Some teams last year used these wheels that looked like they were made out of foam-rubber, but they could have been pneumatic. Does anyone know where to buy these?
Hrrm, the description is kind of vague but check www.skywaytuffwheels.com and let me know if they have what you are talking about.
*Originally posted by RBrandy *
**Some teams last year used these wheels that looked like they were made out of foam-rubber, but they could have been pneumatic. Does anyone know where to buy these? **
I think the material you might be referring to is Neoprene… there are both rubber products and foam products of neoprene…
Neoprene typically has a coefficient of friction around 2 or 3… it’s very high…
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The other one you might be referring to is “gum rubber”. Thread here. I also suggest you try out “EPDM” rubber. EPDM rubber is extremely durable, and is commonly used in roofing applications. Lastly, you could try silicone (segway wheel material), but silicone tends to be rather expensive to get…
I’d recommend Neoprene or EPDM rubber, because they are very durable (high yield strength) compared to gum or silicone (not opinion, but fact).
Personally, I would get/order samples of EPDM, Neoprene, Silicone, and Gum rubbers. The last one I would try is something called 3M Resilient Rollstock. If you can get a hold of 3M and ask them to donate an 8" sample or so… the bad part is, even thought they say it has a high COF, it’s made out of Polyurethane, which is typically not a very high COF material. Of course, it’s 3M so maybe it is a wonder-material…
Then just run tests on each rubber. As for adhering them to wheels, 3M makes products for adhering Neoprene… it’s a spray, it can adhere any rubber except EPDM (for that they make a different product).
A simple google search for any of these products (with the word “rubber” after it) will yield sellers (you might want to use quotes). You could even try McMaster.
We used gum rubber and we actually found the degradation of the wheels to be a good thing on the carpet. once the wheels were filled with pits and ridges we got alot of extra bit on the carpet. and so far this season i have seen nothing grip better on the hdpe than gum rubber as far as wheels are concerned.