Solid tyres?

[Archie_tect]

..."Is there any real benefit to the ride quality between tyres pumped up to 90/100psi+ and just using solid tyres? Are we just wasting our time and effort using pneumatic ones when they are so hard and unforgiving anyway?"...

....This came up in a thread in Cafe and I wondered if anyone has ever done any trials to test whether there is any benefit using pneumatic tyres when they have to be inflated so hard compared to 'solid' [closed cell foam] tyres which don't have p**ctures.... apart from the slight weight saving?

 

[biggs682]

used a pr of green solids for a less than a week before taking them of and going back to clinchers , they were bad and still hang in garage

 

[ianrauk]

There is a reason why the Pneumatic tyre has lasted over a 125 years.... there is no better alternative or at least not one that has been invented yet.

 

[Zakalwe]

I'd rather wait for a MagLev bicycle wheel that put my faith in a bit of foam rubber.

 

[Zakalwe]

90/100psi isn't even that harsh anyway, for my 73kg at least. If it bothers you then get some 25 or 28mm tyres and run them at 60.

 

[Archie_tect]

All based on practical experience then- explains why things have always been so! Just wondered- no problem.

 

[dellzeqq]

my first bike had solid tyres. Just saying........

 

[Zakalwe]

All the first bikes had solid wheels, bone shakers indeed. That pressurised air is what gives the rubber it's elasticity and allows it to deform to the road surface giving grip, and also cushion your tender unmentionables.

 

[Andrew_Culture]

When I was a kid I had a bike with no tyres at all, it was a bit tricky to steer and made a proper mess of the local vicarage driveway when we had skidder competitions.

 

[Jdratcliffe]

well untill now this guy thinks his cracked in wont be long untill theres a road version i bet - http://www.chopmtb.com/2012/10/26/a...ck-out-the-weird-looking-energy-return-wheel/

 

[nickb]

Solid tyres would weigh a lot more. That alone would make them a very poor substitute.

 

[Hilldodger]

There is a reason why the Pneumatic tyre has lasted over a 125 years.... there is no better alternative or at least not one that has been invented yet.

It's actually only 124 years since Leicester's Robert Edlin produced the first pneumatic tyres.........................

 

[Hacienda71]

I remember seeing tyres in the late seventies early eighties that had air compartaments, rather like Doc Marten shoes. They never took off so I suspect they were not that great.

 

[Hilldodger]

I remember seeing tyres in the late seventies early eighties that had air compartaments, rather like Doc Marten shoes. They never took off so I suspect they were not that great.

No, 'cushion' tyres were no good the first time around in the 1880's

 

[byegad]

Must be Halloween the horrors are coming back to haunt us. I wondered when the dreaded solid tyre would be back.

Just going for a coffee and some biscuits....