I Tried Solid Bike Tires | Here's What I Found 

I worked in the tyre industry for 15 years, I tested solid tyres for cars with negative results, mainly because of wet road condition performance. the grip coefficient in dry conditions was lower than pneumatic tyres but still acceptable for low speed applications. in wet conditions it was simply too dangerous. So I think an important test would be on grip performance.

I used to work in a bike shop about 30 years ago, solid tires were quite popular then and we made a lot of money re-spoking, replacing bent rims and damaged hub bearings of wheels fitted with solid tires. Air is a fantastically efficient shock absorber. Foam rubber with unpressurized air in the foam are in no way comparable. Elastomers make very poor springs. Personally I have found well protected tires (Schwalbe Marathon for example) are virtually puncture proof, and I prefer the minute chance of a puncture (less than 1/20,000km in my experience) to the massive cost of wheel repair resulting from solid tires.

Hey! I’m the guy who invented the “NASA bike tire” and I agree that solid tires are a fantastic part of the solution. In fact, I’m running Tannus tires on the Schwinn featured partway through the video. I’m also running tubeless on my Esker MTB, and pneumatics on my Gunnar touring bike. Ultimately, a diversity of options will benefit the cycling community and I’m excited to see these innovations on the solid rubber tire-especially if the recyclability claims hold up. Similarly, re-treading a NiTi tire would be huge for sustainability. Until then, I recommend just squirting some sealant inside your pneumatic tubes. It’s quick, cheap, easy, can retrofit onto most bikes, and eliminates the vast majority of flats!

The first bicycles used solid rubber tires. The problem with a soft foam airless is you can't tailor your pressure for terrain and weight. I think the ideal solution is something like those foam tire liners. Make the foam equivalent to, say, 15-20 psi, and use air for the difference.

As for ride quality: pneumatic tires work so well because you’re not relying on the elasticity/compression of the few cubic centimeters of air between your rim and the pavement-you’re benefitting from the compression of the _entire_ volume of air of the _entire_ tire. That’s why airless tires have so far fallen short: they can’t spread the force of impacts or bumps across the entire tire like a fluid can. Adding millions of tiny bubbles in a sponge-like fashion may be better than being solid rubber, but it’s only because of the balance between elasticity and weight and compliance, not because it’s reproducing the benefits of a pneumatic tire.

As a teenager, I put over 2,000 miles on a set of airless tires with decades-old technology. One could say it was "just commuting", but it was also from one county to another, with the requirement that I never show up late for work. So...a valuable solution to an important problem, with zero downtime, reasonably good efficiency . . . and low comfort in that era of rubber tire. I'm excited to see first-hand what decades of improvement can deliver in the most maintenance-heavy area of a bike.

Would be curious to see how these tyres handle in the winter. It's currently -26 and I wonder if they'd just turn into a solid disc with no give or grip.

You don't need NASA or some new materials to not worry about punctures, just use a simple trick. When you do get a puncture, reuse the old punctured inner tube as a tire liner, just make sure to cut off the valve and clean it, make sure whatever caused the puncture is not there any more. I never had a flat tire since i did that. Edit: Forgot to mention that the ride quality didn't feel any different.

Regarding this topic, I've been riding on a single set of Schwalbe Marathon+ tires for around 10.000 km's in the past 4 years and never had a flat. They have several hard to puncture layers and a solid insert to minimize punctures. I pulled a long rusty nail out of them and large shards of glass that had me absolutely BAFFLED how they hadn't punctured them. The downside is the weight but they saved me so much hassle I can only gush over them.

I used Tannus tyres and pros and cons made them worthwhile for me. Commuting in London i just got sick of punctures trying to get in/out for work, tried all the usual stuff Gator, Marathon Plus, sealant, but the roads were just too poor and too much debris. Fuss-free reliability is definitely great for a specific type of cyclist. Yes an absolute pain to fit, but i did about 6500 miles a year, and they'd last 4 years. Second set was the slightly improved model (meant to be softer iirc) and seemed completely fine too. Also nice not having to carry all the things to fix punctures, which saves weight/space. If you're a commuter i'd defo suggest at least keeping an open mind about them.

