Michelin’s Most Ugly But Practical Airless Tires – Demo Video

Michelin Airless Tires or Tweels as the company calls them are highly durable zero maintenance tires they are not meant to be installed on your Ferrari or Merc but they are quite practical for sure, Tires without punctures! What else you want?

The word Tweel is a combination of Wire and Wheel, as Tweel does not use the standard hub assembly. The inner hub is solid that fix to the axle, surrounded by polyurethane spokes patterned as wedges. A band spread across the spokes forms the outer edge of the tire. The air pressure of a traditional pneumatic tire is replaced by the stress of the shear band and the strength of the spokes. The tread of the tire is then attached with the shear band.

The spokes absorb the road impacts just like the traditional tires, but they deform temporarily, returning to the original shape once the force is removed. The Tweels can be customized to handle different situations by creating them with varying spoke tensions. More flexible spokes make for a more comfortable ride. The Tweels clearly are more practical for off-road applications.

Polyurethane materials have extraordinary properties, but they are not easy to make. Apart from the high costs, the manufacturing is difficult. Among other problems, the balance of friction and tread wear resistance is very critical. This also doubles their cost as compared to the standard steel and rubber tires.