Bicycling
fromBikerumor
1 day agoHey, Here's Another Airless Tire... Will This One Catch On?
Aipex is developing a 26x2.1 airless bicycle tire prototype with replaceable tread, puncture-free design, and claims up to 6,000 miles of tread life.
As a quick explainer/refresher: Tubular tires generally are constructed of a lightweight fabric casing (often polyester, cotton, or silk) sewn shut over a relatively conventional inner tube, with a rubber tread then glued on top. In the end, you glue the whole thing directly to a smooth rim bed without bead hooks. The conventional wisdom has been that this makes for lightweight, suppleness, and low rolling-resistance at high pressures on smooth surfaces, i.e. track racing.