In today’s full-suspension mountain bikes, the front and rear shocks do excellent jobs lessening those impact forces. And that helps keep riders logging miles and turning switchbacks.
All told, we’re very happy with the results of our suspension and wheel upgrades. Yes, the changes have affected range, so the more range anxious e-tron owner may wish to steer clear.
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Have you ever had an oversized truck pass you and your vehicle sways from side to side? This is a sign of worn or weak shocks and struts. Weak, worn, or bad shocks and struts can cause very poor vehicle handling issues and ride comfort problems. This is because worn shocks and struts have lost the internal pressure and ability to keep applied pressure downward. This can cause excessive bounce and roll when hitting bumps or potholes, which can also lead to premature tire wear.
The spokes on a standard spoked wheel hold it in tension. If the spokes lose tension, they start to break and the rim will buckle. A Loopwheel is not held in tension by its springs therefore the rim is strong, double-walled, and less likely to suffer from buckling or fracture at the rim.
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Given no e-trons yet wear a 22-inch wheel from the factory, we didn’t have a recommended factory fitment tire. However, we noticed Vossen’s own upgraded e-tron (see: Academic e-tron, p.36 Q3_2019) used 285/35R22. As it happened, this was the exact fitment that was already on these former Q7 fitted wheels. Given the 285/35R22 Toyo Proxes S/T tires were properly weight rated and that Vossen had experienced no problems, we decided to give them a try.
Portions relating to lightbox are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/). Lightbox was authored by Lokesh Dhakar (lokeshdhakar.com).
"Having the Loopwheels has been a complete life changer for me. I can now go on longer journeys with less fatigue...."
Not to mention, they're virtually invulnerable to sabotage, as they can't be slashed, and their inner workings are protected both from malicious acts and from mud, dust and water by big metal plate covers. So they can also be made bulletproof for military vehicles.
This design takes suspension to the next level and could benefit mountain bikers who want a cushier ride. Or more attention.
In 1990 I designed this wheel with suspension and damping incorporated.I am glad to see this on the market. In those years I had no luck finding some business to develop and sell it. cruzraylson on May 5th, 2019 - 9:19pm
In the garage: Hyundai Sante Fe, Chrysler PT Cruiser convertible Craig Fitzgerald has been writing about cars, motorcycles, and the automotive industry since 1999. He is the former editor of Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car. In the garage: 1968 Buick Riviera, 1996 Buick Roadmaster, 1974 Honda CB450 Keith Griffin is president of the New England Motor Press Association and edits the used car section on About.com. He also writes for the Hartford Business Journal and various weekly newspapers in Connecticut.
SoftWheel also claims that this movement measurably decrease the energy lost from suspension movement. Their simulated track testing equated these gains to 16.4% extra energy that was not lost in a traditional suspension system. That of course means saving energy for the rider, and results in faster rolling. We’ve seen conceptually similar solutions like the carbon leaf Loop Wheels without damping, and even a smaller amount of suspension built into Gokiso’s hubs, but these Fluent wheels are certainly more tech-heavy.
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