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Reinventing the Wheel

Posted by michael on from the fix-a-flat dept.

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.

5 of 311 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Wrong Direction? by Crash24 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I agree. In spite of the obvious problems, tt does look promising.
    On second thought, what if debris gets caught in the polyurethane spokes?

  2. Bikes! by odyrithm · · Score: 3, Interesting

    "Engineers at Michelin's American technology center here envision a future in which vehicles would ride on what they call the Tweel, a combined tire and wheel that could never go flat because it contains no air"

    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.

    --
    moo
  3. I think I've seen this some where before.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I think this (http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/spotlight/wheels-i mage02.html ) is an example of government research going to a consumer product....

    Think large....

  4. Interesting if you RTFA by razmaspaz · · Score: 4, Interesting

    No doubt this article submission will get bashed for not being about star wars; but this is a fairly interesting article, if you take the time to read it. I was particularly interested in the fact that this "tire" improves cornering while maintaining a smooth ride. No doubt all the NASCAR fans out there will be happy. While I am sure this is a long way off, it looks promising.

    --
    I tried for 5 years to come up with a clever sig...only to realize that I am not clever.
  5. Re:Seriously guys by random735 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    most recently, a few weeks ago when i was in cairo and the taxi driver hit a pothole, bending both rims on the passenger side, leaving the tires flat.

    before that, about 2 years ago when i hit a roofing nail, causing a slow leak (woke up the next morning, tire was flat)

    then we could also count biking...in which case i've had more than i want to count, and a bike tire that can't go flat would be awfully nice...nothing sucks more than having to stop and patch a tire in the middle of a bike ride...plus having to carry all the tools needed to do the job.

    this idea has merits, contrary to what your post seems to imply.