Has anyone tried these ?

[Richard_D]

http://www.innovativebalancing.com/?gclid=CNvuhJ_ljpYCFQa6sgod6wlCEQ

[johnlt]

Yes, many have used them with good with reportedly good success.

[jm1515]

FWIW....This past summer just before changing tires, I bought 2oz each for the front/rear. I couldn't wait to try them, so I took off the lone weight (10grams) on the front and loaded them in.

I must have done a good job with the old-fashioned 'wheel spin & lead weight' balancing method the last time I changed tires, because for the next ~1200miles before I finally put a new front on, I noticed nothing different.

It took (me) ~15min to load the beads in the already installed tire, about the same time it takes to do a spin balance, so they saved me no time in the whole process.

I didn't bother with them when I finally put the new tires on....

[tomk99r11]

They work great and I will continue to use the product in all of my bikes from now on. I have balanced my own wheels for years, and have a Parnes balancer. The beads definitely work. You will hear responses all over the map on this by the way. Some who have never tried them will swear they don't/can't possibly work. I like 'em.

[Paul Mihalka]

I would like to read a solid explanation how they work.

[tomk99r11]

There must be one somewhere, but it has to involve centrifugal force that causes all those little ceramic beads to disperse I would guess. The beads are very small and varied in size. I tried them somewhat on a lark out of curiosity frankly, when I last mounted tires on 2 bikes. I will check for signs of scuffing on the inside of the tire out when I replace the tires.

[Quinn]

I wonder how this differs from the liquid balancers that have been around for years.

 

 

[Richard_D]

I would think it would be better than weights because as the tire wears ,it would be re-balanced constantly .

[g_frey]

I used to work for Firestone. One slow day a person came in with badly worn newish Firestone tires that vibrated badly on the road. He had these ceramic beads in them (bingo, no warranty). We took them out and his tires no longer vibrated badly. We tried these beads in an already well balanced tire and wheel combination on the dynamic balancer and every once in awhile they balanced the tire wheel system for a short period. The rest of the time they made it run out of balance. You could not balance the tires. Needless to say they did not work at all on the bubble balancer. They don't work, deer whistles don't work, toliet paper oil filters dont' work, most add on performance mufflers don't make anything but more noise, etc.

[black99S]

snake oil, homes on Mars, synthetic vanilla ... just properly spin balance your tyres and rims with stick on weights (provided they are all true with no run out) and get on with it. I've never seen a bike at the race track with this junk - if it worked or saved time or money you can be sure there would be a sponsor advertisement.

[smiller]

I guess the question I would have about these is the same as I would for any similar miracle automotive invention... why haven't they been adopted by anyone other than specialty retailers? If balancing beads are so superior to traditional weights why doesn't anyone use them as original equipment? Why do tire shops still invest in very expensive tire balancing equipment instead of this simple solution? Something doesn't add up...

 

Also I note that the Dynabeads site recommends nitrogen tire inflation. 'Nuff said.

[tomk99r11]

Naysayers aside, there are a lot of riders who use them and find reduce/eliminate tire balance issues. But, this is from someone who has used them and found improved performance. Call them snake oil, mumbo jumbo, whatever, but--------

[outpost22]

I also use them. Tires run smooth as silk. BTW, it only takes 5 minutes or less to fill the beads if you take it easy with the applicator. My last tire took me 15 minutes to balance conventionally on my buddies balancer.

 

As to warranty, my tires barely go 5-6K WITH regular balancing. It they by slim chance go longer with Dynabeads, who would I be to argue about it?

[FrankP]

My 2c....

 

For a free mass moving about inside the tire to be able to find the correct position to counter an existing imbalance, the tire/wheel assembly must be free to move about it's center of mass. On a balancer, this is not the case, since the balancer holds the wheel on a rigid axle. The balancer detects force on the bearings that the axle spins on, to tell where the heavy spots are. Once you put the wheel on the bike, it is free to wobble about it's spinning axis because of the suspension, so the free mass (beads, liquid or whatever) will move to counteract the wobble.

To me the theory of this makes sense, but is is different from what you're doing with the lead weights, which are not free to move about and will not displace because of bumps etc.

My concern in this equation is the effect that bumps may have on the balance using the beads, although it makes sense that after a bump unbalances the wheel, the re-balancing would be pretty quick at any appreciable speed.

The other part of the balance equation the beads don't seem to address as well as the balance across the rotating axis, is the lateral balance - imbalance from one side of the rim to the other - since the wheel/tire assembly is not free to move/wobble in that plane. A dynamic tire balancing rig should address that type of imbalance as well, although with the relatively narrow rims motorcycle tires run on, and good manufacturing tolerances of wheels and tires, it may not be a noticeable issue.

[tomk99r11]

Interesting post, thanks Frank.

[effexer1]

I inquired about them at a bike show, and was actually interested, until the seller tried to also sell me nitrogen also. End of story.

[Ken H.]

I would like to read a solid explanation how they work.

Yes that makes two of us. I’ve yet to find a single explanation based on proven physics as to how they (can) work. Especially given that they would have to ‘move to’ 180º from the heaviest point on the tire/wheel to be effective. And what of the extra? E.g. it takes 10 g at a particular spot balance the tire/wheel and you had put in 14 g of beads. (After all, when you install them you have no idea how much or how little to actually put in.) How can the 4 g of extra beads in there not negatively effect the balance even if you grant the fact that the 10 g needed somehow find their way to the correct spot each and every moving away from a stop. (Where they would have settled to the bottom during the stop. Unless of course they defy gravity too!)

 

I’d give a lot to see an x-ray of a tire/wheel with a known balance need of a certain amount in a certain spot in motion showing the beads having positioned themselves correctly.