, or resilient shoes.
You either want comfortable/good looking shoes, or resilient shoes.
Seems like a false dichotomy. There’s no good reason that you couldn’t make shoes both comfortable and resilient. There might be a other factors involved like higher cost for shoes that are both resilient and comfortable.
Car tires can last 20K, 30K, 40K miles
I’m more disappointed in how short the lifespans of shoes are.
The shoe industry feels like a scam industry.
Car tires can last 20K, 30K, 40K miles
Car tires can last 20K, 30K, 40K miles
I’m more disappointed in how short the lifespans of shoes are.
The shoe industry feels like a scam industry.
You need to google “tire shoes”. You’ll find something for your lifestyle.
Heh, I go through two pairs of shoes every year.
I generally walk between 75 and 100 miles every month. Most of it on pavement.
I do have some Solomon winter walkers that have managed to last several years, but that’s mostly because they are high tops, so there is less rubbing inside the shoe and the surface being traversed is mostly ice and snow so the soles don’t wear out per se, though they have started to crack.
I ride my bike tyres until they fail – not what the manufacturers recommend but they have a vested interest. The front lasts a lot longer than the rear: less weight, no traction load, and it never skids.
I always feel I’m getting a raw deal, a quality bike tyre costs $40 or thereabouts, you get a car tyre for twice that, with maybe 20x more material on it!
John Bo
I always feel I’m getting a raw deal, a quality bike tyre costs $40 or thereabouts, you get a car tyre for twice that, with maybe 20x more material on it!
Wow…where do you get a car tire for only $80 each?!?!?
And what brand, what rating is it? What size?
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a tire that cheap.
you probably use the wrong car (too big)
you probably use the wrong car (too big)
Well, not much chance of that with me…
I’ve never owned anything in my life, but 2-seater, manual transmission sports cars.
Walmart [walmart.com]. Arroyo eco P195/65R15. $51.04. 91H for the temp/speed rating. You actually have 6 options under $60.
A bit of googling [sizemytires.com], that’s a bunch of Audi, Chevy, Honda, Mercedes(wtf with cheap tires for them?), toyotas, VW, and volvos. It’s basically a size common for standard sedans.
At that price, you can pay for mounting, lifetime balance/rotation, and get the road-hazard warranty and still stay under $80.
And as I’m typing the above, I realize it’s because it sees my car. Changing to my truck bumps the
At that price, you can pay for mounting, lifetime balance/rotation, and get the road-hazard warranty and still stay under $80.
Wow….that’s intesting. Thanks for the info.
I think all my tires have been in the $140-$190 or so range? Its been so long since I last bought.
I know my Z5 corvette that had the run flats…THOSE were $$$$$. But I put that up as specialty vette tax.
But well over $100 each to me has always been normal. I guess since mine were all speed rated, etc..?
I’ve seen this too with airless car tires [michelin.com] which look like regular tires with open sided sort of stiffened rubbery spokes to act as the “pressure”. Every now and then there will be a puff piece about them touting how they resist punctures and don’t need pumping up and how they’ll be eco friendly because less tires replaced due to punctures. But they always seem to skirt over such factors as cost, material, wear, performance, durability, and impact on fuel efficiency.
How long does a traditional high-quality bike tire last?
Depends if you like doing skiddies.
Puncture vines give bike tires a five minute life time here. This might be an alternative to filling the tire with Slime. That doesn’t do much for the ride.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/… [wikipedia.org]
No one gets 8K on a set of bicycle tires. For touring, the limit may be that high at most. For other kinds of cycling it is far less. Mountain bikers often replace their tires multiple times a year.
The amount of rubber consumed doesn’t matter at all, the purpose of the retread is to spread the absurd cost over a lifetime of the bike.
As someone who rides close to 16k km a year, a high performance tire (say Conti 5000) lasts around 5000km. That’s assuming there’s no damage, which also occurs quite a bit. I’ve had tires with just a few 100 km and a slash from road debris rendered useless. This might be less of an issue with this design as well.
I recently lost a Pirelli Centurato, which is a roughly $80 tire, about 20 miles into its first ride.
