My kid brother, who is a go-fast hill climber from St. Louis, MO, asked me if I thought it was worth it to use nitrogen in his bike tires. He must be going a little stir crazy if he's think about stuff like that.
Anyway, I did a little research and came to the conclusion that the average rider wouldn't benefit much from the extra cost unless their tire temperatures exceed 100 degrees, they are worried about them bursting into flame or they wear out their tires from the inside out.
My 85-year-old mother, on the other hand, was persuaded to use it in her car tires "so you won't have to air them up so often," and she believes it works. That could be sorta kinda true since nitrogen molecules are bigger than oxygen molecules, so they might sneak out slower.
On the negative side, nitrogen, being non-combustible, also won't sustain life. So, if your bike runs off into a river and you become trapped under a rock, you won't be able to suck air out of your bike tire until a rescuer arrives.
Go here for the full story.
Nitrogen for bike tires? It's a gas
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Nitrogen for bike tires? It's a gas
Postby ksteinhoff » Sat Jan 24, 2009 10:46 am
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Postby ksteinhoff » Sat Jan 24, 2009 11:18 am
I'm going to exhibit my ignorance. Why do you want the air in a motorcycle tire to heat up? I could see why you might want to the tread to be heated up to make the rubber softer and have better traction, but why the air?gsxrboy wrote:It' more consistent than air, but in some tyres (motorcycles for instance) you actually want the air inside to heat up. With general road cars it might allow for a little less wear on tyres while not affecting grip at all. Pushies wouldn't get any benefit.
Or are we both talking about the same thing?
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Postby birdbrain » Sat Jan 24, 2009 2:51 pm
Here's an interesting article on using nitrogen for car/truck tyres.
http://www.racq.com.au/motoring_advice/ ... _for_tyres
These points are discussed:
- Reduces the tyre's running temperature
- Improves the ride quality
- Increases tyre life
- Keeps tyre pressures more constant
- Slows the rate of pressure loss
- Doesn't react with the tyre and rim materials
http://www.racq.com.au/motoring_advice/ ... _for_tyres
These points are discussed:
- Reduces the tyre's running temperature
- Improves the ride quality
- Increases tyre life
- Keeps tyre pressures more constant
- Slows the rate of pressure loss
- Doesn't react with the tyre and rim materials
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Postby toolonglegs » Sat Jan 24, 2009 7:05 pm
You want the motorcycle tyres to heat up,which of course heats up what ever gas is inside them...but I always ran Nitrogen in my road race bikes as A:it was easy for me to get a cyclinder (they are used for regassing supension units) and they will pump up 100's of wheels and have enough pressure to pop the beads on tubeless.Dive bottles don't last long. B- Running Nitrogen gives much better consistent results in getting tyre pressures right...mainly because it dosen't expand so much.On slick tyres or any tyre for that matter 1 or 2 psi can give a noticeable difference in handling and also the self cleaning affect of the tyre.Meaning how it scrubs off the excess rubber instead of picking up the rubber off the road.
But on a bicycle....pointless!...
But on a bicycle....pointless!...
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Postby JCR » Sat Jan 24, 2009 9:58 pm
What toolonglegs said.
You don't want air inside your motorcycle race tyres giving you inconsistent pressures if you can help it. The best thing is to vac the moisture/air out of your tyres then fill with nitrogen. I don't do this though, I use air, you just have to make sure your check/adjust pressure throughout the day more often.
You don't want air inside your motorcycle race tyres giving you inconsistent pressures if you can help it. The best thing is to vac the moisture/air out of your tyres then fill with nitrogen. I don't do this though, I use air, you just have to make sure your check/adjust pressure throughout the day more often.
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