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Remember those Tweel airless tires on news stories for low speed vehicles? Bridgestone will be coming out with something similar for bicycles. An airless tire that offers the ride comfort of traditional inflated tube tires. No word on prices yet. Would you consider such tires for your daily bicycle riding?
Last edited by PJSaturn; 01-26-2020 at 07:20 PM..
Reason: Off-topic.
They've existed for at least a couple decades in motocross. Not traditional "airless tires" like the Wiki page shows but as foam-rubber inserts that replace the conventional pneumatic inner tube. They're called "mousses" (like the weird gunk people put in their hair). ([url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tire_mousse[/url]) They also make them for BMX/mountain bikes.
Some people think they're the greatest thing to happen since fire was invented, some hate them with every fiber of their being. They do eliminate flat tires which is especially critical when riding endurocross miles away from civilisation but tend to make the bike handle weirdly on pavement.
No. Horrific rolling resistance, less cushion than properly sized air-filled tires.
There may be some limited utility in special applications, but for 99+% of bicycle riding, use tires with air. Bigger cross sections generally better (up to a point) except in cases of ultra-smooth surfaces and time trials. I suppose airless tires of generous cross section MIGHT ride as well as 19 mm wide clinchers pumped to 125 psi, but if you're contemplating airless tires of generous cross section, the real comparison would be with 32 or 35 mm clinchers at 70 psi or so; and no airless tires are going to have the low rolling resistance and shock absorption of good lightweight large section pneumatic tires.
It's amazing to me that people are so afraid of the 10 minute bicycle tube change that they'll grind along on inferior tires (either airless or the ones with huge thick heavy belts that make your bike tires feel like car tires) all the rest of the time. Just carry a small tool kit under your seat, spare tube, and a proper frame pump. Patch the tube when you get home. Keep a pair of Playtex rubber gloves in the kit, too.
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