Here's something to blog about: History of a bicycle tire...
1846: The pneumatic (air filled) tire is invented, but creator Robert William Thomson uses thick tubes of latex after failing to find adequately thin rubber.
1888: John Boyd Dunlop begins selling the first pneumatic tire, hoping to soften the rough ride that earned early bicycles the nickname "boneshakers."
1891: Inspired by a tire change that involved letting glue dry overnight, Edouard Michelin, of Michelin & Company, dreams up a simpler model that takes just 15 minutes to remove and repair.
1926: Newly invented Mavic aluminum rims are banned from the Tour de France over concerns the metal would heat braking and pop tubes. Some racers sneak them in by using wood colored paint.
1930: Tullio Campagnolo patents the quick-release skewer to make tire- and gear- changing easier. Cyclists previously had change gears by unscrewing their rear wheel's wingnuts. He was driven to create the device after cold-fingered fumbling on a mountain pass.
1937: The German manufacturer StahlGruber begins producing tube patches under the name REMA Tip Top, after Willy Gruber deems them "tip-top" during testing. The technology changes, but the brand name sticks to this day.
1965: Chemical giant DuPont develops Kevlar. The fiber, spun from a crystalline liquid, is five times stronger than steel but lighter and more flexible; its eventual use in tire beads shaves almost a quarter-pound from a set of clinchers.
1989: Slime unveils its tire sealant and prefilled tubes-the polymer provides a nontoxic option for folks looking to prevent auto and bike flats.
1990: CO2 bike tube-inflation devices are intoduced. The Instaflate uses 12-gram unthreaded cartridges and deploys with a trigger.
1999: The first tubeless mountain bike systems are introduced by Mavic and Michelin. Basic tubeless systems appeared as early as the late 1800s, but generally bombed in terms of performance.
2000: Stans Tire Sealant enters the bike market to provide flat protection for tubeless and tubular tires-a godsend for riders in thorn-ridden areas.
2003: Michelin, Shimano, Hutchinson and Mavic collaborate to develop the first modern tubeless road tire and rim system.
