Re: Wheel-less tire question

divergent opinionOn Thu, 13 Mar 2025 16:29:36 -0000 (UTC), bp@www.zefox.net wrote:

This is mostly a philosophical question, but maybe it has a technical answer.
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The rim of a bike wheel is a relatively heavy component, largely because
of its circumference. Could it be dispensed with, at least in the case of
a tubular tire, by making the spokes extensions of the tire carcass cords?
The hub would remain mostly the same, with the "spoke" cords of the tire
laced around anchors on the hub flanges.
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It wouldn't be very convenient to handle, indeed, a spider's nightmare.
But, it could fold up much like a parachute. The tire would have to be
inflated to a pressure sufficient to support the needed spoke tension,
which might be rather higher than the pressure used in traditional
tubular tires.
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It would be hard to manufacture, getting all the spoke lengths matched
to run true being the most obvious difficulty. But intuition suggests
it would be about the lightest construction possible, as well as the
most compact when stowed before use.
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Another way of asking the same question is to ask the stiffness of a
fully-inflated, unmounted tubular tire compared to a traditional wood
or metal wheel rim.
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I've never handled one and so have difficulty guessing.
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Thanks for reading, and any insights.
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bob prohaska
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