4 ms·

I wonder what prompted them to use smooth (treadless) tires? Large and soft tires are certainly good on snow, but smooth? Maybe that actually works better on

I wonder what prompted them to use smooth (treadless) tires? Large and soft tires are certainly good on snow, but smooth? Maybe that actually works better on ice?

NikkiA 7y ago
Possibly, the LCC-1 that the US Army used in greenland was successful and while the tyres had treads, they were very shallow treads. A picture here: https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2901/14573121102_56c93ec47f_b.jpg https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2901/14573121102_56c93ec47f_b....
gameswithgo 7y ago
probably all that was available in that size plus a lack of understanding. or maybe they thought chains would be fine. but in the pictures there are just four chains! need another 20 or so i would think.
twic 7y ago
I would assume the tyres were chosen to work well on the terrain of Agartha, the ultimate destination of the expedition.
- ColanR 7y ago
  I hadn't heard about the connection to Agartha before.
tokai 7y ago
The threads will be packed with snow in no time.
- josefresco 7y ago
  Siping is an important part of snow tire tread.
  - gus_massa 7y ago
    Siping was cutting edge technology at that time. From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siping_(rubber) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siping_(rubber) > [...] It was his son, Harry E. Sipe, who popularised the use of sipes in the USA for the new low-pressure balloon tires around 1939. > The process was not applied to vehicle tires on a large scale until the 1950s, when superior tread compounds were developed that could stand up to the siping process. [...]
- lscotte 7y ago
  Modern tread blocks are designed to eject mud and snow. Back then though...
jfindley 7y ago
They were designed for swamps, where apparently this tyre design works well. On snow, treadless tyres are essentially useless, and this was a large part of why the cruiser failed to achieve much of anything. I suspect that at the time producing and transporting suitable tyres was extremely difficult, so they weren't able to try swapping the original tyres for something more suited to the conditions.

I wonder what prompted them to use smooth (treadless) tires? Large and soft tires are certainly good on snow, but smooth? Maybe that actually works better on ice?

NikkiA 7y ago

Possibly, the LCC-1 that the US Army used in greenland was successful and while the tyres had treads, they were very shallow treads. A picture here: https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2901/14573121102_56c93ec47f_b.jpg https://c1.staticflickr.com/3/2901/14573121102_56c93ec47f_b....

gameswithgo 7y ago

probably all that was available in that size plus a lack of understanding. or maybe they thought chains would be fine. but in the pictures there are just four chains! need another 20 or so i would think.

twic 7y ago

I would assume the tyres were chosen to work well on the terrain of Agartha, the ultimate destination of the expedition.

ColanR 7y ago
I hadn't heard about the connection to Agartha before.

tokai 7y ago

The threads will be packed with snow in no time.

josefresco 7y ago
Siping is an important part of snow tire tread.
- gus_massa 7y ago
  Siping was cutting edge technology at that time. From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siping_(rubber) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siping_(rubber) > [...] It was his son, Harry E. Sipe, who popularised the use of sipes in the USA for the new low-pressure balloon tires around 1939. > The process was not applied to vehicle tires on a large scale until the 1950s, when superior tread compounds were developed that could stand up to the siping process. [...]
lscotte 7y ago
Modern tread blocks are designed to eject mud and snow. Back then though...

jfindley 7y ago

They were designed for swamps, where apparently this tyre design works well. On snow, treadless tyres are essentially useless, and this was a large part of why the cruiser failed to achieve much of anything. I suspect that at the time producing and transporting suitable tyres was extremely difficult, so they weren't able to try swapping the original tyres for something more suited to the conditions.