Reinventing the wheel

[byronleehk]

The Tweel, by Michelin

[Sweeney921]

oh I've seen this before, there was an article in Road & Track about it

[paul]

looks very intrueging !

bet they will not come out cheap though

[more-boost1555]

sounds like a good idea to me

[:Exige:]

They cant do that .. thats like inventing a a light bulb that never dies. The air industry will be in ruins Im just wondering what it rides like .. surely it wouldnt give as much cushioning as compressed air would it? Its about time someone invented a usable airless tyre. Could make run-flat tyres obsolete.

[paul]

yea i can't really think of a design flaw in it?

can anyone else?

wonder if a bit of axel tramp would shake it to bits?

[Coventrysucks]

Another answer to the question nobody asked.

[Renesis]

weight? strength?

pneumatic tires have been one of the greatest inventions of all times. Instead of causing materials to be subjected to compressive forces, air is exposed to the compressive weight of the car. rubber merely acts as tread and holds the air to the wheel. rubber is never a good compressive agent, so for it to be in constant tension is a great use of efficientcy. and all the wheel has to do is be in tension and hold the tires to the axle. its all perfectly done.

my concern is that when these wheels are put into practice, the material subjective to the weight of the car (namely the metal intracacies between the axle and the ground) suffers from compression, then as the wheel rotates 180 degrees it acts as a tension guard. So its kind of like the wheel spokes alternate between compression and tension.
thats not exactly a good thing, it can cause strain easily, and strains never fun, especially when there is some environmental stimulus and age that factors in.

so it sounds like these wheels dont respond well to offroading, to wear and tear, and to age either (which i guess can be considered wear and tear)

[silverhawk]

Suppose it does work. isnt it going to affect the sales of their tires which have air in them? its like ferrari making an affordable supercar.

[Renesis]

its like ferrari making an affordable supercar.

factory five already did that

edit: michelin first created radials in the late 40s, but they never became popularized until the 70s

[:Exige:]

Suppose it does work. isnt it going to affect the sales of their tires which have air in them? its like ferrari making an affordable supercar.

Michelin dont have to worry about that .. either way theyre selling their tyres. If the non air ones sell, they reduce production of air ones until eventually the air ones come completley out of production. Im intrigued into how the wheel comes into this .. would that mean you wouldnt be able to add custom wheels without buying new tyres. Or is it very much like changing a tyre? Havent really read all of the paragraph because Im a tad busy .. or maybe just lazy

[Spastik_Roach]

Another answer to the question nobody asked.

Its a good idea. I'd be personally very happy if I, when I got a car, didn't need to spend as much money on tyres.