With a pneumatic tire, the whole volume of air contributes to the "springiness" (feeding into both rolling resistance and comfort). For the rubber-foam-tire, it is just the bubbles around the area of contact - a considerably smaller volume.

One of my road bikes has Tannus tyres - I only use that bike on the static trainer. I originally used them on the road but found two problems. The first was that the tyres felt to be dragging - loads of friction - most unpleasant. The second problem (which I hope that Gecko addresses) is that because the Tannus tyres have far less "give" than a pneumatic tyre, they transmit any shocks straight up the spokes to the hub and with a "J" shaped spoke where it fits to the hub I found that several spokes sheared off at the bend in the spoke. As you mentioned in your video, the Tannus tyres are a nightmare to fit so imagine trying to replace a spoke! It can be done but, under no circumstances, allow the nipple to fall back into the rim, otherwise it's game over. This facet is important to physically large cyclists, I'm 6'3" and my optimum cycling mass is around 110kg because I have very broad shoulders. I also still hold my British Cycling Race Licence at age 67 and enter things like Ride100. If any of my comments are of interest to Gecko then please pass them on. I look forward to them becoming available.

You brought me closer to believing that this is possible. The bicycle is an interesting thing, because so many people think they can create an idea and build it for the bicycle since the bike is a simple machine. But because the tradeoff between energy efficiency and reliability is so delicate on a bicycle, in over a hundred years, we still haven't come up with an alternative to the pneumatic tire. We may never, but this idea is intriguing and promising.

It’s a great concept but I can see two issues: Air filled tires conform to internal rim width, these would have to come in many different sizes to suit different wheels. They might be comfortable for you at your weight, but give a terrible ride for someone lighter or heavier, so again they would have to come in different densities to match air filled tires.

"Schwalbe’s three-tire Marathon Plus lineup is among the company’s most popular and has been around for more than a decade and a half. For the most part, it’s immensely popular among most who’ve tried it. After all, they report it delivers a solid mix between comfort, low rolling resistance, high puncture protection, and a variety of tread patterns from which to choose, depending on terrain." In NQ Australia where we are afflicted with heavy duty thorns, I got many flats on my electric mountain bike until I used Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres :) Then I got no flats, you need to pull out accumulated thorns after each ride, which was good because they have wire beads and require a special technique to get them on the rims.

I think this is interesting, but I would also suggest looking at tire sealant. Ever since going tubeless with sealant, I've enjoyed not worrying about thorns (especially goat heads). I still have to occasionally pump my tires, but it's not often and they feel very similar to regular tires aside from them being so hole resistant

Seems like this would be an excellent fit for the increasingly popular e-bikes segment. Bike lane and Pavement-only Cargo and Commuter e-bike styles seem like the best fit. Helps keep the e-bike ready at all times....and importantly, gives the e-bike company better "performance" (spec'd to always offer least rolling resistance for Max Range) and safety features (no flats EVER...gets you home) to tout.

Tubeless has been great for me on MTB so far (year and a half). No flats, plus the ability to adjust the pressure, including very low pressure like 10psi that you would never run with a tube. Punctures can more easily be fixed with a simple plug system. The sole remaining problem is that they do need checking and pumping regularly. Also I bet they are lighter than any solid rubber tire because there's no tube. I actually think an almost-solid rubber tire with an air chamber makes some sense. This would restore more of that air cushiness as well as some adjustability for firmness , yet they would still be virtually puncture proof as well as be able to run on zero pressure. In fact a lot of MTB riders put foam inserts in their tubeless tires to help prevent pinch flats and give some run flat ability. If a tire included that kind of technology in the tire itself then you would have basically a semi-solid pneumatic tire like I'm talking about. Of course if a pure solid tire like the gecko is completely recyclable, that is a huge plus.

