These being around forever, but not being released, I wonder how much of why this is happening now is because they're finally coming off patent?
Michelin Airless
251–260 of 316 posts
Re: Michelin Airless
#252Former automotive engineer chiming in. "Tweels" have been around a long time, but have always failed in terms of "NVH" (noise, vibration, harshness). Michelin is claiming that this generation of tweels are appropriate for passenger cars, which means that they think they've solved the NVH problem. They seem to be marketing these alongside EVs, I wonder if they're only really intended for lighter, compact-style cars. (…
Also don't you need to change the traditional car suspension system (McPherson struts, wishbones, shock absorbers etc ... ) to even use these tyres ???.
Re: Michelin Airless
#253Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm sure everyone in the tire industry (?) knows that, but it would be nice if Michelin had something to suggest that on their page.
The only little clue is that one photo of the EV where the sidewalls are visible on the tires. You have to squint to see it :)
Totally missed that on first reading, thank you for pointing it out.
Re: Michelin Airless
#254Earlier quoted context omitted.
Nah...americans like big cars and manufacturers followed the sales! Even worse, europeans started to like big cars too...I just don't get why people like to drive big SUVs in the city.
I'm not trying to defend myself or anything since I don't even have a car, but when I did, it was always an SUV. It wasn't so much a matter of preference as necessity. I'm not exactly huge, only 6'2", but if I try to drive my wife's GTI, I'm hunched over and hitting my head on the ceiling. Only way to do it is leaning severely back with the seat reclined. Trying to be a backseat passenger in an average sedan is compl…
I'm an inch or so taller than you and have driven a GTI, along with other small cars, very comfortably for more than 10 years.
Clearly this is a situation where, quite literally, YMMV.
Re: Michelin Airless
#255Re: Michelin Airless
#256Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm not trying to defend myself or anything since I don't even have a car, but when I did, it was always an SUV. It wasn't so much a matter of preference as necessity. I'm not exactly huge, only 6'2", but if I try to drive my wife's GTI, I'm hunched over and hitting my head on the ceiling. Only way to do it is leaning severely back with the seat reclined. Trying to be a backseat passenger in an average sedan is compl…
What? I'm about the same height and drive a sedan just fine, and it's comfortable and safe. I don't know how small your wife's car is, but I've never been in one so small that I'm bumping my head in the ceiling, that would be weird.
GP is probably proportioned like Michael Phelps: short legs, long torso.
I'm of a similar height, but oppositely proportioned, and the driver's seat in most cars doesn't go back far enough that my lower thighs rest on the seat, which makes for a lot of butt discomfort on long trips.
If the seat does go back far enough for my legs to be comfortable, it's almost unavoidable that the steering wheel is uncomfortably far away, and I put the seat pretty close to bolt upright to put my shoulders closer and reduce the impression that I'm hanging on to the wheel for dear life as it's trying to pull away from me.
Bicycles are similarly problematic: I want a shorter top tube than is common for my nominal frame size, so I ride a 59cm road bike frame with a short stem and a lot of seatpost showing. You'd be more likely to find somebody with my inseam (34" [0]) on a 61cm or 63cm frame.
[0] Sorry for the mixed units. I'm giving them in the trade sizes. Road bikes are sized in metric, and pants are sized in inches, at least in the US.
Re: Michelin Airless
#257Earlier quoted context omitted.
What the hell, I've been looking for something like this for the past few months. Only ones I could find were Tannus (too soft) and Schwalbe (garbage). Don't care about weight, noise, ride quality, just need unbreakable tires because riding through neighborhoods where people break glass bottles on the bike paths will make me smash someone's head with one someday.
How about just regular Schwalbe Marathons Plus? In my experience those tyres are literally unpuncturable(at the cost of a huge weight penalty).
I rode across the country on a pair (two pairs actually, first set wore out) of marathon pluses. I got 1 flat from a metal staple, which is pretty good for 4200 miles :D
Re: Michelin Airless
#258I don't worry about punctures at all, despite living in a country with a shitty roads. What I worry about A LOT is a catastrophic collision of tire with a 90 degree sharp pothole edge, often made by roadworkers before doing point repair, which potentially can destroy tire irreparably. I wonder if these tires are better protected against such impacts, and just looking at them it seems they are - no side walls which ar…
Punctures are much more of a problem for me - the roads are generally good, but tradies seem to love scattering nails, bolts, and other random bits of construction crap on the roads.
Re: Michelin Airless
#259Earlier quoted context omitted.
Ah, nice to know, and thanks for giving a professional's assessment of what's being said. :)
:) Not a problem! Your experience hangs a lantern on one of the problems in academia. The authors of that paper did not intend to mislead -- this paper was published in 2011, likely written in 2010, only a handful of years after Michelin's unveiling of their gen 1 tweel design. To me, having been in the authors' position, I can easily tell what the true purpose of the paper actually was (the analytical procedure). Bu…
Yeah, I'm totally aware of how hard it is to accurately assess and relate info from a technical paper without experience in the industry, which is why I try to make sure I express how little confidence I have in how I'm relating that info, given I very rarely have time to actually dive deep into a paper when looking something up like this.
In some ways what you describe is a very common larger problem. When you want to promote something (whether it be because of financial or more altruistic reasons), its hard (possibly impossible) to walk the fine line for all people between accurately relaying information and convincing people of something less factual (such as "this is cool and we should look into it more"), namely because different audiences' relative experience in the area will mean they won't recognize where that line is in many cases.
For example, at exactly what point does a website or description for some open source project move from purely descriptive explanations of what it can do to promotion about why it's cool and why you should try it? People with different experience in the domain it's in will have difference experiences ready that info. The neophyte and the layman will interpret the statements differently.
Re: Michelin Airless
#260I see a LOT of lawnmowers in my area with this kind of tire. It's especially prevalent on the larger, commercial mowers that landscape professionals use.