This being a kickstarter makes it a non-starter for me but it looks pretty promising: Hopefully they work great and become popular.
Amazing!
I’ll check on this when they’re mass produced to see if it’s economically viable, stopping 12 mins to replace a tube for $7 is cheaper than all the bulletproof $250 tires made of NASA tech or $100 tubeless concoction.12 minutes? what spell are you casting to automatically change the tube?
Or do you have bike shops that aren’t filled to the brim with work, somehow?
You … can’t change your own tube?
I’ve been riding bikes for years, and I’ve only had to change a tube maybe 3 times. I only ride on paved surfaces though, so it’s nothing like trail riding or what have you… anyway, I’m very unpractised on tube changing; particularly when trying to get the tire off of the rim. It takes maybe 30 minutes to change a tube with a lot of pinched fingers and swearing.
I made the experience that tires can vary a lot in how easy/hard they are to get off and on your rim. I thought I was just dumb until I swapped tubes on another bike and it just… worked as it was supposed to
Depends how often you typically have to replace that $7 tube. Also depends on distances you travel.
While a $7 tube once a year is a much better price, that number skews if you happen to need to walk miles when it goes.
A tube often lasts me ten years and I always have an extra tube in my frame bag, because it’s way easier than patching a flat.
I also do have most important tools, tube AND repair kit with me all times but you do realize that’s not majority of the people. A grandma could ride with the same tires for 20 years (mine did) and never having a flat during those years could definitely be worth it.