I think using microbubbles will be a game changer. Increase the PSI in the middle, reduce it by half a dozen PSI on a gradient to the sides of the tread for better grip when turning. You can have two layers of the same material with bubbles at different PSI to get that strong spring / weak spring effect that cars use. I could see this completely revolutionizing tires if it works.

With the on coming electric bike market this tire needs to be tested on several to see how well they hold up. The way a person normally rides changes markedly when riding an E-bike. really like the idea of no flat tire and recyclable.

I have been riding on Tannus Tyres for over 6 years now and their ride is very similar to my previous tyres (Schwalbe Marathon Plus kept at the top end of their pressure range to avoid punctures). In the local country lanes, where a flail is used to keep the hawthorn trees trimmed, my Marathons got punctured with thorns. This is not an issue with air free tyres with a consequent increase in ride enjoyment.

At my local bikeshop they have had another competitor that I couldnt find in these comments. Basicly its a foam like rubber that you insert into your pneumatic tyre so that the tire is still filled with air, you just dont need to pump it up. The installation is as simple as removing one side of the tyre, putting the rubbertube in and putting the tyre back. It is stab and leakproof too. So I would like you to compare this solutions to the others. Unfortunately is that I forgot the name of this solution.

Specialized makes a very resistant tire called "fat boy." What is amazing about this tire is that it holds air about the best of any pneumatic tire I have used/ What is truly amazing about the fat boy tire is that it is not particularly fat and also it seems treadless and has real low rolling resistance. They are truly amazing. The last time I priced these for a 26" x 1" was a reasonable $23 from a regular dealer.

7:10 The air is not compressed in the tyre any more than it is compressed when a load is first put on it. When the tyre is under load the constant air pressure acts on the non-circular shape of the tyre to push it back to a more circular (minimum energy) shape when the tyre is no longer in contact with the road. Energy is not stored in the air it is stored in the stresses in the rubber tyre being loaded. That is a different scenario to a micro-cell tyre where the air has nowhere to go when the tyre is deformed. In this case the deformation both compresses the trapped air and its the micro-cell not being in its lowest energy shape (stresses in the rubber surrounding the cell) that provides a restitution force to uncompress the tyre on the trailing edge.

Or you could use sealant in your inner tubes, or run tubeless with sealant and essentially avoid flats that way. But I really appreciate the points about recycling these!

I now have Tannus tires on all of my bikes. Zero worries about ever having a flat tire. I've heard from some of the cycling snobs that the solid tires ride harsher than a pneumatic tire, and don't grip as well in the wet. This was probably true of the earlier versions, especially on the skinny 23×700 tires. My serious workout bikes are 28×700, and my gravel/commuter bikes 32×700, and I cannot discern any difference between the softer Tannus Portal solid tires and pneumatic tires. I rarely ride in the wet, and if I do, it's just for casual commutes, so if they do grip less on wet roads it is a non issue for me. It is so much better to never get a flat, have the inconvenience of one, have to carry a spare tube and flat repair items.

I’ve not been able to read all the posts, so this may have been mentioned already… In motorcycle off-road sport, especially long distance riding, for many years we have been using mousses instead of tubes. They work very well for us, no punctures of course, and that totally compensates for any performance downsides. You need to see if Michelin, who do most of the motorcycle mousses, are doing anything similar for bicycles, and if not, why not?

This is interesting, thanks. Weight is a huge factor on overall feel and obviously grip in relation to rolling resistance. As an aside, tubeless really changes the game for pneumatics.

While I like the idea of recyclability, the big problem that this video didn’t touch on is the tune-ability of pneumatic tires. The ability to change air pressure is essential. Tire pressure is very complex and there are so many variables from rider weight, tires size, surface and more. If I am riding very smooth pavement, I will run a lot higher pressure. If I am on the loose dirt I will run a much lower pressure. Many times I will change tire pressure in the same ride when going to different surfaces like running higher pressure riding to a mountain bike trail and letting out pressure one I am on loose dirt. I will also run different pressure based on the total weight going for a quick ride vs fully loaded touring. The only application that I could see this not being as big of an issue is with bike commuting.

