We ran across a radical new tire design by Michelin that is an amazing leap forward in durability and performance. The design is based on tires the U.S. military has developed (see the video below). They’re airless, “see through” tires that have spoke-like connections to the inner part of the tire from the outside tread ‘wrap.” The video demonstrates better than I can explain.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkkhSiIKoS8&w=640&h=480
The impact of these includes:
– No more air valves…
– No more air compressors at gas stations…
– No more repair kits…
– No more flats…
– No more shirt pocket tire pressure gauges!
I’m not sure why it took about 100 years to go beyond inflated rubber tires…but I’m glad someone smarter than me was working on it. Best of all these tires will be made by Michelin in South Carolina, USA.
(By the way, as someone pointed out to me, the bad news for law enforcement is that spike strips will not work on these.)