March 18, 2021
14:25
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Smart Tire Company has used NASA technology to develop a bicycle tire that can never be punctured again.
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The robot cars that the US space agency NASA uses for its missions to the moon and Mars do not run on rubber tires. They would not survive, and there is not immediately a tire shop in the area to replace them.
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That is why NASA developed a special tire technology, on which Smart Tire Company is working on for applications on earth. Starting with bicycle tires that can never be punctured.
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Forget the principle of rubber inner tubes or even tubeless tires. Smart Tire Company tires look like a finely woven net of threads made with a kind of nickel and titanium alloy.
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Metal with a memory
The bands are actually metal and also have the strength of metal. But due to the specific molecular structure, they also have the elasticity of rubber, so that after deformation – by driving in a pit, for example – it returns to its original shape. Hence the name of the start-up: Smart, short for Shape Memory Alloy Radial Technology.
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Smart Tire Company partnered with the NASA Glenn Research Center for the study and plans to launch its product on the market in 2022.
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The CEO is convinced that cycling enthusiasts will soon embrace the product. You cannot puncture it. And the tire barely wears out, lasts longer than existing products, and you avoid a mountain of waste with it.
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Question marks
The puncture resistance of tires is just one of the important factors in the choice of the end consumer. Nothing is known about the price yet, and information about rolling resistance and grip on the surface is not immediately available.
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The tires are marketed under the brand name Metl. There is a collaboration with the American bicycle company Felt to test the technology. Smart Tire Company was only started last year and is looking for fresh capital. Through crowdfunding, the counter has now reached more than $ 250,000.
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