Any body tried this? If there would be anyadvantages you would think that they would be obvious on a fat bike. Fat bikes tend to be heavier so would this lighten the weight a bit? or would you lose the low pressure tire morphing effect. Maybe it would do absolutely nothing. Don’t know if there would be any dangers of explosion or anything like that either.
Just thought it was an interesting idea.
Your Thoughts PLEASE.

Worst troll in quite a while……. 8)

C- : must try harder…..

Helium being an inert gas will increase your inertia. 😉

Yup, if its a troll 0/10, poor effort.

If its real, why would do you think it would make any difference ?

I think the mass of air in a MTB tyre is almost constant for a given rider and conditions because the larger the tyre volume, the lower the inflation pressure. And helium won’t stay in a tyre for long as the molecules are too small.

It should make the conveyor go faster, so it’s possible …. [strokes chin and considers]…yes, I think it’s just possible that the plane would take off.

Take a dump, its a known procedure familiar to all, is free and as long as there is plenty of paper, no further consequences.

I inflate all my tyres with helium at the local garage – the pump beside the air one.

Why not go the whole hog and fill up the frame with helium too?

Infact why stop there, you could put helium in your forks and even your hollowtech cranks!

Press F13 on your keyboard to reveal secret helium filling technique for easy ghetto tubeless!

IIRC (but this could be wayyyyy out) helium is heavier than air at tyre pressures and as mentioned helium will diffuse out of the tyres anyway. But I’m not a scientist.

Some race/track team was using nitrogen I believe, bigger molecules (or something) so the tyres rolled ever so slightly faster/better.

But then again both of these factoids could be badly remembered april fools articles from bike magazines 🙂

i think MBUK did this once, you need a greater volume of helium compared to normal air to achieve the same pressures. over a ‘standard’ tube you save a whopping 7grams! but you’ll have flat tyres before the end of the ride as the molecules seep out. maybe you could fill your tyres with slime to prevent leakage 😆

helium is heavier than air at tyre pressures

Ha ha ha ha ha!

bigger molecules (appaerently) so roll ever so slightly faster

Ho ho ho ho ho ho!

No, really, stop, this is too much, I may actually burst at the ridiculousness.

If you’re a troll feigning innocence, you win, D0nk, you win!

EDIT:

you need a greater volume of helium compared to normal air to achieve the same pressures

This stuff just gets better and better!!!

IIRC Nitrogen is used in some race car tyres as it’s volume changes less in relation to temperature than air.

Was the OP hoping this would happen?

The effect of helium is not as great as using an alloy of expensivium and unobtainium for the spoke nipples.

Copied from a tyre fitting site =

“Nitrogen

Filling your tyres with nitrogen may seem odd but that’s exactly what motor sport and aviation professionals have been doing for years. Nitrogen is completely safe. And by using it in a mixture with oxygen to inflate your tyres the theory is that it’s possible to negate the issue of slow deflation, which is caused by oxygen slowly infusing through the tyre wall from the atmosphere. ”

Take a dump, its a known procedure familiar to all, is free and as long as there is plenty of paper, no further consequences.

Until you mentioned this I had never thought of doing it. No wonder I’ve been putting on weight.

i hear 78 percent nitrogen to 21 percent oxygen. you’re allowed a few impurities to make up the 100 percent! 😀

How about using pure oxygen? That could be spectacular if you try a downhill track with V-brakes…

Yep they use Nitrogen in F1. Wasnt AdeWard an F1 techie maybe he could confirm. Or SteveB77 he works on racing Porches.

dandelion and murdoch – you’re an idiot. the ‘volume’ in a tyre at 5psi is the same as the ‘volume’ 55psi (when considering the tyre itself). but you need a greater inputted volume to achieve the higher pressure.

“Nitrogen

Filling your tyres with nitrogen may seem odd but that’s exactly what motor sport and aviation professionals have been doing for years. Nitrogen is completely safe. And by using it in a mixture with oxygen to inflate your tyres the theory is that it’s possible to negate the issue of slow deflation, which is caused by oxygen slowly infusing through the tyre wall from the atmosphere. ”

That’s one of the best bits of techno-science bollox I’ve ever read, genius!

I thought so too and am seriously considering wrapping my tyres in clingfilm to stop this ‘infusion’.

Word for word from the Kwik_fit site BTW

MrK, it appears that I’m so much of an idiot that I fail to see how I’m an idiot…

What you just said is absolutely true, but it would make naff all difference what gas you use (so long as you stick to the ‘mundane’ ones we’re talking about here: helium, nitrogen, air).

Please point out where my idiocy lies.

YO! that’d be right. i guess either mbuk was wrong or i remember wrong… sorry, you’re not really an idiot 🙂

mbuk was wrong

Probably.

Actually, I am an idiot, but not for any reason related to this little exchange. Apology appreciated, nonetheless! 😉

I’m glad we’ve all learned something today, even if it is only that we should be riding our bikes rather than worrying about what gas we put in the tyres.

If you’re a troll feigning innocence, you win, D0nk, you win!

I refer the honorable gentleman to my disclaimer of scientific ineptitude and the stated possibility of it being a bike industry april fools joke.

Not trolling or in anyway suggesting it was fact. and from this thread it seems like I’m not the only one who has heard similar either (still not claiming either to be true)

Yep they use Nitrogen in F1. Wasnt AdeWard an F1 techie maybe he could confirm. Or SteveB77 he works on racing Porches.

I get my car tyres at Costco (cos it’s cheap) and they fill them with Nitrogen……………………

it would make naff all difference what gas you use (so long as you stick to the ‘mundane’ ones we’re talking about here: helium, nitrogen, air).

Air isn’t a gas. Air is a mixture of gases.

HTH

Pedant

I fill my tyres with one part oxygen to two parts hydrogen. Makes finding punctures easier.

RealMan, I can’t believe you’re so blase! Have you not heard of the dangers of dihydrogen monoxide?

For example:

Dihydrogen monoxide:

* is also known as hydroxyl acid, and is the major component of acid rain.
* contributes to the “greenhouse effect.”
* may cause severe burns.
* contributes to the erosion of our natural landscape.
* accelerates corrosion and rusting of many metals.
* may cause electrical failures and decreased effectiveness of automobile brakes.
* has been found in excised tumors of terminal cancer patients.

Shocking stuff! And it’s all on the interweb so it must be true!

Oh yeah… 😉 😉

A quick google suggests one of the reasons for using nitrogen instead of air is that it has little to no water vapour in it, which causes* greater expansion as tyres heat up (according to some tinterweb pages) Also nitrogen filled tyres lose pressure more slowly* – so naff all difference to the average STW mincer then. That said…

Downhill racers have confirmed tire heat is also a problem for them

*may, possibly, allegedly, etc etc

Air is a mixture of gases.

99.99% of which are ‘mundane’. Possibly it’s even less than 1×10^-2% that’s not mundane, but either way I still stand by my definition of air as a gas, in the same way that beer is a liquid.

Nitrogen with a bit of oxygen is excellent stuff, I’ve been breathing it for years.

Fill them with vacuum instead, even lighter.