LE-XL Tundra Tires

[Joshadurham]

These could work nice i think. They even already have disc brakes.  I saw them at academy and immediately thought of the Legal Eagle.  Comments, Concerns?

[GriffWatkins]

I'm sure you could make them work, but they look awfully heavy to me.  I also wonder how substantial that axle is and how well the whole assembly can take a side-load; I think the bulky size is more for looks than durability or performance.

[stevejahr]

If you want/need high flotation tires... then you are likely willing to accept some increase in weight and especially drag.

As to the suitability of the axles... most bicycle axles are entirely unsuitable for LE use.  Typical axles are not designed for cantilever loading and can be marginal for shear loading as found by some of the dirt jumping bike riders who use larger diameter axles.

If you really want to run bicycle wheels I would recommend you look for wheels/hubs designed for recumbent trikes.  These will accept a larger stub axle to handle the cantilever loading.  I have a set of hubs from Bitex in the closet what would lace up to a 20" rim nicely and provide a real disk rotor mount for a brake solution.  Something like this could be laced to those rims and allow some interesting use cases.

Based on the bike in the picture... I might be a bit concerned at the spoke gauge as well.  That looked like the kind of bike you find very spindly spokes on.  Replace those with some good quality 14g spokes in the relace and you could probably have some good fun.  I would also bet the rims are simple formed steel so they may be a bit heavier and weaker than an extrusion formed aluminum rim.

The other concern I might have is availability of tires... you can get up to 2" in a 20" bike tire pretty commonly and maybe even 3".  Once you go beyond that they become very rare indeed.

[Keith]

I've been looking at airless foam filled scooter tires for durability (though they look a bit goofy being gray color and all)
These are 16-inch x 3 inch (300-10), and I believe around 25-psi equivalent, the distributer said they weigh roughly 2-lbs per tire. I am unsure how that impacts the total weight, or even how to mount them, but just something to look at. I am interested in what everyone thinks
http://www.airlesstiresnow.com/Racing-Tread-Flat-Proofed-Scooter-Tire_p_213.html

[Keith]

http://www.monsterscooterparts.com/fomoti.html
Another link with some interesting "flat proof" tires


12 inch x 4 inch knobby tire

[stevejahr]

In my experience airless tires are too heavy and do not provide the bounce of inflated tires.  Both serious detriments to potential aviation use.  I just have not found flat tires to be a big enough problem to need solving.  If these tires were a better idea they would be used by a lot more people/applications.  As it is about the only time you see them is on wheel barrows or for kids bikes.

[Keith]

TireUSA had these listed under "Ultralight Aircraft Tire" (in specialty tire section)
Carlisle Turf Glide 8.00-6 Golf Cart Tire
http://www.tiresusa.com/carlisle-turf-glide-800-6-golf-cart-tire.html



Manufacturer:Carlisle Tire

• Manufacturers Part Number: 508040
• Ply Rating: 4
• Mounted Diameter: 17.6 inches
• MountedWidth: 7.1 inches
• Recommended Rim Width: 3.25 inches
• Max Load Capacity @ 10 MPH:410 lbs
• Max Psi: 20
• Tire Weight: 8.7 lbs
• Tire Type: Tube Type Tire

[stevejahr]

8.7 lbs? 

No wonder Leonard used bike wheels originally.  I cannot find a weight spec on these, which is kind of weird because normally bike stuff *always* has weight specs, but here is an alternative:
Kenda Flame 20x3

And those flame tread patterns will make your LE fly faster 

[Rv8tor]

The 4"x20" tires work fine that's what I am running on along with the disk brakes but I mounted the 4" tires on 2" rims. About 15 hr so far know prob

[Keith]

The 4"x20" tires work fine that's what I am running on along with the disk brakes but I mounted the 4" tires on 2" rims. About 15 hr so far know prob

Have any pictures you can share?

[Keith]

http://www.air-techinc.com/product_detail.php?pid=3260

• Tire, 18/ 800 X 6 4 Ply - 18 x 8 x 6 18"
• Outside diameter Fits 6" wheel.
• Often called balloon tire.
• Recommended Inner Tube 800 X 6 - (W8-358)
• Smallest recommended wheel would be 4" wide and then that is really tight... but will work
• 6.5 lbs.

[Keith]

8.7 lbs?

No wonder Leonard used bike wheels originally.  I cannot find a weight spec on these, which is kind of weird because normally bike stuff *always* has weight specs, but here is an alternative:
Kenda Flame 20x3

And those flame tread patterns will make your LE fly faster

Hehehe, no kidding - balloon tires are quite heavy! :-[
Those flame bike tires are a hoot! ;D

[stevejahr]

The 4"x20" tires work fine that's what I am running on along with the disk brakes but I mounted the 4" tires on 2" rims. About 15 hr so far know prob

Have any pictures you can share?

You can find a picture here: Rv8tor wheel/gear