ive been looking at afew different styles, and have decided i want a pair of the green tyre commuter tires.but in looking around, ive realized, i cant find any solid tubes, they all are all solid tubes and tires. so, does anyone have a place to get solid tubes? any what is your opinion on these? thanks.
solid rubber tires?
- Thread starter snydur
- Start date
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Are you talking about those yellow poly-foam inserts that they used to sell for 16" and 20" kids bikes? In an industrial application, where you just need to get from one side of the plant to another, and there are all kinds of metal shavings, etc. to cause punctures, I could see the value. However, they're so soft, and the rolling resistance/weight so high when compared to a regular tube, that I wouldn't ride more than around the block on them. Also, without as much pressure to keep the tire evenly seated on the rim, I'd have to think that the tire is going to have a tendency to come off the rim, especially at anything over about 5mph.
IMHO, solid tubes are made for "toy" bikes, and should be avoided by even semi-serious riders.
EDIT: an informative article that weighs the pluses and minuses of solid tires that I found by using GOOGLE:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/754889/amerityre_airless_flatfree_bicycle_pg4.html?cat=11
IMHO, solid tubes are made for "toy" bikes, and should be avoided by even semi-serious riders.
EDIT: an informative article that weighs the pluses and minuses of solid tires that I found by using GOOGLE:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/754889/amerityre_airless_flatfree_bicycle_pg4.html?cat=11
I had some solid tubes that I bought from Wal-Mart a few years ago and I was not impressed. They just always felt spongy and didn't feel as hard as I would have liked them to be. Felt like I was riding on low tires.
To put things in perspective here, I bought a new Raleigh Sojourn a while back. It came with Vittoria Randonneur Cross tires in 35x700 size. I now have 12,900 miles on that bike, am on my 3rd rear tire and 2nd front tire, and have zero flats in that time. So if you're trying to eliminate flats, consider that there may be better alternatives out there.
I have read widely varying reports on "airless" tires and the companies that sell them, and taken as a whole, have never had any desire to persue the subject further.
One thing to note is that using a solid tire changes the stress distribution in the rim, so you may have wheel problems instead of tire problems.
I have read widely varying reports on "airless" tires and the companies that sell them, and taken as a whole, have never had any desire to persue the subject further.
One thing to note is that using a solid tire changes the stress distribution in the rim, so you may have wheel problems instead of tire problems.
