A tire (American English) or tyre (British English) is a ring of material that covers the rim of a bicycle and motor vehicle wheels.
The term "tire" comes from the word "attire", from the idea that a wheel with a tire is a dressed wheel.
Back when carriages relied on real horse-power and bicycles weighed a ton, travelers were forced to endure bone-jarring rides over the bumps and potholes of the nation's primitive roads. Scottish railway engineer Robert Thomson saw the potential of air to soften the way and on December 10, 1845, he patented the use of pneumatic leather tires on bikes. However, his invention was deemed too expensive to mass-produce.
In 1888, a Scottish veterinary surgeon called John Dunlop, who had a flourishing practice near Belfast, fitted his son's tricycle wheels with inflated rubber hoses instead of solid rubber tires in order to make it more comfortable to ride on the bumpy roads.
Dunlop's development of the pneumatic tire handily coincided with the new bicycle craze and when a cyclist using the 'Dunlop Pneumatic Tyres' won a race in Belfast a year later, the pneumatic cycle tire was on its way.
His company, formed in 1889, became known as the Dunlop Rubber Co in 1900.
Originally tires were a gray-white or light and translucent-beige color as a byproduct of Zinc Oxide being added to the rubber to add strength. Black tires only started being made after 1912 when, Binney & Smith began selling their carbon black chemicals to Goodrich Tire Company. This was because they found that the use of carbon black in rubber manufacturing significantly increased the longevity of rubber intended to be turned into tires.
Two brothers, Édouard Michelin and André Michelin, ran a rubber factory in Clermont-Ferrand, France. The brothers were enthusiastic about the pneumatic tyre, and worked on creating their own version, one that did not need to be glued to the rim. Michelin was incorporated on May 28, 1889.
In 1891 Michelin took out its first patent for a detachable pneumatic tyre on a metal rim, which was used by Charles Terront to win the world's first long distance cycle race, the 1891 Paris–Brest–Paris.
The Michelin man is known as Mr Bib. His name was Bibendum in the company's first adverts in 1896. The reason he's white is because he was created before carbon was added as a preservative and a strengthener to the basic rubber material.
It wasn't until 1912 that companies started mixing carbon chemicals with the rubber to make black tires. This process is not an aesthetic change, but a structural one, making the tires stronger and durable.
The term "tire" comes from the word "attire", from the idea that a wheel with a tire is a dressed wheel.
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| Pixiebay |
HISTORY
Back when carriages relied on real horse-power and bicycles weighed a ton, travelers were forced to endure bone-jarring rides over the bumps and potholes of the nation's primitive roads. Scottish railway engineer Robert Thomson saw the potential of air to soften the way and on December 10, 1845, he patented the use of pneumatic leather tires on bikes. However, his invention was deemed too expensive to mass-produce.
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| Abert Thomson's obituary in The Illustrated London News of 29 March 1873 |
In 1888, a Scottish veterinary surgeon called John Dunlop, who had a flourishing practice near Belfast, fitted his son's tricycle wheels with inflated rubber hoses instead of solid rubber tires in order to make it more comfortable to ride on the bumpy roads.
Dunlop's development of the pneumatic tire handily coincided with the new bicycle craze and when a cyclist using the 'Dunlop Pneumatic Tyres' won a race in Belfast a year later, the pneumatic cycle tire was on its way.
 |
| Dunlop's first pneumatic bicycle tyre National Museum of Scotland. By Geni |
His company, formed in 1889, became known as the Dunlop Rubber Co in 1900.
Originally tires were a gray-white or light and translucent-beige color as a byproduct of Zinc Oxide being added to the rubber to add strength. Black tires only started being made after 1912 when, Binney & Smith began selling their carbon black chemicals to Goodrich Tire Company. This was because they found that the use of carbon black in rubber manufacturing significantly increased the longevity of rubber intended to be turned into tires.
Two brothers, Édouard Michelin and André Michelin, ran a rubber factory in Clermont-Ferrand, France. The brothers were enthusiastic about the pneumatic tyre, and worked on creating their own version, one that did not need to be glued to the rim. Michelin was incorporated on May 28, 1889.
In 1891 Michelin took out its first patent for a detachable pneumatic tyre on a metal rim, which was used by Charles Terront to win the world's first long distance cycle race, the 1891 Paris–Brest–Paris.
The Michelin man is known as Mr Bib. His name was Bibendum in the company's first adverts in 1896. The reason he's white is because he was created before carbon was added as a preservative and a strengthener to the basic rubber material.
 |
| An 1898 poster by "O'Galop" of Bibendum, the Michelin Man |
It wasn't until 1912 that companies started mixing carbon chemicals with the rubber to make black tires. This process is not an aesthetic change, but a structural one, making the tires stronger and durable.
Michelin developed and patented in 1946 a key innovation in tire history, the radial tire.
Michelin owned the leading automaker Citroën, so it was quickly able to introduce its new design, including on the new 1948 Citroën 2CV model. Because of its significant advantages in durability and fuel economy, this technology spread quickly in Europe and Asia in the 1950s and 1960s and enabled Michelin to become one of the worlds leading tire manufacturers.
LEGO, which is the largest toy company in the world, also makes more than 300 million rubber tires a year — making it the biggest manufacturer of tires, too. The second largest tire company, Michelin, produces only 170 million a year.
Michelin owned the leading automaker Citroën, so it was quickly able to introduce its new design, including on the new 1948 Citroën 2CV model. Because of its significant advantages in durability and fuel economy, this technology spread quickly in Europe and Asia in the 1950s and 1960s and enabled Michelin to become one of the worlds leading tire manufacturers.
FUN TIRE FACTS
LEGO, which is the largest toy company in the world, also makes more than 300 million rubber tires a year — making it the biggest manufacturer of tires, too. The second largest tire company, Michelin, produces only 170 million a year.
Formula One teams don’t own their tires, and at the end of each race teams have to return the tires to Pirelli. Even used tires must be returned to prevent industrial espionage.
The tiny bits of rubber sticking out of tires are called "nubbins" and they formed in the holes used to pump rubber into the tire mold.
The World's Largest Tire currently resides in Allen Park, Michigan. This 12 ton, 80-foot-tall beast is built to withstand hurricane force winds, and served as a Ferris wheel (and a huge advertisement for Uniroyal) at the 1964-65 New York World's Fair.
The Flat Tire Alarm, patented in the US, is a steel spring device which, when fastened to each wheel on a car, makes a loud clacking noise if a tire looses too much air.
A car tire rotates 32,000,000 times in its average lifetime.
The tiny bits of rubber sticking out of tires are called "nubbins" and they formed in the holes used to pump rubber into the tire mold.
The World's Largest Tire currently resides in Allen Park, Michigan. This 12 ton, 80-foot-tall beast is built to withstand hurricane force winds, and served as a Ferris wheel (and a huge advertisement for Uniroyal) at the 1964-65 New York World's Fair.
The Flat Tire Alarm, patented in the US, is a steel spring device which, when fastened to each wheel on a car, makes a loud clacking noise if a tire looses too much air.
A car tire rotates 32,000,000 times in its average lifetime.
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