eastwoodo4
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whats up guys?
Tubes No More Flats!
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Fabian
Well-Known Member
I was a diehard friction drive addict.
My rear tire lifespan averaged 30 days.
I have had NO FLATS since I abandoned friction drive over a year ago.
Maybe you should talk to BchCruizer, because he will take you to church and do an exorcism on you for even daring to give any honest information about friction drive - i.e. that it's not an optimal solution.
BchCruizer
New Member
If you dont have a good roller that what happens. With my bumblebeebolton you can easily adjust the tension of the drive wheel to the bike tire. it sound's like you had to much tension on your bike tire and probally were using a steel roller. That will wear down your tire very quickly. The kit I use has a roller called delrin and it doesn't wear down your tire at all. I had 2,500miles on my kit and I had the same rear tire. Now the urethane roller they have does wear down your tire faster but not near as bad as a steel roller. You dont have to have the tension super tight on the tire. It's great. But we all have had our experiance's!I was a diehard friction drive addict.
My rear tire lifespan averaged 30 days.
I have had the most flat tires in this forum, averaging one every 5 weeks. Rear tire, of course.
On my 460-powered bike, the engine dug divots in the tire on every inch of the tire.
No matter how expensive the flat-treaded tire I bought, I knew it was just a matter of a few months at most, that the tread would wear out and need replacing.
I have tried the tire-within-a-tire several times, and I STILL had flats.
I swapped engine drives from friction to centerframe with shift kit. My Specialized Armadillo 26 x 1.95 tires lasted a year, and it STILL had excellent tread left. I removed these tires and installed them on my Staton rear drive bike.
The only reason I replaced those tires was to install larger 26 x 2.35 Big Apple tires.
I have had NO FLATS since I abandoned friction drive over a year ago.
BchCruizer
New Member
Ya you that sounds about right for a steel roller. I think some people let it slip to much and eats there tire. Its all in the user. I like steel rollers there good. I just like my urethane more. They work better in moist conditions. I havent even worn a groove in it and its been like 700miles or so. Some one asked for a picture of it but i havent gotten around to it yet. Was that you darwin that wanted me to post a pic of my drive wheel?
BchCruizer
New Member
One of my buddies gave me a solid inner tube. theres no air its solid rubber. The tire is a pain to get on but you will never get a flat tire again! When i get a chance i will take a picture of the tube. its cool..like i said its solid rubber all the way through.
roughrider
Member
Well, I'm hardly an expert on anything motorbike related, but I did just read Tom Bartlett's _Motorized Bicycles_. He and a partner had a pretty successful business building motorized bicycles. They were called "Zipcycles," and they had a friction drive.
One key point was that they tested a whole bunch of rollers, and ended up with something with just about the same hardness of a skateboard wheel. The idea was to get a roller that was just a *touch* harder than the rubber of the tire. Bartlett says there's something called "Shore hardness."
He ended up with polyurethane rollers that had the precise Shore hardness required. The right combo produced a roller that was really grippy and was not hard on the tire.
That said, I gotta say that there IS a downside to the "tire within a tire" solution: it is "rolling weight."
They put titanium shoes on racehorses and super light everything on race wheels (whether bike, car, or motorcycle) for a reason. "An ounce on the foot is like a pound on the back," so they say. There are two factors: acceleration and ground contact. You want your "unsprung" weight to be just as light as can be.
But blowouts at speed are a matter of life and death. The solution I like is kevlar tires, a tire liner or an old thornproof tube, and a tube with either Stan's of Slime. With that setup I did get ONE flat though. My front tire kicked up a sheet metal screw and that sucker managed to get through all that armor in the rear wheel. No dangerous blowout, but still, a flat. That screw would have flattened a truck's tire, however.
BTW, on another bicycle forum I read that Slime is actually ethylene glycol (antifreeze) and finely shredded cotton, so there's a DIY solution for a fraction of the cost. Stan's—which my bike racing friends swear by—is liquid latex. But it does not last. Those guys use super thin wall tubes and just replace them every few months, so they don't care about that.
Best,
Rick
One key point was that they tested a whole bunch of rollers, and ended up with something with just about the same hardness of a skateboard wheel. The idea was to get a roller that was just a *touch* harder than the rubber of the tire. Bartlett says there's something called "Shore hardness."
He ended up with polyurethane rollers that had the precise Shore hardness required. The right combo produced a roller that was really grippy and was not hard on the tire.
That said, I gotta say that there IS a downside to the "tire within a tire" solution: it is "rolling weight."
They put titanium shoes on racehorses and super light everything on race wheels (whether bike, car, or motorcycle) for a reason. "An ounce on the foot is like a pound on the back," so they say. There are two factors: acceleration and ground contact. You want your "unsprung" weight to be just as light as can be.
But blowouts at speed are a matter of life and death. The solution I like is kevlar tires, a tire liner or an old thornproof tube, and a tube with either Stan's of Slime. With that setup I did get ONE flat though. My front tire kicked up a sheet metal screw and that sucker managed to get through all that armor in the rear wheel. No dangerous blowout, but still, a flat. That screw would have flattened a truck's tire, however.
BTW, on another bicycle forum I read that Slime is actually ethylene glycol (antifreeze) and finely shredded cotton, so there's a DIY solution for a fraction of the cost. Stan's—which my bike racing friends swear by—is liquid latex. But it does not last. Those guys use super thin wall tubes and just replace them every few months, so they don't care about that.
Best,
Rick
eastwoodo4
Member
Anyone still around this place?
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