Airless bike tires

[Flint]

Hi all! Was wondering what you thought about airless tires vs regular air tubes on the playa. I've got 26 x 2.125 tires. We used to purchase airless tubes for our daughters bike - with so many sand stickers here in South Texas it seemed we were repairing her tires every other day. I believe she had to work a little harder to move along...I'm not interested in working harder, just smarter...any feed back would be greatly appreciated. Flint

[Ratty]

There's no need. It isn't likely you would get a flat. (Bring 2 tubes and a repair kit if you're worried.)

[Flint]

Thanks Ratty!!! You"re a doll!!

[lucky420]

Yep there are no goatheads on the playa.

Wait! Except for one and he's a big sumbitch

[Elliot]

Flint, Ratty makes two good points. If your tires and tubes are in good condition, and the tubes are the thick "thorn resistant" type, and you have them properly inflated, then the risk of a flat in Black Rock City is quite low.
Still, Murphy's Law remains in effect on this planet, so you ought to have spares and tools.

I should emphasize that I prefer the "thorn resistant" tubes... not so much for their actual thorn resistance, since thorns are kind'a non-existent out there, but for their overall resistance to failure, very much including the slow leakage that is the bane of so many tubes -- because people keep riding under-inflated, and that is murder on tubes.
Also, if you use the bike at home, it can pick up thorns that slowly-but-surely work their way thru -- see Murphy's Law.

A while back I promised to test a solid rubber tire here at home, and report here on ePlaya, but I cannot find it, so I must have given it away.

What I do have... is a loaner bike with solid tires. And it has served fine the last two Burns, without comment from the borrowers. I notice these tires are heavy, but that's not a big deal on the flat Playa.

Best I can understand it, solid tires must fit the width of the rim quite precisely, or they cannot be securely mounted -- or mounted at all. If you have that part "down pat", you might want to go that route. Please stop by and visit at my camp anyway!

[Fan C]

I replaced a front tire on of my bikes with a solid tube. I don't really like it. it will obviously never go flat but it doesn't quite really fit. it feels like it's permanantly underinflated. I've kept it because it's on spare/loaner playa bike.

[Elliot]

I replaced a front tire on of my bikes with a solid tube. I don't really like it. it will obviously never go flat but it doesn't quite really fit. it feels like it's permanantly underinflated. I've kept it because it's on spare/loaner playa bike.

Solid tube, you say.... I have seen those also. (Whether that's what you meant or not.) In fact, I have a solid inner-tube here -- it kind'a fell out of a tire that was severely shredded, on a bike that was donated. I suppose the guy rode it to that point -- strips of tire flapping, ill-fitting solid-tube wobbling! I can only assume that these also require exact fit. But I feel pretty sure that a solid tire would be easier to get right.

[The Rod]

I grew up in New Mexico, and like Texas it is full of pokey thorny plants. After a while Mom got tired of buying us kids new bike tubes so one day she came home from wal-mart with solid rubber inner tubes for us. I remember it being a royal bitch to install them but it sure was nice to never, ever have to do it again afterwards.

For the playa though... Is it overkill? 4 years ago, the Lady and I bought new huffy cruisers and neither has ever gotten a flat on playa. However, a time or two after pulling them out of storage the tubes wouldn't hold air, so maybe it'd be nice to never, ever have to change them ever again in the middle of Burning Man planning chaos. But also it's not like changing a bike tube is really hard anyways...

[AntiM]

We had the solid tires on a bike, the yellow reflective ones. Fit fine, rode well on the playa, and looked pretty darn cool.

[ManitoBURN]

This guy I know supposedly made himself tubeless tires?!
What I he said is that he got a tubeless valve stem installed that, put a liter of "slime" into the tire and filled it up to 70 psi.
Apparently it works fine..... But he catches big fish far too often.

[Elliot]

Automotive tubeless valve-stems can be be purchased in any auto parts store. There are two kinds -- rubber, which snaps into the hole; and metal, which installs with a nut. For a bicycle rim, I would use whichever requires the smallest hole, to maintain rim strength. To install the rubber ones, you should buy the correct tool.

Rims and spokes can be sealed with silicone caulking. This is good enough for 900-horsepower race cars. The super-wide rims on some of my pedal-vehicles are bolted together of two or more sections, and sealed with silicone.

I might try silicone caulking on the bicycle tire beads also. But Slime is good stuff for very small leaks.

[Captain Goddammit]

I have an airless tire on my bike right now. It's not supposed to be airless, but it is.

[Meat Hunter]

I am not sure if I would be willing to take the risk of airless tires on the playa. Anything inconvenient can and probably will happen on the playa.

I am thinking that I best stick with my thorn resistant tubes with tire liners. Less trouble and less wear and tear on the old mind and body.

[trilobyte]

Yep, you sure would be working harder - not smarter.