Still spinning.

 

Sorry about the ongoing failure to post, but I have plans to get back to something more consistent... soon. 

In the meantime, you may like to follow me on Quora. I do post there (almost daily) on many topics, including finance, business, economics, society, and science. And cycling, of course.

Stay well, keep safe.

Airless tyres:comfort, traction, aerodynamics, mud and cornering

This is about bicycle wheels in particular but in general it could apply to any pneumatic-tyred vehicle, including motor cars and bikes. The issues are similar, but magnified when you look at a light-weight, essentially very simple design like a traditional triangular-framed "push-bike" design.

Punctures are a pain and put a lot of potential riders off, understandably. Whilst you can get good at it, and fix flats quickly, it's not a skill that you really want to get a lot of practice at, either.

Now you can fill your tyres (or tires) and tubes with self-sealing goop, and run tubeless, too. It works, up to a point. But it's not 100% reliable and it takes another skillset again to get accustomed to. But yes, it's a lot better if you can justify the expense.

But for most of us, punctures remain a "thing". And yet there have been many proposals to remove the whole air-under-pressure part of the design, too. Like this recent one from Bridgestone: