SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
Air-filled rubber tires have been around for quite a long while, though the evolution of their design has been relatively slow. But we are now seeing inklings of new innovations such as airless tires (at least for bicycles) making an appearance. They may even be 3D printed someday, as French tire company Michelin is proposing with this biodegradable concept tire that is uses computational design to come up with a sensor-equipped tire that can be modified whenever needed, using on-demand additive manufacturing technology.
Presented in a striking blue hue, Michelin's Vision tire has a spongy "permanent structure" that's produced by computational design tools, giving it an organic look that's quite different from the black rubber tires we are so accustomed to. It's this web-like yet solid structure that allows the tire to function without air, eliminating any possibility of a flat tire. The company says that the tire would be made out of organic and recyclable rubber compounds; for example, using orange zest, hay, paper and metal instead of petroleum and synthetic elastomers.
Michelin is behind this concept, so it's less vaporware than usual.
(Score: 2) by kazzie on Friday October 13 2017, @05:02AM (3 children)
Obligatory Sheldon Brown [sheldonbrown.com] quote:
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Arik on Friday October 13 2017, @01:09PM (2 children)
Unfortunately around here they get punctured very quickly. And once you let the air out they no longer work so well.
I don't even try to ride here now but I did for years. I had liners and supposedly thorn resistant tires and tubes as well and I *still* wound up patching a flat nearly every day, even more than once on some days. That's why I no longer bother to try, it's quite impractical. Extra heavy tubes, extra thick tires, extra shielding between the two - all that adds up to more weight and more stiffness and therefore a poorer tire for more forgiving conditions - yet it's still not enough to survive these thorns for long at all.
Given that background, perhaps you can understand why I'd be interested in the possibility of a more reliable tire, even if it was not the one I'd choose for use in perfect conditions.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 2) by kazzie on Friday October 13 2017, @03:06PM (1 child)
I trust you kept your tyres well inflated, too?
A low tyre pressure means you're more succeptible to "snakebite" punctures, where on impact the wheel rim pinches the inner tube against the ground (e.g. when hitting a pothole). I understand that a higher pressure also means tyres will tend to deflect debris, rather than letting them embed in the tyre tread and get pushed in as you ride. (I know the first from experience, the second is received wisdom.)
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Arik on Friday October 13 2017, @03:33PM
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?