Reinventing the Wheel

bob zee sent in this link about reinventing the wheel, err, tweel, err, whatever. Wheels are an interesting challenge in engineering design: they need to be hard to be durable, soft for a smooth ride, grippy to grab the road, but smooth to reduce rolling resistance, flexible to absorb shocks, yet stiff to reduce heat build-up, and so on. Rubber tires are a relatively recent invention.

Comments

Wheels?

[aznxk3vi17]

Out of all the things to reinvent... the wheel?

I'm still waiting on that new mousetrap! That Rube-Goldberg device of a game just isn't cutting it.

Filed under "Technology"...

[Vexler]

Great. Back to the basics. What's next - the incline plane?

Bikes!-Organ Donors.

[Anonymous Coward]

"Please let them bring these out for motorbikes, thats one of those things we bikers dream about.. a tyre that never goes pop when your doing 100mph down the autobarnes."

If you're doing a 100MPH down the Autobahn? Tires going 'pop' are going to be the least of your worries. Of course 'pop' could simply be Darwin calling another biker home.

Re:Seriously guys

[Crash24]

When was the last time anyone of you had a flat tire?

Last week, you insensitive clod.

Re:horrible aerodynamic drag on paddle-wheel tires

[Leperflesh]

Gee, do you think maybe these engineers aren't total idiots?

I mean, seriously.

Not to be mean. It's a thought. I'm sure it took them all of 12 seconds to decide not to expose a bunch of radial fins on the side of the tire. Maybe another 4 to decide not to make the tire out of chalk, too. I bet they spent another 9 rejecting granite sidewalls as an option.

-Lep

Re:horrible aerodynamic drag on paddle-wheel tires

[olyar]

For what its worth, I have a master's degree in Mechanical Engineering and am, in fact, an idiot. So its not impossible...