Honestly these are the types of inovations I like. Their not some super flashy overly futuristic peice of kit but instead its a well though and well researched product

My tannus tyres are the best upgrade i ever made to my commuter bike. Been riding on them for a year now and they've been great. Yes they do make for a more bumpy ride but the peace of mind of not having to deal with flats anymore makes it worth it.

its a massive difference in speed if your tires are not pumped up enough, even on flat land its the difference between constantly peddling v just rolling

I tried some airless tyres about 25 years ago, they were like riding through treacle! was such a relief to get back on pneumatic tyres. Hopefully the technology has moved on a bit

I had an airless bike tire back in the 10970s. It didn't need any air. That's the best thing I can say for it. But I suppose that the technology has probably improved since then.

Schwalbe marathon plus tires are the best tire I've ever used. Ran them for years and over multiple multi-day bike excursions and barely had to even think about them aside from the occasional fill up. I bit heavier but zero flats over 6000 miles. I'd love to see Gecko license their tech to other brands and allow the market to do what it does and improve these tires even further, while offering loads of size and use cases.

I use Schwalbe Smart Sam Plus which has an additional layer of protection. Just like he showed in the video. Before that one of their Marathon series models which is practically impenetrably. I am using both since 2017. Never had a flat tire again. Whether on gravel, road or hard terrain. Nevertheless these new tires also look very interesting.

I adjust my bike tire pressure for the trails for the current conditions of the trails. I'll stick with air. When it's soft you want more floatation/grip and a more conforming tire. Same on my road bike, if it's a bumpy route i take out a little and if its super smooth i add from the normal psi. But I ride for fitness and take different trail systems or road routes. So not always the same. >> Your tire would be great for commuters I think.

In my experience running large volume tires at lower pressure (30psi) nearly eliminates flats and while it does increase rolling resistance slightly, it drastically increases comfort. And a tire will remain at 30 psi much longer than it will at 60 or 90 psi. Pneumatic tires also allow adjustment to different riding conditions and weights as well, and I always put 5-10% more pressure in the back tire since there's always more weight on it.

Thank you Dr. Ben, solid video!

Then thinking large future scale, there should be different "solid" tires for different weights. Heavy bike and rider would need a different compound than a lighter one to archive optimal rolling resistance. I think these will also make a lot of sense for cargo bikes in the future. Looking forward.

How about rolling resistance. I usually can control that with the amount of air pressure. This material has certain density witch will confine it's usage to certain width of the tire. It's hard to believe that tires from 23mm to 42mm can be made from the same compound. Softness of the tire is not always desired factor.

Sounds absolutely amazing. I want to see how it performs on a gravel or mountain bike. I'm a fan of stiff feeling Bikes on trail at least stiffer than a full squish downhill bike and I love how well they climb. This looks to be revolutionary

commuted from Poole to Bournemouth and back ( 20k round trip ) for 17 years on a cycle ( shift worker ). Sick and tired of punctures in pouring rain and at unsociable hours, so packed it in and bought a 125cc Yamaha scooter. It was fear of being late for work that did it for me. I will look at this development closely. On my days off I fitness cycle on cycle lanes and mild off road on a hybrid, and I get regular punctures. Hope this venture is a success. Tubeless tyres with slime and all the faff is not for the commuter cyclist

Very interesting... I have found that Schwalbe Marathon Plus + inner tube/sealant combo to be a very effective combo. Relatively inexpensive to fit, and has some amazing results. My front tyre is 6 years old and has covered some 29,000km, had 1 puncture in that time which the sealant was able to fix after removing the object and pumping up (and that's using a standard Marathon not the Marathon Plus). My rear tyre is a lot younger at 2 years and 7000km and at the moment has not had any issues. I have previously tried solid tyres, I think it was a Tannus or a Greentyre. I tried it for about 1000km front tyre only and that was about manageable on a road bike, but it really was not a good experience on the rear. Switched to Gatorskins and fortunately don't have too many issues on that bike. I am interested in this technology and I hope it can become a competitive product but good tyre choice, and availability of good routes (most cycle lanes tend to fill up with glass and debris) can mitigate the risks from flat tyres almost... until inevitably you get a flat going to work as is the way..

