Tires

Hankook's R&D department has been working with biorobotics experts from Seoul National University and Harvard engineers on a weird transforming origami wheel project. These folding oddities can drastically alter their diameter and carry heavy loads.

Researchers at Rice University have developed a new process to convert old tires into graphene, which can then be used to make concrete. Not only is it more environmentally friendly, but the team says the resulting concrete is substantially stronger.

An advanced tire technology developed by NASA for use on planetary rovers could be coming to a bike lane near you, with startup the Smart Tire Company leveraging the technology to introduce an airless shape memory alloy tire for bicycles.

It was three years ago that we first heard about the reTyre system, which lets cyclists zip specialized tread "skins" on and off of a set of base tires. A new version is now on the market, which addresses some of the shortcomings of the original.

It's important to maintain the proper air pressure in your bike's tires. That's where SKS Germany's Airspy comes in, as it continuously monitors tire pressure, and lets you know if it's getting low.

While we may think of car exhaust as being a major source of air pollution, automobile tires also hugely contribute to microplastics pollution. A new vehicle-mounted device could help, by gathering the rubber particles that those tires shed.

Imagine getting a flat tire, and just smearing on a chemical that makes the rubber meld seamlessly back together. That’s the kind of breakthrough researchers are now reporting, with a new material made of waste products and easily recyclable itself.

According to the National University of Singapore (NUS), only 40 percent of old tires are recycled – the rest are either burned or thrown in landfills. Now, however, the university has developed a method of converting tire rubber into an aerogel.

Scientists have come up with a new way to break apart key components from old care tire material for re-use. While currently expensive, with further work it could provide the basis for new and improved tire recycling methods.

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.