Friday, February 19, 2016

guest article


GUEST ARTICLE
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Note: this is article 3 of 3 today
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[ a minions experience with airless bike tubes ]

Just got off the phone with my bike shop, confirming they were "nu-tek" or "nu-teck" he couldn't remember how to spell it, and I've found both online.

I had them order and put them on. All together it was about 200$ I had them do it due to the idea that they are insanely hard to mount for the inexperienced.

The installer confirmed the hours of difficulty with mounting. Also they had not had anyone want something like that for at least 10 years, so they had no real experience either. 

I got out their door and tried to ride the bike in the parking lot. It was highly resistive to pedaling and bumpy. I went right back in the shop. They said that that's just how they work. I asked them to drive it and they said they would while I went to lunch. When I returned they said they couldn't go more than a few hundred feet. Their call to the manufacturer resulted in a reply that basically said they were defective from the factory.

The tires were not one circular piece of foam, rather several.. I'd guess 10.. curved foam pieces, each similar in shape to a banana. These pieces were fitted and secured into what looked like a normal bike tire. The bumpy feel was, in my opinion, each piece compressing in it's center and not compressing on their ends.

The bike shop agreed to remove and refund my costs. I ended up with normal tires with tubes. And have had no problems since. It rides and pedals beautifully now

This was on a 1986 Dahon stowaway fold-a-bike 5 speed with 20 x 1.75 tires.

20 comments:

  1. I've always been a little skeptical about these airless tires, because I just can't see how they can provide the same buoyancy as the pneumatic tires?

    I've decided that a better alternative is to go with the heavy duty inner tubes with the green slime added, followed by the thorn barrier strips that go between the inner tube and the tire. This should make for a near bullet proof combination. Just make sure that you always have the proper inflation, as to avoid the tube spinning on the rim and damaging the air valve.

    My bike uses the 29” tires and rims, so tube selection is limited (Tip: Unless you're bigfoot and absolutely need the bigger wheel size, stick with the much more common, cheaper, and available 26” wheels).

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    1. Thick tubes, slime, barrier strip usually seem to last me a good year. Then I get a pinhole leak for some reason. Almost as if the tube has been stretched too long. $10 a tire a year, and Amazon is cheaper than Wally ( not that I trust Wally, even for brand name ). Not optimal long term, but few things are.

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    2. As far as not trusting Wally world stuff. I wonder if companies have 2 different quality of product? One somewhat good products (the one they built a reputation on) and a second line of products that go to Wally World that are not so good?

      I've seen videos of people talking about selling their products to Wally and they say Wally People take them to task about the price wanting the product almost below the profit point before they agree to put it in the store. Even if a company makes a good product (not many of these companies out there that sell things in stores these days.) they have to cut profit to almost nothing to get it into Wally World. I read Snapper Mower Co refused to put their mowers into any Wally Stores because Wally Inc wanted them to make the mowers less expensive to sell them in the store. Good to see a company stand up to the Wally Monster, I wish more would.

      This is why I find myself shopping Amazon more often these days. Small manufacturing companies that make a niche (sp?) product still seem to have quality items. And they will likely never be approached by Wally Inc. to have their products in the store. As an Example my Katadyn water filters are very high quality, If they were ever to go the Wally Word route I have to imagine the narrow profit margins Wally Inc. demands that the filters quality would have to go way down.

      I have numerous products I buy from Amazon or directly from the companies or their distribute-er as the quality is higher then stuff you find in stores. I wanted a kerosene camp stove for a camping trailer I have out by the lake (Lake Erie) and looked all over the area for what I wanted, I was even willing to drive to Detroit (60-miles North) but no one had anything like I wanted. But a quick search on-line and St Paul’s Mercantile had them so I bought it and spare parts and it was here in 5-days. Local stores are killing themselves by not stocking things and Wally World sells junk so it pushes the smart person to Amazon and other net stores.

      There are lots of products that are hard to impossible to find locally. I reload ammo and I own and shoot a lot of single-shot target rifles and handguns, I feel Reading reloading dies are the best there is for accuracy. But it's hard to the extreme to find them in local shops, One shop said they would order a set for me, but 2-months later I was told they were not able to get them. So I ordered them on-line and had them in a week. If I can get them in 7-days, why can’t a store that is in that business not get them? Doesn’t make sense to me… And I find that a lot of times what I want is not to be found in any local stores.

      I would like to shop locally, but if I can't find what I want at the quality level I want locally I go on-line. Today local stores with their on-time delivery and no back rook stock don't stock items like in the past. So our options to get what we want is very limited. Local stores complain about Amazon, but at the same time they don't want to have any stock on hand to sell to people. Their own decisions are what drives people to Amazon. It’s a self inflicting wound as far as store profit goes if they refuse to have a stock of items on hand. It use to be that there was specialty stores that had unusual items for a given field but today these stores are hard to find and when I do find then the stock of items are very limited. So on-line is where I go…


      Chuck Findlay

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    3. I think the mower people were right to defend their reputation. Yet, even I fall for that crap, blaming Wally rather than the product company. Everyone falls for that crap of "fudiciary responsibility", screwing all for more profit to benefit stockholders. Its a cop-out and Amazon doesn't pull that crap which is why we all love and buy from them. I think the death knoll for retail happened long ago with, mostly, higher real estate costs ( thank you, central bank! ). If you can't keep rent under control, no other aspect of your business is safe from cost cutting to stay alive, including inventory. With shipping costs, they should be able to be competitive. You can't profitably sell laundry detergent or cat litter online. But rent eats up even that. Not exactly retails fault.