Wow, if Gecko Rubber ever make them in 20x4 inch size I'll be getting a pair for my ebike. Awesome

Awesome innovation and fantastic video presentation! 3 points; 1. It would be amazing if the rubber was sourced from a sustainable renewable bio option. 2. For wheel longevity it would be cool to be able to re coat the outer grip layer. Same principle as resouling shoes. Except maybe you could brush it on like paint with a roller. 3. It would be awesome to make 150mm inline skate wheels out of this technology, for off road skating. More of a scandinavian off season training thing but is still fun for short commuting in flat cities with shoddy road surfaces.

Nice review. I been riding a pair of Tannus tires for about 4 years and 6,000 miles now. I love these tires. Never had a problem with grip rain or shine. I am not an extreme rider though. I'm more of a casual to commuter rider. My back tire needs replacing soon but my front tire will easily be able to do another 4,000 miles. Rolling resistance is no more than a pneumatic tire with green slime in them or plastic inserts really. They feel like pneumatic tires pumped up to 90 or 100 lbs. They were super difficult to put on even with the special tool you can buy which I did. I was happily going to buy another set of Tannus tires but if Gecko Rubber tires are easier to install, more comfortable ride and 100% recyclable I am in!

honestly I think you've sold me on the idea. I'll probably wait to see the wider experiences people have with them, but it seems to perfectly match my needs. cool review

Great video Ben! I was at one of your business courses at Bath Uni for PhD students:)

My first bike, when I was little, had solid core foam tires. Those tires lasted through trail ride after trail ride for a ridiculously long time. The rubber compound wore off completely eventually, and the bike fell apart, but they held together - no chips at all. Some of the tread was even shaped into the underlying layers, so 6 year old me kept on riding. It was GREAT, I hope I can have tires like that again, but that hold up to big boy MTB.

I did a cycle tour through NZ and Europe, covered about 5 thousand miles on a set of schwalbe marathon tyres...no joke I only got 1 puncture in the last 100 miles, I noticed as I was packing up at a hostel in Amsterdam to ride to the ferry at the Hague and I still managed to pump it up and ride it to change on the ferry because it was so slow, could even of just been a leaky valve because I didn't find a hole in my very brief inspection. I'm still using these tyres now and probably have another 3 thousand miles on them with no punctures. I think it's just the right tyres that matter....

I had airless tyres which were a foam rubber core with a regular tyre tread about 30nyears ago. They were pretty good - heavier and slower but not so bad really. The peace of mind that you couldn't get a puncture made it worthwhile. I would have hoped things had improved a lot since then but it seems not, unfortunately. Hopefully airless car tyre tech will drive development.

As an avid cyclist who has pedaled over 180, 000 miles, I finally installed mousses. I had used tire-liners coupled with "slime" sealant and still gotten sidewall flats. The assurance of no flats now compensates for performances issues, since I don't compete. I put tape over the valve stem holes in the rims to keep water out.

Excellent video. Thank you.

I always make purchasing decisions based on total cost of ownership, and I factor in environmental costs. I look forward to seeing this in our local bike stores. Thanks for doing the video.

I tried these a couple of years ago and really wanted them to work. They were very difficult to put on and reflected so much road vibration that they were unuseable. Hopefully they may have improved

Londoner cyclist here, I've been using tannus solid tyres for about 2 years and done at least 5000km on them and I have to say I don't agree with a lot of what you said about them. I absolutely think that solid tyres are an excellent option for commuters and the tannus tyres are really quite good. Comfort is not that bad, they feel pretty fast (28c tyres on my road bike) and installation is closer to 20-30 minutes when you get it right. Plus on ebay (and probably other places too) you can get them for like £25 each. Nothing against gecko I haven't tried them just think you undersold tannus. My only major gripe is that it does put more strain on wheels/spokes and so I recommend stronger wheels and you'll have to replace them every couple years but still absolutely worth it.

