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Solid rubber tyres for A-bike

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Solid rubber tyres for A-bike

Postby Amuro Lee on Mon Jul 16, 2007 9:15 am

There is a trend recently that more and more A-bike owners in Hong Kong change the tyres of their A-bikes from pneumatic tyres to solid rubber tyres. According to their reviews, the performance of solid rubber tyres on an A-bike is almost the same as the original pneumatic tyres that they could not feel the difference.
The advantages of solid rubber tyres over pneumatic tyres are:
It is unnecessary to pump air into the tyres regularly to maintain the correct tyre pressure;
The solid tyres never get a problem of being punctured or air leakage.

Image
The one on the left is a solid rubber tyre and the one on the right is the original pneumatic tyre. You can see the difference between their circumferences.

Image
Image
A solid rubber tyre installed on an A-bike's rim.
Last edited by Amuro Lee on Sat Nov 24, 2007 9:15 pm, edited 12 times in total.
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Postby zx_spectrum_ on Mon Jul 16, 2007 11:12 am

Solids will add some non-significant weight to the bike.
Would be intresting to read an impression of a person who can ride both options at the same place at the same time.
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Postby editor at large on Mon Jul 16, 2007 2:50 pm

Sounds good. I've repaired a puncture twice since I got my A Bike in April, and don't fancy doing so again. Any ideas where we can get the solid tyres in the UK, or online?
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Postby Amuro Lee on Mon Jul 16, 2007 3:38 pm

editor at large wrote:Sounds good. I've repaired a puncture twice since I got my A Bike in April, and don't fancy doing so again. Any ideas where we can get the solid tyres in the UK, or online?

I have no idea where you can get the solid tyres in the UK.
However, I think you can contact the guy who sells solid rubber tyres for A-bikes in Hong Kong by sending e-mail to lck98596842@yahoo.com.hk and ask him whether he is willing to accept international orders and ship the tyres overseas.
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Postby zx_spectrum_ on Mon Jul 16, 2007 8:11 pm

editor at large wrote:Any ideas where we can get the solid tyres ...

In the shop there castors for wheelbarrows, trolleys and similar vehicles are sold.
Try to search e.g. eBay with words 'wheelbarrow wheel', 'castor', etc.
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Postby centerpunch on Mon Jul 16, 2007 9:45 pm

I wonder if these guys have an appropriate size
http://www.airfreetires.com/Sizing/
.
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How to wear solid tyre?

Postby zx_spectrum_ on Mon Jul 16, 2007 9:56 pm

How to wear a solid tyre on a rim? It may be hard. The existing tyre is not very easy to wear.
Will it work to warm the solid tyre before wearing?
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Re: How to wear solid tyre?

Postby Amuro Lee on Tue Jul 17, 2007 6:44 am

zx_spectrum_ wrote:How to wear a solid tyre on a rim? It may be hard. The existing tyre is not very easy to wear.
Will it work to warm the solid tyre before wearing?

Yes, it's hard to wear a solid tyre on a rim due to its smaller diameter. However, you don't need to warm it before wearing because it is very elastic. The solid tyre users told me that they needed two guys to work together when they installed the tyres on the rims.
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Solid tyre size

Postby RubioTKD on Wed Jul 18, 2007 7:10 am

Hi everybody,
I'm a Spanish new a-bike owner. After having a lot of problems, I've finally got my a-bike without any tech problem.
I'd like to know the exact dimensions of solid rubber tyres I should buy for the a-bike.
Thanks a lot for your help
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Re: Solid tyre size

Postby Amuro Lee on Wed Jul 18, 2007 8:31 am

RubioTKD wrote:Hi everybody,
I'm a Spanish new a-bike owner. After having a lot of problems, I've finally got my a-bike without any tech problem.
I'd like to know the exact dimensions of solid rubber tyres I should buy for the a-bike.
Thanks a lot for your help

Image
I'm still using the original pneumatic tyres on my A-bike, so I don't know the exact dimensions of a solid tyre. However, as you can see in the above photo provided by the seller, a solid tyre is smaller than the original pneumatic tyre due to its elasticity. The inner circumference of it is even smaller than the rim of an A-bike's wheel.
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Postby Garry on Tue Jul 31, 2007 6:57 pm

It's a nice idea, but Alex advised me that they have done testing with solid tyres and they will seriously damage the A-Bike.
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Postby kenwshmt2 on Wed Aug 01, 2007 12:30 am

Has anyone tried filling them with water or something denser but not solid?
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Postby editor at large on Wed Aug 01, 2007 8:36 am

Garry wrote:It's a nice idea, but Alex advised me that they have done testing with solid tyres and they will seriously damage the A-Bike.


In what way could they damage the A-Bike? As long as it had some give in it (I'm not suggested a rock-solid thing) it surely would make no difference?

I've just got my third puncture in about three months of riding the A-Bike, and now I've ordered an airless tyre for the back wheel.

I'll let you know how i get on, once it arrives.
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Postby dimelot on Wed Aug 01, 2007 2:55 pm

editor at large wrote:
Garry wrote:It's a nice idea, but Alex advised me that they have done testing with solid tyres and they will seriously damage the A-Bike.


In what way could they damage the A-Bike? As long as it had some give in it (I'm not suggested a rock-solid thing) it surely would make no difference?

I've just got my third puncture in about three months of riding the A-Bike, and now I've ordered an airless tyre for the back wheel.

I'll let you know how i get on, once it arrives.


I'm going to buy this bike and would like to change the tyres. I'm sick of punctures! Could you tell me the reference of the tyres you have ordered (dimensions of rim, weadth...) and the web site? Do they ship to Europe?
i_couzinet at yahoo dot com
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Postby jkevinwolfe on Thu Aug 02, 2007 9:32 am

I think the damage comes from the added vibration and jolts to the frame. The aluminum and polymer frame of the A-bike absorbs a lot of the bumps of the road, as do the tyres. Once the pneumatic tyres are gone, the A-bike frame takes a lot more of the jolts. This puts a lot more wear on the joins of the frame.

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