51–60 of 66 posts
Okay, dumb question from someone who rides a bike but is not a "cyclist." Road bikes have a pretty high tire pressure, to the point that the tire itself basically offers no cushion at all, on it's own. Why are these tires pneumatic at all? Why not wrap a rubber donut around the rim and call it a day? I'm sure part of the answer is weight, but surely this can be reduced either by making the rubber relatively thin, or…
So these tennis tires, vs what's on that bike now, perform
- worse now when good
- worse than now four weeks out (noted elsewhere, tennis balls decay fast, but
- better than now with punctures today.
Now, this is a 'clever' way to solve that. The long term solution might be 'thorn-resistant tires' (wish we'd known up front -- but they say 'resistant' not 'proof' for a reason), but if you can live with the performance hit in favour of the failure tolerance ('oops, gotta replace six balls today, not like two yesterday), I can see use cases where that's a go.
Yup, should have had a full set of spare tubes. Know that, got spares, but I don't expect three of four tires to go flat on the same day.
I guess the takeaway is, tire innovation still has some fruit to pick.
Everyone who plays tennis knows that tennis balls don't retain their pressure for very long once outside their pressurized cannister, though. I can't tell if this article is just ignoring that fact or if they are actually running on "flat" balls. (Balls that are too flat to play with still have some pressure and might work fine, I guess, though it seems like riding on them would just flatten them more.)
> I can't tell if this article is just ignoring that fact or if they are actually running on "flat" balls You mean flat ball, right? They have 30 balls in a tire. If one goes flat, then they are running on 29/30 balls.
For normal world applications, a tubeless[1] setup will perform infinitely better. Though less eye-catchy. [1] https://www.bikeradar.com/advice/buyers-guides/tubeless/
I have two bikes - one tubleess, one tubed. On my tubed bike, other than 1 or 2 flats in the last 5 years, these tires have required 0 maintenance. Even after dusting the bike off from the winter, they pump right up and are ready to go. My tubeless tires are a constant source of headache. They are constantly going flat, sometimes weekly, requiring more sealant, stuck valve cores, etc. Overall, I'd say my tubeless tir…
That being said, tubeless tires do require being used fairly regularly, which includes pumping them up (just topping them off) almost every time you go out. Right now I haven’t gone mountain biking in quite a while so I guarantee that my tires are flat
For normal world applications, a tubeless[1] setup will perform infinitely better. Though less eye-catchy. [1] https://www.bikeradar.com/advice/buyers-guides/tubeless/
I have two bikes - one tubleess, one tubed. On my tubed bike, other than 1 or 2 flats in the last 5 years, these tires have required 0 maintenance. Even after dusting the bike off from the winter, they pump right up and are ready to go. My tubeless tires are a constant source of headache. They are constantly going flat, sometimes weekly, requiring more sealant, stuck valve cores, etc. Overall, I'd say my tubeless tir…
For normal world applications, a tubeless[1] setup will perform infinitely better. Though less eye-catchy. [1] https://www.bikeradar.com/advice/buyers-guides/tubeless/
I have two bikes - one tubleess, one tubed. On my tubed bike, other than 1 or 2 flats in the last 5 years, these tires have required 0 maintenance. Even after dusting the bike off from the winter, they pump right up and are ready to go. My tubeless tires are a constant source of headache. They are constantly going flat, sometimes weekly, requiring more sealant, stuck valve cores, etc. Overall, I'd say my tubeless tir…
https://m.facebook.com/UlsterTransportMuseum/photos/a.461285...
I've been commuting with reinforced tyres (puncture protection) for 10 years now, and the only punctures I got was when I changed bike and did not upgrade to reinforced tyres straight away. I've not had a single puncture with reinforced tyres (though I get the most reinforced you can get). It's anecdota of course, but I'd love to know if people actually get punctures with that sort of tyres.
And this is not by virtue of having clean roads. There are potholes and there is a lot of glass on the cycle lane. Nowadays I don't even bother trying to avoid glass shard and just go straight in. One time I came home with a 0.5cm glass shard stuck in my tyre. It had not punctured the tube.
I don't have experience with tubeless designs or solid tyres, but they solve the issue as well.
Everyone who plays tennis knows that tennis balls don't retain their pressure for very long once outside their pressurized cannister, though. I can't tell if this article is just ignoring that fact or if they are actually running on "flat" balls. (Balls that are too flat to play with still have some pressure and might work fine, I guess, though it seems like riding on them would just flatten them more.)
For normal world applications, a tubeless[1] setup will perform infinitely better. Though less eye-catchy. [1] https://www.bikeradar.com/advice/buyers-guides/tubeless/
I have two bikes - one tubleess, one tubed. On my tubed bike, other than 1 or 2 flats in the last 5 years, these tires have required 0 maintenance. Even after dusting the bike off from the winter, they pump right up and are ready to go. My tubeless tires are a constant source of headache. They are constantly going flat, sometimes weekly, requiring more sealant, stuck valve cores, etc. Overall, I'd say my tubeless tir…
Different tyres have different wall constructions, and so some can leak a lot of air. I find that after I put on a new tyre, they leak air for the first couple days, but it's greatly benefited by going for a few rides (the extra pressure gets the sealant into all the nooks and crannies of the tyre casing, filling the gaps), and then maybe lose a PSI or two per week (when I run at 50psi).
I change sealant about every 6 months, just because it dries up. Not particularly due to fluid leakage.