How do they deal with rocks/mud/dirt/sand getting inside?
Alloy wheels have had open designs for decades and that hasn't been a problem for them.
Michelin's airless tires are scheduled for market launch in 2024
21–30 of 196 posts
Re: Michelin's airless tires are scheduled for market launch in 2024
#22Re: Michelin's airless tires are scheduled for market launch in 2024
#23Even if these tires aren't good enough for the snobs who want everything to be silent and handle perfectly they'll be great for trailers, yard trucks and other rarely used vehicles that rack up few miles and run run old-ish tires (which tend to be more plagued by slow leaks and whatnot) but still need to go highway speed.
Michelin has been selling these under the "Tweel" name[0] for skid steers, commercial lawn mowers, and other mid-sized wheeled equipment for several years now. Supposedly, they improve the handling and ride of the equipment since the Tweel's internal structure flexes more than an air-filled tire and therefore adds more of a suspension to the tractor.
[0] https://tweel.michelinman.com/light-construction-products.ht...
Re: Michelin's airless tires are scheduled for market launch in 2024
#24This website is funny in the EU. I have to scroll to the bottom of the disclosure before it lets me press “reject all”, as if I would care about exactly what I’m rejecting.
Not for me. But I'm running uBlock Origin with Javascript disabled. It rendered perfectly.
Re: Michelin's airless tires are scheduled for market launch in 2024
#25There have been a number of reports of components of rubber tiers being harmful to humans[1] or the broader environment[2] beyond the waste issue, would be interesting to know if these manage to improve on that.
[1] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/sep/11/pollutin... [2] https://www.opb.org/article/2020/12/04/scientists-point-to-c...
Re: Michelin's airless tires are scheduled for market launch in 2024
#26> Rechargeable, connected and sustainable
Hmm. Do these have batteries and computers inside? Do they have to? Making things “smart” usually decreases the time span.
Re: Michelin's airless tires are scheduled for market launch in 2024
#27Even if these tires aren't good enough for the snobs who want everything to be silent and handle perfectly they'll be great for trailers, yard trucks and other rarely used vehicles that rack up few miles and run run old-ish tires (which tend to be more plagued by slow leaks and whatnot) but still need to go highway speed.
Nothing snobbish about wanting silent tires. Tires are one of the main factors for road noise, and road noise causes adverse health effects and death on a large scale.
It’s also a decent chunk of what causes economic blight for housing nearby highways.
Re: Michelin's airless tires are scheduled for market launch in 2024
#28GOOD point by my wife, why don’t we work on puncture resistance instead? Reinforce the tires with Kevlar or carbon fiber?
Re: Michelin's airless tires are scheduled for market launch in 2024
#29GOOD point by my wife, why don’t we work on puncture resistance instead? Reinforce the tires with Kevlar or carbon fiber?
Because traditional tires wear down over time even if they aren’t punctured. The goal is to make ones that last longer than that.
Also, airless tires are puncture proof by definition.
Re: Michelin's airless tires are scheduled for market launch in 2024
#30That "Hit the Streets" is an exaggeration, the actual quote from the article on timeline:
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the company said they were on track for tires to reach the market by 2024.
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