Nitrogen tyres

[RichardCranium]

what about a small light (200W, 1/3 BHP) internal combustion engine for bikes?

A bicycle with an engine - it would never catch on! Next you'll be suggesting getting rid of the horse!

[KentPhilip]

What about filling your tyres with water?
Then if you get thirsty you could stop and have a drink.

[Grinder]

What about filling your tyres with water?
Then if you get thirsty you could stop and have a drink.

Although it would provide no shock-absorbing capacity, the tyre would expand around the circumference if there was a bump at ground-level.

It would be a lot heavier, so would act like a fly-wheel, presuming friction between the water and the inner tyre-wall. It would be more difficult to get up to speed, but once there would provide added momentum. Brakes would need to be upgraded.

Nice experiment!

[Lumiere]

Michelin is one of the most expensive makes going - Costco can trim the price down because of their volume selling, but they are still double the price of a budget tyre which does the job nicely, unless you drive like a nutter.

.. a budget tyre which does the job nicely, unless it's raining.

That's the difference between budget and branded tyres. Having had a tyre-related accident I would never touch the budget tyres again. As for price, last time it was £60 per budget tyre delivered/fitted (the cheapest on the market - blacktyres, mytyres etc.) against £80 for Michelins in Costco. When £80 can make the difference between life and death it is a no-brainer for me.

[DimPrawn]

.. a budget tyre which does the job nicely, unless it's raining.

That's the difference between budget and branded tyres. Having had a tyre-related accident I would never touch the budget tyres again. As for price, last time it was £60 per budget tyre delivered/fitted (the cheapest on the market - blacktyres, mytyres etc.) against £80 for Michelins in Costco. When £80 can make the difference between life and death it is a no-brainer for me.

WHS. I buy the best tyres money can buy. Last set I bought were GoodYear Eagle F1's. Soft and grippy, brilliant in the wet.

[Moscow Mule]

Nice experiment!

Send it into that "Bang" show on BBC1 - they'd love to have a go at that...

[EternalOptimist]

A friend of mine had his tyre filled with helium, he thought it would be funny if he was involved in a serious smash to hear the paramedics running around speaking like Micky Mouse.

[daviejones]

One day they will invent tyres that you can put air in!!! That should make the ride more comfortable...

[EternalOptimist]

A friend of mine had his tyre filled with CO2. He reckoned that the greenhouse effect was so great that the temperature of his drive increased by two degrees for every inch that sea level rose and the ice caps retreated.

[TimberWolf]

Why not make tyres out of steel? Or at the very least a steel rim around a wooden spoked wheel. And make the roads from steel too.