I rode a mountain bike on fire roads for about 7 miles once on an airless
rear tire. It was stuffed with grass and leaves. On this I will
actually agree with Jan, I have no desire to ride that again, it sucked.
I do remember as a child watching my dad try to get a solid tire on my
bike. I recall screwdrivers, pry bars and swearing.No memory at all
of the ride.
Cheers,
Scott
On Friday, May 3, 2013, Jan Heine wrote:
Sorry that there is a misunderstanding. I don't judge the merits of the
invention until I have seen and ridden it. It is well possible that 15
years from now, we all ride on those wheels. (Grant predicted/lamented in
an early Rivendell Reader that spoked wheels would become obsolete, and he
may be proven right after all.)
I only noted that it was unfortunate that the inventor suggested that his
invention eliminated the need of wide and slow tires, when wide tires
aren't slow. Of course, this is a common misperception, and we shouldn't
judge the inventor's knowledge of bicycle technology based on that one
statement.
I also suggested that anybody who is talks favorably about airless tires
first should try them. I have ridden them for little over a mile, and I
wouldn't want to do it again! At lower speeds, the added resistance will be
even more noticeable, because air resistance is reduced, and rolling
resistance makes up most of the resistance the cyclist has to overcome.
Most of all, since the tires don't hold their shape, the handling is best
described as wayward.
Jan Heine
Editor
Bicycle Quarterly
www.bikequarterly.com
Follow our blog at www.janheine.com
On Friday, May 3, 2013 10:30:55 AM UTC-7, pb wrote:
On Thursday, May 2, 2013 7:51:58 PM UTC-7, Jan Heine wrote:
Airless tires have so much resistance that you'd rather change a flat
every 10 miles! We tested a set of airless tires for our latest tire test
(Bicycle Quarterly Spring 2013), and found that they used 50% more power
than a good racing tire. Maintaining 20 mph was very hard work. And in
corners, they squirmed so much that it was really disconcerting.
Jan, all due respect, I think you're still completely missing the
point. I doubt that many riders on the Dahon which is the current target
of this work are trying to maintain 20 mph. Additionally, the small
diameter of the 20 wheel reduces rotating weight to an extent which might
somewhat offset rolling resistance. (No doubt I'll be mathematically
proven completely wrong about that, but consider that urban trips are
heavily stop-start-stop-start.) If one considers the likely trip distance
and trip type of an urban Dahon, utility effectiveness may trump other
factors.
On another subject -- I have to give the inventor credit for a campaign
which has exceeded its investment target. The kickstarter is pushing
$US70,000, more than 10% over its target, with two weeks yet to go.
Apparently a number of people think this idea has merit. Even if it
ultimately fails, I sincerely congratulate Mr. Pearce on his efforts.
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