The sooner they make tyres that don't puncture the better, I'm a 62 years old and ride an electric trike six days a week to and from work, it's an hour's walk if my bike off the road , like it has been this last week (awaiting pay day) ,and that's the second puncture in one of the rear wheels this year 2023 ,,and it's so nice to hear someone who is from England for a change

I think the solution is to use a regular tire, but replace the air tube with a low density solid material with similar properties to air.

With pneumatic tires, it’s more the psychological fear of a flat than the actual frequency of it (maybe once a year or so) in my bike commuting experience.

I go to work on bike and I have been searching for a good solid tire for a year I have done 1900 km. according to my GPS and catastrophically damaged like 4 or five tires. My biggest concern is the durability of solid ones, makers say they last about 7000 km. but reviewers say they last about 3000 in some cases. I appreciate your honesty and I hope you can get those new tires in the market as soon as possible. Subscribed!

Thanks for this information. Very interesting.

Or you could be incredibly lucky like me, I’ve always ran conti, with an average of 5k miles a year I had zero punctures on the road from 1998 to 2017. Admittedly I did have a couple of slow ones that had given me a flat overnight. I think the key is to keep correct inflation and replace when they get worn

Solid rubber with air pockets. It's an old idea, but difficult to manufacture. The next step is to create several layers which are thicker in the middle, and stack those. Each layer has a different density of bubbles, so it would be sort of like a gradient density, with more bubbles in the middle layers than the outer layers.

As a child and teen, I always used solid rubber tires. To me, the freedom from punctures was worth the trade-off in function.

Hard to imagine this is not an ad for this tyre. Slamming Tannus pretty directly.

I'm amazed that you are getting flats that often. I've been cycling for fitness and pleasure since the 1990s averaging 2000 miles or more per year. Initially I was riding on the tires that the "racers" used and I was getting flats about 2 - 3 times per year despite religiously maintaining recommended tire pressures. I eventually switched to the less "fast" but more durable kevlar belted tires (Specialized Armadillos) and after that similar type tires from other manufacturers. I have been riding Continental GP 5000 for at least 10 years. I have had all of one mishap in the last 20 years and that was a freak event, a flint chip flipped on to the sidewall of my front tire causing a blowout. All in all, one flat in 20 years (approximately 40,000 miles... I think I'll stick to what works.

Update: This sounds (and was) a great product. I think the company has run out of cash, so unlikely these will ever see the light of day. If you get an offer for investment into the company, my advice would be to turn it down.

Certainly a worthy idea. I can see why people might want them. But I will say this: I’ve been running tubeless, doing all the maintenance required (remember that tubeless isn’t maintenance free, it’s moving the maintenance to your workshop), and I’ve had three punctures since 2016, riding on average 11,000 km a year (dry climate, decent roads, very low pressures, very supple tyres.). Of those punctures, one was a huge nail that made a hole the size of .22 bullet and the other two were 1 cm+ cuts caused by something razor sharp (one was most certainly razor wire). If you are not the sort to do scheduled maintenance, then solid tyres are a great idea, but I say tubeless is the way to go.

I've had Tannus bike tyres for 4 years and I'm so grateful. No more punctures going to work or on long journeys. Punctures made me envy the Victorians even if they had a bumpy ride.

What about tubeless, air-filled tires? I mountain bike, and these are ubiquitous in the mountain biking world. I'll admit that they require a bit more maintenance than I imagine an airless tire would, but I have never really had to worry much about flats.

Would’ve been great to see a test of actual grip with the surface, including in the wet.

I can just hear a sound in my head playing saying *milestone achieved* when i heard about this. This a major win against pollution.

Wow, this is so amazing. Finally, someone ingenious enough figured out how to make puncture proof tires. This is perfect for electric vehicles, where a bigger battery is all that is needed to compensate for the increased rolling resistance of solid tires. And they would be worth it going off-road or on filthy roads with a high risk of punctures. Getting a punctures just completely ruins a ride when limited by time. Can't wait till these tires are mass produced, and the price is affordable.