I’ve had tires without air on my bicycle for decades, and they act like it’s something new. Pfft.
I’ve had tires without air on my bicycle for decades, and they act like it’s something new. Pfft.
I’ve had tires without air on my bicycle for decades, and they act like it’s something new. Pfft.
How’s the vibration compared to a normal tire?
When you see weasel words, treat everything else with a massive grain of salt – “long believed to help with the treatment of backache”, “a source of prodildosterides (TM) for shinier hair”, “naturally low in sugar”, “derived from plant extracts”, “up to 90% (*) off!!!”, “voted car of the year (*)”, “helps you lose weight as part of a calorie controlled diet”.
When you see weasel words, treat everything else with a massive grain of salt – “long believed to help with the treatment of backache”, “a source of prodildosterides (TM) for shinier hair”, “naturally low in sugar”, “derived from plant extracts”, “up to 90% (*) off!!!”, “voted car of the year (*)”, “helps you lose weight as part of a calorie controlled diet”.
When you see weasel words, treat everything else with a massive grain of salt – “long believed to help with the treatment of backache”, “a source of prodildosterides (TM) for shinier hair”, “naturally low in sugar”, “derived from plant extracts”, “up to 90% (*) off!!!”, “voted car of the year (*)”, “helps you lose weight as part of a calorie controlled diet”.
Almost enough to make you wonder why other countries have advertising standards.
Controlling narcissist marketers is a talent the US hasn’t quite acquired.
Controlling narcissist marketers is a talent the US hasn’t quite acquired.
Controlling narcissist marketers is a talent the US hasn’t quite acquired.
I meant more along the lines of punishing misleading advertising statements, but that is also a very good point.
I understand your point, but it seems misguided here. They use stronger wording in the summary and the body of the article itself, such as “made in partnership with NASA”. Their Kickstarter then adds that “The SMART Tire Company has a Space Act Agreement with NASA and an exclusive license to further develop and commercialize this superelastic tire” and that they were recognized with NASA’s R&D 100 Award.
Also, NASA itself has talked about them at nasa.gov: https://technology [nasa.gov]
One of the useful characteristics of Nitinol is its martensite-austenite phase change characteristics, which give it its well known “shape memory” and its “superelasticity”
The issue as it pertains to bike tires is that most nitinol alloys exhibit this R-Phase change at temperatures that are generally experienced in environments that you would ride a bicycle, and low temperatures – winter temperatures – will adversely affect the mechanical properties of the tire.
Depending on the composition of the wire in the tire, the stiffness of the tire’s wire alloy could be reduced by less than half just by riding in winter, and could deform very easily. Easily enough to be unusable.
If the nitinol being used in this tire is formulated to exhibit a higher R-Phase temp, then it stands to reason that stainless steel would probably be a better choice for the wire than nitinol, as I can’t think of any property of nitinol that would benefit the application over any other traditional material.
“Depending on the composition of the wire in the tire, the stiffness of the tire’s wire alloy could be reduced by less than half just by riding in winter, and could deform very easily. Easily enough to be unusable.”
And don’t forget, 90% of the load on a bicycle tire is rider weight. There is no way to determine what the stiffness of the tire needs to be.
These things will never be anything other than an abject failure. THE MOST IMPORTANT feature of a bicycle tire is rolling resistance, not how often you in
Nitinol was in the news quite a bit about 15 years ago with the media calling it “muscle wire”. I was intrigued and bought a small spool of it to play with. I found that using electricity made for very quick transitions. However, using temperature change instead of electricity made transitions much slower. I don’t understand how Nitinol in a bike tire is going to useful without active heating/cooling or electricity applied.
The issue as it pertains to bike tires is that most nitinol alloys exhibit this R-Phase change at temperatures that are generally experienced in environments that you would ride a bicycle, and low temperatures – winter temperatures – will adversely affect the mechanical properties of the tire.
The issue as it pertains to bike tires is that most nitinol alloys exhibit this R-Phase change at temperatures that are generally experienced in environments that you would ride a bicycle, and low temperatures – winter temperatures – will adversely affect the mechanical properties of the tire.
