Originally Posted by
CAJohn
Airless tires are apparently awful. Several books I've read (Lennard Zinn, Robert Hurst) say that cushioning is the major advantage of pneumatic tires. They even call them one of the major innovations of bicycling. Might not matter in a flat industrial plant, of course, but it's gonna be a rough ride on any other terrain!
But, airless tires do have a place. I used to have a cargo trike with airless front tires. When I was carrying nearly half a ton of weight, airless was the way to go. When I had loads like that, I was glad I lived in a city with a total elevation change (not counting overpasses) of about 2 feet.