Wouldn’t it be great if you could just change the sole of your tire, if necessary, without having to change everything? Michelin, with its tires printed in 3d, is working on a project of this kind. But the Norwegian company ReTyre may have found a solution, applied for the moment only to bicycle tires: the zipper!
In fact, the Norwegian principle is simple: you buy relatively smooth tires, capable of being used on the most common surfaces. Then, if necessary, you add on top a kind of cover attached with a zipper.
In just a few minutes, you can switch from the road tire to the track tire, or from the summer tire to the winter tire. All without much effort. But obviously, the principle should still exist for car tires.
Of course, the difficulties are somewhat greater. It is easy, for example, to lift a bicycle to gain access to two wheels at home. Lifting a whole car requires a little more equipment and effort.
Another detail: the zipper resists quite well at limited speeds, and at fairly simple turns, of the bike. Because you will understand, they are not performance tires used in racing either. In a car, at 100 km an hour, friction and heat may have a real influence on the attachment of the tire, at the risk of causing the sole to waltz.
For the moment, there does not seem to be any plan to import the ReTyres into the automotive world. But admit that it would still be great, and economical!