NiTiNol Specifically has the R-Phase change tuneable between -150 and +350C during manufacture. NASA specifically certified their NiTiNol tires for use on Mars missions where it will be subjected to -80C constantly (though ended up going with an Aluminium tire instead on their recent rovers). You’re not going to be cycling at that temperature in winter on earth.
You’re right, depending on the composition of the wire in the tire is may deform, but depending on the composition of the material in any other tire
Sure, I’ll get me some $1.5K bike tires for my $100 10-speed.
First, I’ll go drink some Tang. Astronauts never did.
I’ll sign the check (LOL) with my Fisher Space Pen. Never was used in space.
And then I’ll put on my big blue penis cowboy hat and launch my Texas ass right out there to beat Branson and Musk, but never deliver engines to ULA.
What a NASA Space day that will be.
NASA bicycle tires. LOL FOMG.
Your other snark aside, the space pen was used in space.
“Fisher invented it independently and then, in 1965, asked NASA to try it. After extensive testing, NASA decided to use the pens in future Apollo missions.[8][10][11] Subsequently, in 1967 it was reported that NASA purchased approximately 400 pens for $2.95 apiece (equivalent to $26 each in 2022).[10][12]
In 2008, Gene Cernan’s Apollo 17-flown space pen sold in a Heritage auction for US$23,900.[13]”
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Pen
Oh and you’re wrong about tang too:
“Tang was used by early NASA crewed space flights. In 1962, when Mercury astronaut John Glenn conducted eating experiments in orbit, Tang was selected for the menu; it was also used during some Gemini flights, and has also been carried aboard numerous space shuttle missions.”
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tang_(drink_mix)
…is a scam.
…is a scam.
It hasn’t been for me..I’ve gotten some really cool and useful stuff for a reasonable price on there.
I’ve gotten some cool lenses…macro flash and lighten set ups, a really fantastic macro book this guy put out, coming soon, an instax film back for my Hasselblad 501 CM camera…anamorphic lens sets (I think you see a trend here).
The point is…some of these were pretty high dollar, but I found them to be a great bargain and the majority of them come in on time that I’ve experienced.
There’s
You must be running a Kickstarter scam.
You must be running a Kickstarter scam.
I’ve never run or sold anything on kickstarter…
I’ve just participated and purchased from it over the years.
Saving rubber when the tire is $500 is just greenwashing.
In the modern economy all earnings come from fossil fuels to a large degree.
To earn $500 costs far more in resources than a pound of rubber can save.
And then let’s talk about mining and forging nickel and titanium.
I hate fake environmentalism. Among the most wicked of lies!
I don’t buy new products from known liars – duh!
The amount of rubber in bicycle tires is vastly less than in your example, the entire 35c tire weighs 450g. The difference in rubber is inconsequential, that it was mentioned was nothing more than greenwashing, as the OP claimed.
Yes, there’s an absolute difference, but so what.
Most bicycles are not ridden enough to cause a set of tires to be replaced. For those that are, especially ridden enough to take advantage of retreading, the owners will care FAR more about the ride quality of the tires than how muc
I wish I could take your post, print it out, roll it up, put it in a rubber bat with some of this titanium nickel wire to hold the shape, and beat people with it.
It sounds like a cool technology, but $500 for a bicycle tire is stupid. It’s like mining lithium with heavy machinery that runs on fossil fuel to save the earth from fossil fuels.
“It’s like mining lithium with heavy machinery that runs on fossil fuel to save the earth from fossil fuels.”
You sound like a deep thinker. Sad that there is absolutely no way that heavy machinery could be electric in your world. It’s almost as though your facts are selected to align with your narrative.
Slashvertisement is converging with 90s TV commercials..
Even though flats are the bane of cycling, and no matter how well these might work, there seems to be a massive “New idea! Oh Noes!” Factor in bicycle culture.
There are plenty of “run-flat” solutions already, none of which cost $500. You’re right that bicycle culture is very conservative, but this will fail with even the most open-minded riders. There is no way this is better than other solutions, even ignoring the absurd price.
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