Not only do the curved resin spokes of Bridgestone’s new Air-Free tyres mean you may never have to change a flat again, they also serve as rolling eye candy, and the sleekest upgrade to tyres since white walls.
Last week we only had a couple of photos of the new tyres, but DigInfo managed to catch them in action at the 2011 Tokyo Motor Show. They’re still in the R&D phase at this point, but Bridgestone demonstrated smaller working versions on an electric cart. In their current form the tyres can support up to 150kg, enough for a single rider, but no where near strong enough for a full-size vehicle with multiple passengers.
And while Bridgestone realises that consumers will certainly want the aesthetic appeal of the curved spokes to be visible at all times, there is the slight issue of something getting caught in there preventing them from bending. So they’re working on a solution to the problem that balances safety with their wow factor. [DigInfo]
Warren
Thursday, December 8, 2011 at 11:06 AMIf used for any high speed veichle (Car Et’c)there wiii be a potential balance problem after driving through mud mud,the side walls would need to be sealed somehow,but that could create other problems.But looks fine for electric hhairs Et’c
OsirisFox
Thursday, December 8, 2011 at 11:40 AMClear synthetic polymer of sorts maybe?
Ron Van Wegen
Thursday, December 8, 2011 at 11:52 AMUm, what happens when you go round a corner at 100K? There’s no video of that.
Dave
Thursday, December 8, 2011 at 1:02 PMthats because you’d be dead
Denis
Thursday, December 8, 2011 at 12:26 PMRound a corner at 100k ON A SCOOTER??
Ozoneocean
Thursday, December 8, 2011 at 2:16 PMLove how they have a lady is a sexy outfit in high boots riding an old-people buggy… The only thing dorkier would’ve been to put them on a seaway.
No amount of leather and boobs can make those sexy.
Just This Guy ...
Thursday, December 8, 2011 at 4:13 PM” can support up to 150kg, enough for a single rider, ”
You seen the size of the average mobility scooter rider?
We’re gonna need a bigger scooter wheel.
http://jokephotos.org/people-2/fat-people/to-fat-to-walk-mobility-scooters/
Viddy
Thursday, December 8, 2011 at 5:51 PMJust this (not very clever) guy…
The load is shared between 4 wheels on the scooter…. each wheel can handle 150kg load so the rider would have to be 600kg (including the weight of the vehicle) – and he said it can safely handle 3x the recommended load.