Tires

In the Internet of Things age, everything will talk to everything else, and your car tires will be no different. Pirelli's new smart tires can feed information back to your car, other cars and V2X roadside infrastructure through 5G connectivity.

The just-announced Dart tool, made by Stan's NoTubes, is designed to better-fix larger punctures in mountain bike tires.

Michelin has teamed with General Motors to target a 2024 production goal for airless tires. The tires, called Uptis, will have several benefits over radial tubeless tires and will debut for testing on the Chevrolet Bolt electric car.

​If they really are to be considered "cars," flying cars will require at least two things: tires for driving on the road, and propellers for flying through the air. Goodyear has combined the two into one unit – or actually into four units – with its Aero concept.

​Although concrete doesn't burn, it can "spall" when subjected to extreme heat – this means that surface layers of the material break off, potentially causing structures made of it to collapse. According to a new study, however, fibers obtained from discarded tires can help keep that from happening.

​We're suckers for good concept tires, and it seems there's no shortage of ideas each year for what the future might look like where the rubber hits the road. These two Hankook concepts come to us from the Essen Motor Show, and they concentrate on autonomous comfort and racing downforce.

​Tubeless tires have become pretty much standard on mountain bikes, but they can be difficult to mount, and often end up leaking air. With that in mind, tire manufacturer Tannus is introducing a product that is claimed to give tubed tires some of the same qualities as their tubeless counterparts.

Studded tires are a popular choice in northern climes come winter, thanks to the extra grip they afford on ice and compacted snow. But new research from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden says they actually cost more lives than they save.

​A few months ago we first heard about the reTyre system for bicycles, in which interchangeable tread "skins" can be zipped on and off of a smooth underlying base tire. Well, its Norwegian designers recently sent us a setup to review, and we think there's definitely some potential to the concept.

​As any serious cyclist knows, tire pressure can make a huge difference in how a bike performs. That's why most of us check it before heading out on a ride. Quarq's new TyreWiz, however, lets cyclists continuously monitor their tire pressure AS they're riding.

​Serious cyclists will often swap back and forth between different tires, depending on the type of riding they plan on doing … and yes, getting those tires on and off of the rims is a hassle. That's why the reTyre system was developed, with its zip-on tire skins.

​Leave the bike pump at home, you won't be needing it. Berlin-based startup BigRep has signaled a possible end to punctures by 3D printing airless bicycle tires and taking to the streets of the German capital to show them off.​