jeff@dual.UUCP (05/18/84)
[not another flat!!!]
Am interested if any of you netland biking folks have ridden on any of
the tires with the steel mesh in them. The ones I have been thinking
about getting are some of the Wolber Invunerable Sew-ups. Are there
other companies who make comparable sew-ups of this type, or does anyone
out there really recommend these things? They must be popular cause I
have checked with about five stores in the Bay Area and none have had any
of the Wolber's in stock. I even called Bike Warehouse (Bike Nashbar now)
but they were out of stock also. I currently ride on some old Specialized
270gm's and Clement Ritma's which seem to do OK but aren't good when I have
to negoiate thru glass/debris/junk on the road.
Anybody out there use these?
Jeff Houston
Dual Systems Corp., Berkeley, CA
{ucbvax,ihnp4,cbosgd,amd70,zehntel,fortune,decwrl}!dual!jeffwmartin@brl-tgr.ARPA (Will Martin ) (05/21/84)
I, too, have questions: I have seen advertised a bike-tire-filling aerosol substance that turns into a foam inside the tire after being squirted in thru the valve. Anybody used this? It is supposed to eliminate flats forever. If you use this, can you get the tire off the rim ever again? (Since you can't deflate the inner tube as much, physically, even if you depressurize it.) Another question: The advantage of pneumatic tires is the shock absorbency of the air-filled cushion. Since bike tire pressures for better bikes with thin tires are so high, is this effect largely eliminated? If so, why not use solid rubber tires? (Or is heat dissipation a factor here -- would solid tires melt?) Will
kfl@hoxna.UUCP (Kenton Lee) (05/24/84)
xxxx People used to use solid rubber tires on bikes. They also used to use solid wood "tires" and tires made out of things like metal. The advantage of pneumatic tires is WEIGHT. Cutting weight on rotating parts of your bicycle will drasitically improve performance. -- Kenton Lee, Bell Labs - WB wb3g!kfl or hoxna!kfl
fish@ihu1g.UUCP (Bob Fishell) (05/24/84)
(oo)
The pneumatic foam which is supposed to eliminate flats will also
eliminate a good deal of efficiency, and should probably be avoided.
I rode with an experimental solid inner tube for a while, and it
was like riding in wet sand. The problem is that elastic materials
absorb energy on comression and dissipate it as heat. This energy
comes from you, and it doesn't get transferred to linear motion.
Result: you pedal harder and get tired sooner.
An air-filled tube exhibits this problem to a lesser degree, since
there is less energy absorbed and dissipated by the tire, tube, and
air it holds. The harder the tire, the better, that is, a 90-psi
tire will ride better than a 70-psi tire, and a 120-psi lacer will
ride even better, but will pop if you ride over a hot match.
Try getting a set of tire savers if you're worried about flats.
They help a lot. And keep your tires pumped up.
--
Bob Fishell
ihnp4!ihu1g!fish