What the heck?

[1FJEF]

Our Snow Cat rims are built for racing conditions in the snow, mud or sand.
These rims increase the width and volume of tires installed on them. With the right tires and at appropriate pressures, they'll let you ride on trails that are softer, more slippery, or more churned up than you can ride on conventional rims.

[Bill]

If it were not for morbid curiosity, this strange design, and the fact you have 99 posts I almost reported this as SPAM.

You say "our" wheels, so you can pretty much tell us personally how they perform? Wouldn't the inner tube stick up out of the holes? Please do explain.

[nfmisso]

Jeff; they'll need really wide tires - think 70mm range, and rather low pressure - like 10-20 psi. With those things you could probably ride places that are too soft to walk on.......

Bill - he quoted right from the Velocity site, should have put "quotation" marks around it.

Not my style of bike riding - but to each his or her own

[Bill]

Yea that's why I wrote the fact he was a member. Dagon keyboard skills aren't what they used to be lol.

[1FJEF]

But what stops the tube trying to come through the rim? What are you going to do, use two layers of duct tape?! When I first saw it I thought some crazy Scandanavian had decided that you didn't need tires in fluffy snow, just fat rims with holes like a snow shoe!
60minutes had elapsed so I couldn't edit the post to indicate quotation from the Aussie factory catalog). Actually catalogue in Australia).

[xerxes]

They're "fat bike" wheels.

Like this: http://surlybikes.com/bikes/moonlander

And this: http://surlybikes.com/parts/category/wheels

You use really sturdy rim tape that covers the holes and you run the tyres at really low pressures, down to about 5 PSI.

More stuff: http://coastkid.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/surly-moonlander-review-mission.html

Look like great fun, I'd love to try one.

[1FJEF]

Great links, thanks.

[Joe_W]

I'm curious... they do indeed look weird. On the "increase the volume" bit: that is complete BS. They increase the width and thus make the cros section less circular and so decrease the volume.

Well, you could also run tubeless tyres with very low pressure (afaik), so dunno how much this improves stuff. For riding on snow I was perfectly happy with 33mm cyclocross tyres (the old road frame cannot accommodate more)...
But a nice find. So who is gonna buy some of these and write a report next winter?

[nfmisso]

(08-04-2012, 09:12 AM)Joe_W Wrote:  .....
But a nice find. So who is gonna buy some of these and write a report next winter?

It is winter now down under (Australia)

Given the limited supply, Velocity may only offer them in the winter...

[xerxes]

Quote:I'm curious... they do indeed look weird. On the "increase the volume" bit: that is complete BS. They increase the width and thus make the cros section less circular and so decrease the volume.

You use bigger tyres with them, for example: http://surlybikes.com/parts/endomorph_tire

[Joe_W]

Yes, sure. But it does not "increase the volume of the tyre" in contrast to being mounted on an appropriate rim... yes, you can use much wider tyres, but that's it.
I'd love to give them a spin on sand, might be a blast, but I have no bike they'd fit in (widht + disc brakes I guess) (and she who must be obeyed vetoes acquisition of another bike, except for a tandem...).