DynaBeads

[ausfahrt]

Originally Posted by kamikazekyle

I'd imagine liquids would maintain too much inertia as the tire changes speeds, though how much that would affect handling at such small weights I wouldn't really know. Slosh around some water in a cup and see how long it takes to come to a rest. Then do the same with some small BB's or such.

On a similar vein, you have to take into account fluid viscosity. A thicker fluid would take longer to redistribute itself, compounding intertial issues.

Another issue with liquids is potential for evaporation. Even if you could assume your tube/tire had a 100% gas seal, you'd still lose vapor with every check or change in air pressure. Imagine having to top off your "tire fluids" when you air up your tire. Or letting air out of your tire and getting sprayed in the face. Fluids also tend to expand more with heat than solids, and remember that the next matter state beyond fluid is gas. Internal tire temps can get *hot*, so something like water would boil in your tires (though the tire pressure would probably prevent that -- same concept as a pressure cooker).

Then there's also the issue with possible degredation of the tire carcass or tube. A whole bunch of fluids would eat away/weaken/degrade the tire with constant months to years of exposure.

I'm sure there's a way to solve the above issues -- perhaps a dedicated, 100% gas tight "fluid balancing channel" that combos with a safe ultra low viscoscity fluid and runs in a dedicated channel inside the tire. Of course by this point you've kidna overcomplicated the tire to the point you might as well use something like dynabeads.

Chicks must really dig you.

Seriously though, you bring up some interesting points. I was going to use dynabeads once several years ago but cheaped out and used...


Yep, my son's airsoft pellets. They seemed to work just fine but at my next tire change I elected to just balance the wheel by itself and mount the tire without the beads. The ride was just as smooth as before and that is what I have been doing ever since. Some tires don't even have the traditional spot to mark the light side anymore and I believe that tire technology has gotten to where they are balanced enough to not need weights in most cases.

[kantuckid]

Well it looks like we got another full blown bead thread going on... Like I posted earlier I've used them for ~ 10 years & work fine. I even use them over with a few escaping to the shop floor. Will they reproduce?
My thoughts: Yes many if not most new bike tires are close to good balance as they come.
2nd, on a perfectly balanced bare rim a new tire will wear unevenly & if properly balanced it has to be rebalanced if you want to keep that condition.
3rd, If you rotate the rim ,placing the valve at bottom & tap the stem with the gauge or a screwdriver, no beads will get into the schrader valve.
4th, a puff of air from hose will blow any (from trying to escape) of them away from the stem then you can actually do a correct air check rather than a worry wort check.
5th,yes an old style lead balance is easy to do but lead weights are not only illegal in some states they are also whats available most other places
6th-I am not a tree hugger,Sierra club member,etc-BUT! lead is really bad for the environment!!!!!!!!!! Google lead in the environment, lead wheel weights & so on & you'll see that there are jillions of pounds of them being ground up on the pavement everyday. Subaru is one of the leaders in the move away from lead wheel weights. beads do the job w/o introducing lead into groundwater & that's good , no matter where you are on the other stuff.
Lastly, I have read many of the other bead threads & several ADV's have used air gun soft pellets & said they work well. My approach of recent is to rotate the tire on the rim until in or close to balanced, then add beads to maintain that balance until tire is worn out. Mine all go as long as you can expect & are smooth.

[jasonmt]

#1 or #2 Glass Beads for metal finishing are under $40 for a 25# bag locally.

[kantuckid]

When I recover my dynabeads they are undamaged as they are ceramic. They do acquire some black color from the many revolutions inside the tire and tire inner liner contact but are still round. A glass bead is not as hard as a ceramic bead so I don't know if they'd survive inside a tire? Maybe the same question for a soft pellet too?

[jsalman93]

anyone tried metal airsoft BBs, like the .2 gram ones. I know that you can get those from Sports Chalet for about $8. I'm just wondering if they would affect tire wear on the outside or inside of the tire any more than ceramic bearings. I know that ceramic dissipates heat better than metal, but I'm not Rossi and I rarely go over 90mph. Just looking to correct a crappy tire balance that the dealership left me with.