Imagine how would a bicycle feel if it hadn’t been for the rubber tires on them? If will be the most uncomfortable feeling to your groin you have ever imagine.
When bicycles started to have their role in the world, people seemed to be more amused by the fact that there is a new type of transportation; cheap and exciting. But exciting didn’t exactly went full sense. Because the fist bicycle wheels didn’t have today’s rubber tires, it was quite uncomfortable to drive them, even considering the fact that there wasn’t much asphalt.
The first solution to tires was iron bands attached to the wooden wheels. These iron bands made a small change for riding comfort. A simple solution, and quite logical one, came in 1887 when a Scot by the name of John Boyd Dunlop made a pneumatic tire for his son’s bicycle. The reason was simple; he’s son complained about headaches he got form riding the bicycle. Dunlop used rubber on the tires to soften the ride and contribute to comfort while driving. He patented in 1888.Unfortunately, later on Dunlop’s patent of rubber tires was declared as irrelevant because a fellow Scot by the name of Robert William Thomson has already patented it in 1846 in France and 1847 in USA.
However, we can give credit to Dunlop for realizing that rubber has great resilience when it is used for a bicycle tire. In 1889, Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Co. Ltd was founded and soon after in 1890 it started using tough canvas layer for lesser punctures.
Throughout the years the bicycle tire has underwent significant changes.
In 1891 a removable pneumatic tire was patent by the Michelin brothers. This tire was used by Charles Terront who won the long distance cycle race – Paris – Brest- Paris. This was the first race of its kind. From a simple bicycle tire, the rubber usage has spread to automobile tires. It is interesting to say that today’s automobile tires are descendants of bicycle tires.
For every type of bicycle there is a specific type of tire that goes with it. A tire that smoothes the riding experience and doesn’t take away the comfort and excitement while driving. There are tires specialy for road bikes, mountain bikes, BMX, Hybrid, and single-speed bikes. Mountain bikes enthusiasts and adrenalin junkies go even further. It seems that mountains are overcome challenge so they what to pedal on ice or snow. To do that more efficiently, they attach spikes on the bike for firm grip, proving that there are can be no limits to bicycle adventure.
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