Pumping up your tires is part and parcel of riding bikes. Lose pressure and your ride is slower and less efficient
But constantly having to check your tyre pressure and pump up your wheels can be a hassle for maintenance-shy, fit-and-forget riders. If that's you, the designers behind PumpTire aim to put an end to put an end to your woes.
PumpTire is a new self-inflating inner tube, which uses a cunning peristaltic pump action (more on this below, in case you're like us and don't use words as big as 'peristaltic' that often) to regulate and maintain pressure automatically as you ride.
ADVERTISEMENT
Designed by Bejamin Krempel and a team of designers and engineers, with the cooperation of University of Bern and ETH Zurich, the first working prototype has, apparently, yielded excellent results. PumpTire is planning to launch a crowdfunding campaign early in 2016 to elevate the project to the next level.
It's impossible, right?
"We started with a self-inflating tyre, and at that time cyclists would say ‘you should make a self-inflating inner tube’ – so I thought sure, that’s a great idea, except it’s impossible." Krempel told BikeRadar.
"But then we came up with an idea of how to do it. Many, many ideas later we have the current design, which has excellent ride characteristics and pumping ability," he added.
Next steps
You can read more at BikeRadar.com
via BikeRadar All the latest from BikeRadar.com http://ift.tt/1P7fnzI
No comments:
Post a Comment