A couple of us at work was talking about solid tyres, has any body tried them ?

Maybe for commuting?

Not worth the money or hassle fitting them.
IME they have no real flex so don’t absorb any bumps, are a nightmare to get on the rim and have virtually no real grip.

I once packed a tyre with grass to get me home in an emergency. It took LOTS of grass. This has nothing to do with your post though does it… 😕

takisawa2 – Member
I once packed a tyre with grass to get me home in an emergency. It took LOTS of grass. This has nothing to do with your post though does it…

Some of us experimented with fir cones once as well. Added some ‘interesting’ suspension effects.

they have been done before and were considered terrible. There’s a reason why pneumatic tyres are ubiquitous, I suspect it is probably very difficult /impossible to improve on them with solid tyres

They are rubbish as you cant pump them up.

i fitted a few, back in the 90s.
no grip, the ride is so harsh it rattles most bikes to bits, although thankfully they wear out so quickly you wont have to endure it for long.
if you are having puncture issues, tubes filled with some sort of slime is 1oo times better imo.

They wont have any valve to line up with their logos on the wheel!

THEY WILL DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FACT!

Had one back in the 90’s when my dad got fed up of fixing punctures, soon made me learn how to fix them myself as it was horrid.

Michelin have done some recently as research and they have flex built in to a matrix with basically their standard tyre as the outer all be it welded one. Exactly the same properties, flex and handling as a tubed tyre.
Biggest issue from their point of view is cost. They are too pricey to bring to market at present.

Michelin have done some recently as research and they have flex built in to a matrix with basically their standard tyre as the outer all be it welded one. Exactly the same properties, flex and handling as a tubed tyre.

But how does that work for different weight riders? Surely a heavier rider (much like myself) would compress the same tyre more than some racing whippet so I may want to put more air in, especially on road.

Exactly the same properties, flex and handling as a tubed tyre.

No they’re not
A pneumatic tyre has adjustment capabilities – i.e. varying pressure to suit conditions

I BUMP have BUMP some BUMP on BUMP my BUMP bike BUMP I BUMP don’t BUMP understand BUMP why BUMP people BUMP are BUMP so BUMP negative BUMP about BUMP them.

Not according to Michelin.
The elastomer web they use apparently compensates.
Go have a look at them – only the outer ring/tread is solid, the inner section has a full web allowing shock absorption, flex, deformation, etc.
The ONLY reason either they or Dunlop haven’t bought them to market is cost and the fact that no one has the machinery to re-tread them yet.

The elastomer web they use apparently compensates.

They compensate to allow me to try the difference between different pressures?

Mate of mine had a set on his Courier, they were ace, impossible to puncture but balanced that out by falling off the wheels if you went round corners too fast. On the plus side, it was quite hard to achieve this because they usually slid uncontrollably first.

There’s no such thing as “correct” air pressure so no one-tyre-fits-all design will ever cut it IMO, except for commuting and the likes maybe. Though even there people vary it.