What we’re seeing here is the future of tire design. With companies like Bridgestone and Michelin investing efforts in airless-tubeless tires that absorb shock beautifully, we may one day see conventional tires become completely obsolete.
The Soft Creeper is a conceptual bicycle tire designed by a team from the Dalian Minzu University in China. It features a wheel that’s split into multiple identical pieces with the spokes being designed specifically for shock absorption. Upon encountering an obstacle, the spokes just simply bend inward, allowing the tire to deform in the shape of the obstacle, and the bike to ride right across like cutting through air. The same would work for potholes. If and when a wheel gets damaged, just simply replace the damaged components rather than the entire wheel itself!
The Soft Creeper is a winner of the Red Dot Award for the year 2016.
Designers: Su Hengchang, Zhang Dianming, Qiao Song, Zhang Mengbo, Cao Xinyu, Wu Jiahao, Xu Zhe & Ran Xuyang.
