Plactions treads and rubbing alchohol

[Peter Matteson]

Do some research on the materials. There is a very specific reason the the Buna-N-Rubber, Nitrile and Natural rubber most teams use does not work as well on the bridge polycarb.

[Anupam Goli]

For the teams that have used the Blue Nitrile tread, how do you cut the tread down to a width that's manageable? I see 3" ad the minimum width, and I'm pretty sure 3" will be too much for manageable turning.

Originally Posted by Wing

For the teams that have used the Blue Nitrile tread, how do you cut the tread down to a width that's manageable? I see 3" ad the minimum width, and I'm pretty sure 3" will be too much for manageable turning.

Scissors, a knife, sometimes a saw blade....just about anything cuts it. Just find the width you want, measure (twice), mark the area, and cut.

[jwfoss]

Originally Posted by Wing

For the teams that have used the Blue Nitrile tread, how do you cut the tread down to a width that's manageable? I see 3" ad the minimum width, and I'm pretty sure 3" will be too much for manageable turning.

When I was on teams who used this material we always marked the back side of it and cut it tread side down on a bandsaw.

[thefro526]

Originally Posted by jwfoss

When I was on teams who used this material we always marked the back side of it and cut it tread side down on a bandsaw.

The few times that I've cut Blue Nitrile, I've used a bandsaw as well. I've found that the only way to get a remotely straight cut was to clam a piece of angle (or other material) to the table of the saw to act as a guide.

[Anupam Goli]

I was hoping to avoid using a bandsaw... My shaky fingers often mess up cuts, and those burs really are annoying. How much more advantage does Blue Nitrile have over roughtop or Colson?

[Jared Russell]

We often use a box cutter or razor blade (along with a clamped-down straight edge) to cut our tread to length and width. It isn't too difficult.

Based on qualitative observations (and a few quantitative experiments), blue nitrile outgrips Colson wheels on carpet (particular with wide, small diameter wheels), but on HDPE and polycarbonate surfaces, the Colsons grip a bit better. Adding custom tread patterns to the Colsons supposedly closes the gap with roughtop tread on carpet.

Originally Posted by Wing

I was hoping to avoid using a bandsaw... My shaky fingers often mess up cuts, and those burs really are annoying. How much more advantage does Blue Nitrile have over roughtop or Colson?

I hear it's pretty grippy, and wears really well....but that's it. If you get into a pushing match with roughtops vs. nitrile, both with similar gearboxes/speeds, you're not going to find one will be drastically better than the other.

If you don't think it's worth the hassle, just use roughtop/colsons. You're not going to loose any needed power.

[sdcantrell56]

Originally Posted by SuperNerd256

I hear it's pretty grippy, and wears really well....but that's it. If you get into a pushing match with roughtops vs. nitrile, both with similar gearboxes/speeds, you're not going to find one will be drastically better than the other.

If you don't think it's worth the hassle, just use roughtop/colsons. You're not going to loose any needed power.

Just to clarify. Nitrile is a material while roughtop is a tread pattern. You can get nitrile roughtop or neoprene roughtop or a couple other rubbers. Nitrile is just about the least grippy of all the potential materials but not by much and its wear characteristics are much better than some of the other materials. That said...I still prefer colsons.

[Anupam Goli]

Originally Posted by sdcantrell56

....That said...I still prefer colsons.

Of course, the only thing preventing me from using colsons is the time and financial cost of making your own live axle hubs for them.

[jwfoss]

Originally Posted by Wing

Of course, the only thing preventing me from using colsons is the time and financial cost of making your own live axle hubs for them.

The financial cost of making your own live axle hubs for colson wheels is actually relatively low. I'd argue less than the cost of buying other types of wheels. See FRC228.

You want a simple live axle plug for the colsons 1.5" wide, buy a piece of 1.25" OD diameter aluminum rod, turn down to 1.2" inches OD, drill thru and broach for whatever you want to drive, and cut to 1 5/8" long. Press in, and drive.

Or just wait a few months, I hear that WCP will be selling live axle plugs in the future.