Tire Balls

[BrewMaster]

This is an interesting concept. At $150/tire, I think the price is a bit steep, but it looks like they are targeting racers. I wonder what the weight of these would be.

Anyone have experience with these from motorsports?

[northshore]

Originally Posted by BrewMaster

This is an interesting concept. At $150/tire, I think the price is a bit steep, but it looks like they are targeting racers. I wonder what the weight of these would be.

Anyone have experience with these from motorsports?

Never seen or heard of these with road racers, AutoXers, or at the SEMA show.

[BrewMaster]

I think they are more targeted at offroad motor sports like ATVs and motorcycles.

[OffRoadie]

I don't think flats occur often enough to justify the price. The guy makes it seem like it's inevitable that you will flat every race.

[mtnbikej]

I am thinking the weight would be too much for a bicycle. You gotta figure a standard tube is around 200-250g. These look like they would be quite a bit heavier than that.

[BFloFoxRider.]

ive heard about these on a dirtbike but never actually seen them in use. they llook neat but if theyre solid would be too heavy and not solid enough would mean low tire

[ghixon]

From what I've heard of them, They were orginally designed for off-road atv and ohv usage. The increased mass and intertia was never feasable for on-road use. (too much unsprung weight).

Always looked like a good idea for atv's.

[katonk]

Wouldn't loosing one to a puncture leave your wheel unstable? A flat spot on a tire would be kind of a bummer. Also, that seems like a lot of additional movement and friction even when they are all inflated.

[chauvinist_youth]

Originally Posted by mechmann

looks kinda cool for DH racing. XC it would add too much weight.

what i want to see is them putting a tire on a rim with all those inflated balls in there!!!! that has to be a pain in the A hole!

just what I was thinking. I was like "how do you deflate all of them to get them out?".

[bighit8]

Interesting, I agree with Mechmann though.

[Lefty Kev]

Tubeless with plenty of Stan's

[drclark]

It’s an interesting concept; however, it would seem to have some serious drawbacks.

As mentioned, ease of installation and adjustment is an issue. Kiss those last minute tire changes or air pressure adjustments to suit course conditions goodbye. What is the cost of replacement for a cell that fails after the 1 yr warranty is up? Will these cells be available 3 yrs from now? Is the ride quality with one or more cells flat good enough to actually finish a race at full pace?

There is a reason that the pneumatic tire system has been used on 99% or more of all wheeled vehicles for the past century. It offers the best compromise between cost, performance (weight, ride quality, traction, etc), reliability, and ease-of-maintenance. For something to replace it, it would have to be very flat resistant, deliver equal or better performance and be cheaper and virtually maintenance free.

This system costs 30x more than a conventional inner tube and makes regular maintenance a pain... Does it deliver enough improved reliability (i.e. full performance with once cell failed) to justify the draw backs?

I could only see the top pros with dedicated mechanics and race budgets, whose income can be determined by finish position, the only ones who would really benefit from this system (assuming it does deliver on its promises). To the average amateur racer, is $300 worth it to prevent a flat and win a race or would that money be better spent on other components or gas $$ getting to/from the races?

drc