Tires Airfree Tire Review

mark2yahu

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Jun 15, 2008
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Garden Grove, California
A couple of days ago, I received a pair of their Green Blizzard HD 26x1.75" airless tires (made in Great Britain, btw). They're made of an air-impregnated urethane compound, so technically they're quasi-pneumatic. The tread pattern on the tires I bought are made for dirt, with a flat ridge running down the middle that will do for the streets. I put them on my stump jumper (without a motor) and they feel like they are inflated to 45 psi. I can't tell much of a difference compared to pneumatic tires when I'm riding on them. The bicycle is only about, I'd say, a pound heavier with the two Airfree tires. I don't care; I'm not doing any Tour De France thing anyway. The other difference that I could detect is when I lift the bike and drop it: There is less bounce. It's like a dampened shock absorber....it will compress quickly and decompress slowly. It does absorb shock, but not as good as a pneumatic tire. In my humble opinion, it's better suited for use in full-suspension bicycles, as these types of bikes will help to absorb the more harsh vibration and shock that the airless tires cannot. I like 'em, because I often ride in the desert, and a flat tire is one less thing to worry about. And I don't like having to remove the rack mount for anything. The airless tires are expensive...with shipping & handling, they average about $47.50 per tire. I ordered a pair of street tires for my motorized bike and I'm still waiting. It takes them a long time to deliver.
 
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Walmart is selling foam tubes for bike tires. You just put them inside a regular air tire and never need air again. However, they are **** to install, but worth it.

On a 6.5HP tricycle I'm building for a friend, I went with flat free for all 3 tires, expensive, but worth it, and I'm planning on upgrading my bike with them also.
 
You must be talking about the Bell No More Flats inner tube :) A friend of mine uses them for his Huffy Cruiser MB and swears by 'em. They're hard to install, just like the Airfree tires. Wallyworld almost never has them in stock.
 
Another reason why a MB can be more reliable than a car. Cars get flats and tire problems easier than a bike. With a no-flat, you are almost unstoppable even on a spike strip! :D
 
Another reason why a MB can be more reliable than a car. Cars get flats and tire problems easier than a bike...
THAT's not been my experience. I get 20-25 thousand miles with no flats on my car. I go for literally MONTHS before I have to add air to them. But, I have to add air to the bike tires every few days & have had 3 flats in the last couple of months.
 
Good to hear the airfrees work well, however I think I'll stick with thorn resistant and slime filled extra thick tubes since I like to ride around 55-60lbs. I just don't like squishy tires they seem less stable to me.
As far as tires and everything in general are you get what you pay for, except for "designer" garbage. I buy the higher range tires for all my vehicles and I never get flats. In the rare event that one of my car tires starts losing air better tires hold plugs better and I never get sidewall cuts like I did when I used cheap car tires. Not to mention the fact that better tires wear longer and better and give you better handling. Of all the pieces on a vehicle I don't understand why people get chincey on the tires as its going nowhere without them.
After working in the optic business for quite awhile the extent of how cheap people can be doesn't surprise me though. People will even sacrifice on their vision and ocular health by buying cheap carp lenses and frames. They even try to stretch the replacement time of contacts and get all agitated when you try to tell them they could damage their corneas permanently.
Point being do it right or don't do it at all. The consequences are yours to deal with either way.
 
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SirJakesus, I used to be one of those people who skimp. I learned the hard way that the cheap stuff costs more in the long run because I end up buying the good stuff eventually. And some of the critical stuff might cost one his life! Can you imagine getting a blow-out at 25 to 40 mph on an MB because I used some paper-thin cheapo inner tube? We're talking about hip or knee replacement, or a steel plate in the head resulting!

So yeah, never ever get chintzy on equipment.
 
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A month ago, I had a tube blow out at 40+mph and it bent the back brake levers and burned up the rear brake pads when the tube came out of the tire, and it also ripped the bead and a small hole in the sidewall, because I rode it flat for about 1/2 a mile.

I'm going to flat-free asap because today at a friend's place (yard had nails and glass and junk in the dirt) I got a flat and shredded another tube, and also one of my trailer tires went flat too.

I guess you are right, car tires last longer.
However, IMO air tires are old junk technology (for easy profit) and we should have flat free foam filled tires for all vehicles.
 
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