To save everyone time:
It's two and a half minutes of someone cycling. Chuff all about the invention.
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Tab Hunter Make this useless process end and so, begin again, Tue 6 Nov 2012, 14:04,
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Wow, you're grumpier than normal today
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The Scrunt Wants a Dozen Pints, Tue 6 Nov 2012, 14:18,
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Well, that's true.
But it is actuially something I'd be interested in, considering how many punctures I repair each week. Tyres like this have a history of not working/catching on.
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Tab Hunter Make this useless process end and so, begin again, Tue 6 Nov 2012, 14:25,
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The company's website has some more information
www.energyreturnwheel.com/Home.aspx
but none of it seems to be about how the things are made or how they work. There might be something, somewhere, but I have to go vote to let Mitt Romney commit assisted suicide with medical marijuana in a few minutes, so there's no time for that nonsense.
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the prick of misery pierced my foot on a spiiiike on, Tue 6 Nov 2012, 14:29,
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Yes,
because just fuck weight/pressure/terrain adjustability.
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omnitruncatedkraken from Empire Algol, Tue 6 Nov 2012, 14:35,
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Yeah
Is it a dual compound tyre, so the outer is one material while the actual tread is a more suitable type of rubber, for starters.
Most of the grip from tyres comes from the knobbles actually coming in to contact with the ground as the tyre rolls, so if it's all a fairly rigid plastic, you're just rolling over terrain with the central tread, leaving very little for cornering.
It's certainly an interesting idea, but I can't see any way to adjust it. In the end, Cross country riders prefer slightly firmer tyres for traction and climbing, while downhill riders will run lower pressures to maximise grip at speed. Unless they built these tyres with different amounts of flexibility it might work, but then you'd end up with a stack of the damn things for every occasion.
Nice idea, too much to go wrong really, and really overthinking a simple solution.
(, Tue 6 Nov 2012, 15:04, Share, Reply)
I had a bike once.
Maybe there it makes more sense.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcdmH_hVWBY
Hahaha,
www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3G_u-rNRU4
Looks it's going to hit mass market soon.
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omnitruncatedkraken from Empire Algol, Tue 6 Nov 2012, 15:59,
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actually
The knobbly bits are for water dispersion, to stop you aquaplaning. the actual area of rubber contacting the road is irrelevant to grip.
(grand prix cars have big wide tyres to spread the heat created by energy lost to friction, stops them melting. They could get the same grip from a narrow tyre, but the tyres would just vapourise.)
(, Tue 6 Nov 2012, 17:23, Share, Reply)
Err... Are you trolling here, or do you genuinely not understand traction and friction?
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Kerrisis There's someone in my head, but it's not me., Tue 6 Nov 2012, 18:59,
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Great idea but it does have two problems:
1) Not all riders weigh the same, therefore Rider A may run a firmer tyre than Rider B. Moreover, in wet weather tyre pressures tend to be reduced to enhance grip. This system won't allow for these variances.
2) The spring properties of rubber vary dramatically depending on the ambient temperature. An air filled tyre can be tuned to account for low temperatures, whereas a purely rubber tyre will become stiffer to the detriment of grip.
(, Tue 6 Nov 2012, 17:33, Share, Reply)