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    4. "As far as not trusting Wally world stuff. I wonder if companies have 2 different quality of product? One somewhat good products (the one they built a reputation on) and a second line of products that go to Wally World that are not so good?"

      I don't know if this is true with all products, but I do know that Sorrel Boots (Those big pack-style boots with felt liners) have two different qualities. One line is of poorer quality that the other.

      I found this out by researching some boots I was buying years ago. You know how every boot style has a name. We'll the individual names for the boots I was looking at were only found at Walmart Stores.

      The same is true for Costco. I was going to buy a digital camera and was trying to compare them online before I bought. Costco was the only one who carried that model of my Panasonic camera. Don't get me wrong, it's a great camera. It just had a certain mix of capabilities and features that were unique to that model number.

      Idaho Homesteader

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  2. I used the Walmart solid tubes with decent results. A bit of a challenge to mount but doable if you already know how to do your own tire repairs. Ride quality and effort feels like the tires are 5 lbs low with coasting distance drastically cut. Back east I would not bother, but out west, I really like them

    ReplyDelete
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    1. No reviews, but here is the product link. $37 a tire.
      http://www.walmart.com/ip/Stop-A-Flat-Puncture-Proof-Bicycle-Inner-Tube-24-26in-26-X-2.125/46529931

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    2. “No reviews, but here is the product link. $37 a tire.”

      Rather pricey James. For the cost, most people probably wouldn't bother.

      That option might be okay for the “little people, big world” crowd, but I can't imagine that they would provide enough effective buoyancy to roll very far with the average lard ass American aboard?


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    3. It would be a post-collapse option. Tires are going to be the bottleneck in transport.

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    4. "It would be a post-collapse option."

      True. I'd be curious to know from someone that had them, how long they last when compared to the pneumatic tubes and tires? Then you could do a cost comparison analysis. If they lasted say twice as long, but are roughly 4 times the price, then perhaps stocking a bunch of the standard tubes would make more sense?

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    5. For the cost of the airless tires James, you could buy a lot tires, tubes, and patches, and keep them going for a long time. By the time you wear through them, we'll be back in the age of the wheelwright anyways.

      Horses, being the worthless nags that they are for the most part in the oil age, and now being used primarily for recreation, will come back into use and will be of great value.

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    6. If your area has goatheads, you need the thick green goop tires- $10 each. All goes well, that is $40 for four years of riding. So, the airless just need to last past that. Of course, I've also never just patched and kept an old tire. That could last much longer. I have my doubts as the quality of stuff today is so bad, but possible. I'd call it a gamble either way.

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    7. "If your area has goatheads, you need the thick green goop tires- $10 each."


      Yes, I have the blasted goatheads where I live James. The slime is a good idea too, but the way I got around the problem is with the thorn barrier strips that you place between the inside of the tire and the tube. I haven't had a goathead puncture yet, but admittedly, I also stay off the grassy areas as much as possible. The barrier strips can be reused multiple times since they're so durable.

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    8. Actually, you are right, come to think on it. When I forgot to replace the barrier strip I still got leaks even with the Green Goop thick tubes. I should experiment with conventional tubes and see how long it lasts. I might be "over-sold" on Green Goop.

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    9. I'm sure that you could probably get by just fine using the standard tubes with the thorn barrier strips James. If you still had some of the goo left over, I'd probably include it just for the added redundancy, but probably wouldn't go out of my way to buy it.

      Got in my email today, an add from Walmart for the “no more flat” airless tires. $20.00 a piece, the cheapest I ever saw them. $40.00 isn't too much to gamble if they suck. I'm just skeptical that they can provide the buoyancy required for a decent ride?

      http://www.walmart.com/ip/Bell-26-SOLID-NOMORFLAT/4805939?adid=1500000000000038955170&veh=eml&sent_time=1456179891694&campaign_id=rec-pb_--1-53-3-8-0-optcr&e_id=5d52ce953a5146226e70fa0966b3e67c

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    10. I can tell you I've never ever never had any luck with any product by Bell from Wally. EVER.

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  3. I have a bicycle but it's old and not really set up for a SHTF way of getting around. What I need to do is to make an effort to buy and equip out a good bicycle for use in bad times.

    I'm going to look on Craig's List after I do a bit net of research on what bikes and how to set them up. Never saw the solid tires before, but it sounds like they may not be that good.


    A good article idea may be what to look for in a bike and how to set it up for post petrol dollar times. I have to imagine Wally World bikes would not make the list of quality bikes...


    Chuck Findlay

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    1. Wally bikes, the single speed cruisers, are fine as long as you just want the frame. All moving parts need replacing the first 500-1k miles. Still cheaper to get a Wally/Amazon bike than a $300 bike shop cruiser. But I think you'd be better off just buying the bike through Amazon instead of just the replacement parts.

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    2. Never thought to look on Amazon for a bike, I should have as I buy enough Amazon stuff to keep at least one employee working full time.

      I don't want a low quality Wally bike.

      James what brand of bike do you feel is at least decent quality?

      I almost think an older 1980's era bike off Craig's List would be a good start and then add what I want to it.

      I did some searching and there is a local bike club that fixes up old bikes and sells them. It's run out of a church basement. I want to get a bit more knowledge about what would make a durable frame before I go there.



      Chuck Findlay.

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    3. I have no info on frames, but I think it is your last worry for any but the worst bike. I'd go with the bike club and buy several cheap ones and not worry too much.

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