Just wondering how well these tyres seat and remain in the rim at high speeds. Are they reliable at high centripetal forces ?

Looks like the way forward at least. Repairing punctures can be really stressful esp. on a cold rainy day. Anything that can get rid of this and bring us up to date with modern materials is a massive plus!

Some years back I did some work at a large oil patch site. I noticed a number of their employees were riding on large single speed mountain bikes equipped with solid tires. One of the workers let me take their bike for a ride. I found it rough. heavy, & rather hard to pedal but it certainly was a low maintenance bike. Solid tires are also popular on toddler bikes & tricycles. They are also used on fork lifts which are used on concrete floors & smooth pavement. I think your Gecko tires would very good for kids bikes. You know how dad hates to work on bikes. They would also be ideal for most adults not interested in the Tour de France.

AMAZING! I can’t wait to get some of these for my bike! They should make these for vehicles!!!

Still waiting for airless MTB tire

What about half Gecko half air?

I recently went with the solid tire option, mainly because with the engine and rack i added made my pneumatic tire to pop constantly. the new one is heavier but honestly i love not worrying if it popped again.

Even when I rode a bicycle a lot, as in it was my main mode of transport, it took many years to go through one tyre and I've only rarely had to buy a new tube. The latter typically outlasted a tyre. Also in spite of riding on all manner of roads and surfaces punctures were not a regular occurrence, and when they did it was a quick job to pop on a patch that will never come off and actually makes the tube even harder to puncture. So for that price these solid tyres would have to do a lot better than lasting a mere four years. I appreciate that they're easy to recycle, although recycling itself comes at a cost.

I am curious how the Gecko tire would perform for heavily loaded touring. Any opinions on that? My current touring set up weighs in at 110Kg without water or food (also not including me) I know it sounds heavy, but I tour with a Sitar and a full set of tools, just to list a few... ;) My wife and I will set out on a 3 year tour soon and eliminating the worry of punctures would be great. At the moment we both ride Schwalbe "Marathon Plus Tour" tires and are generally happy with them. During our last tour which was 1 year long, I only had 4 punctures, but I did carry 4 extra tubes and a patch kit.

I used kevlar tires. They were pretty much resistant against getting flats. They could withstand the typical broken glass bottle that would normally give you a flat.

9:44 Comparing weights is a good idea. Of more interest would be comparing the rotational moment of inertia of each tire/wheel combination. This would tell us how easy it would be to accelerate the bike.

In the 70's cyclists with 10-speed bikes used a device for each wheel called the tire-saver, a piece of wire shaped in a half circle to ride close to the tire's wear surface, supported with some flexible plastic tubing which was in turn supported by a piece of wire fastened to the brake bolt for each wheel. By riding very lightly on the tire, the wire picked off the bits of glass and sharp gravel on the first wheel revolution after they stuck in the tire. This prevented the glass/gravel from being repeatedly forced further into the tire with each revolution. As a result of beginning to use these, my annual flats (riding 3 to 5,000 miles per year, about half in a large U.S. city on streets) went from 8 or 10 to less than one. I think bike shops stopped selling them in the 80's, probably because they were bad for business. They cost about a dollar per pair but saved you time, tubes, and tires (and patch kits) - but bike shops sold a LOT less tubes and tires, and less repair service for those people who didn't repair their own flat tires. Modern tires have some flat protection, and I have worn-out my old tire savers, but I still get flats from staples, something that didn't happen 50 years ago. Given we are trying to be ecofriendly these days, somebody who is not strapped for tire-related profits ought to start manufacturing and selling them. I see some ads when I google them, about $15-20/ pair, which is a profit margin of about 2,000 per cent.

