I was thinking of filling my tyres with helium, as this will make the bike feel lighter and it should float over the bumps better, has any one ever tried it

Far as I know the helium molecules (atoms?) are significantly smaller and regular rubber is to all intents and purposes porous .

YOu really need to fill the frame too as the tyres only will make little difference.

yup, it works. Do it.

And it’ll only make a few grammes worth of difference at most.

Makes loads of difference, several of my friends have tried it and one swears by it for racing.

best thing to do is inhale it* from an aqualung as well as filling your tubes (just think about the voulmes involved & you’ll see it makes sense – watch it though, that shit’s so light you may need a weight belt just to stay in contact.

(reckon hydrogen is where it’s really at though)

*careful with any post-race interviews, mind – the funny voice can be a bit of a giveaway to the anti-doping squads

[boring mode] on a serious note helium is a finite resource and is in short supply, when it runs out there will be no more mri scans. im amazed that joe public can still get it for balloons etc! [/boring mode]

hydrogen is far more abundant – lighter too.

A vacuum is far better.

aracer – you want to ride around with an aqualung full of NOTHING ??!!

🙄

Sorry, I’d missed your reply, scaredypants. Obviously I meant just the frame and tyres.

If you get big enough tyres you may even be able to float through the air!
Imagine that a chitty chitty bang bang bike!

The nineties called, they wanted to know if they could have their failed ideas back.