How long does it last? I have replaced the outer tires on my bike before, and I'd imagine they last longer than this one (since they are designed mainly for grip/longevity). In that vein, would it not make more sense to only replace the inner tire with a gecko one, and still keep the outer tire? Then the gecko would last pretty much forever, and only the outer tire needs replacing when it's worn down.

Follow the money..WHY, indeed, would ANY tire manufacture produce good, long lasting, puncture proof tires??! That's not good for business! And before anyone suggests "solid core" tires (I'm not going to name them here). They're absolutely rubbish and DANGEROUS. Substandard traction and DEFINITELY A NO GO when it rains!! A NO NO. You've been warned.

In 1980 and 1981, I commuted to and from work, 8 miles each way, on airless polyurethane yellow tires. Their cross section, as I recall, was part ribbed, part honeycomb. My hubs were robust sealed-bearing Phil Woods, so I didn't worry about wheel life. At 2 pounds (900 grams) each, those tires were heavy as hell. And they made for a bumpy ride. But the weight was worth it. No longer did I fear getting a flat. Once, at the factory where I was an office worker, the union workers went on strike. To deter "scabs" from violating their picket line, they had strewn broken glass along the entrance road. You should have seen their faces when I cycled right through the glass.

A good way to do it may be a hybred, solid on the outer half and air in the rim half. They should be a little easier to mount, still be adjustable for dif rider weights and road conditions. It may also help if a hybred, to have the tires a bit taller then standard air tires. With ebikes on the road going up in numbers, with tires as fat tire 4x20 inch, there may even be more waste tires to deal with in the future. I've heard of many having problems with them going flat.

Dr Ben Miles: I'm gonna do my best to present this story as subjectivly as I possibly can. Nah sorry man I think you messed up here and were way to objective in that video :-)

Take my money please 🙏 🙂 💰

I was considering getting Tannus tires for a while now after having a bunch of flats in a short time a while ago. Surprisingly I haven't had a flat in over 3 years since then, but when considering going bikepacking or touring on my bike, I thought about Tannus again to avoid flats during those moments but people are pretty clear that they have very bad comfort, so I've kept waiting for better solutions.

Shared bikes in China use airless tires. These bikes absolutely require this tech, for obvious reasons. They roll just fine, grip is good, and are excellent for the job. 26" rims on these bikes. Take a look at a Hello Bike or Meituan Bike. Good thing they're recyclable, as there are likely hundreds of thousands of bicycles rusting in piles across the country.

I grew up in south africa in the early nineties and rode on airless bike tires... moved to the UK and i was astonished that i just couldn't get them here... honestly can't wait to get proper tires again.

That tech can be applied to car tires too imo. And it gave me an idea on how to improve it!!!! Thx for the video!

Thanks. I shared this with my bike riding brother. Jim Bell (Australia)

I tried solid bike ties back when I did long distance cycling. I never got a flat, but my wheels eventually were destroyed, the spokes all popped. The extra wear on the wheels themselves ended up being important.

When I tried solid 'spongy rubber' tyres on my (basic, £130) road bike I had 2 rear wheel hub bearing failures in three months. I gave up on them after that. The bearing balls themselves were in excellent condition, but the hub housings cracked both times. Before that, on pneumatic tyres, I had no bearing issues at all from two decades of daily use. I like the idea of solid tyres because the roads I ride (in the north of England) are rough and many of the fields have hawthorn hedges; when these are flail-cut by farming machinery the roads become littered with vicious thorns which lie like perfect 'caltrops'. Solid, puncture-proof tyres seemed like a good idea, but weren't. The loss of cushioning has put me off them until someone can replicate the benefits of what's effectively 'air suspension' on a bike. Incidentally, I've found all the usual pneumatic puncture protection ideas pretty useless, too. Goo, gunge, extra-thick tyre liners, extra inner tubes, woven tapes, moulded tapes, squidgy gels, tougher tyres, kevlar bands - all fail.😞

The answer is - Schwalbe (Marathon). I too live in Bristol and daily commute to work and my tires lasted 8 years before I had to change them due wear. Great stuff, no Sci-Fi needed because it´s not broken.