ZoneIII
Supercharged
This subject came up in a separate thread that I posted and I thought I'd start a thread on this specific subject because I'd like to get more input about this.
Bead balancing. Does it work or is it nonsense? I'm VERY skeptical about it. I hadn't even heard about it until recently but I found a lot of positive reports about it. But, as someone in the other thread pointed out, the placebo effect could be at play here. (The placebo effect popped into my mind immediately when I read positive reports about bead balancing.)
It was mentioned in the other thread that people who've tried it "can't measure any improvement." The problem is that it would be very hard, if not almost impossible, to objectively measure the difference if there actually is a difference. The videos on YouTube and reports by people who put a bead balanced wheel on a dynamic balancing machine (spin balancing), whether in dynamic mode or static mode (which technically isn't static mode but simulates it, as far as I know) are invalid. The reason is that spin balancing machines don't allow the tire/wheel to move up and down as it does while rolling down the road, hitting bumps, etc. In theory (if bead balancing works), it's the up and down movement of the tire that causes the beads to reposition themselves in the tire and do their thing. With no up and down movement possible with the wheel mounted on a spin balancing machine, the beads would just spread out evenly and do nothing. So reports that they work or don't work are almost always subjective. (I'm not even sure how you could objectively measure the effectiveness of bead balancing.) On the other hand, most of the reports by people who say they don't work are by people who never tried them. They're just skeptical of the whole idea of bead balancing (like me). So, from what I can tell, the only thing to go on is subjective reports by people who have used them but that gets back to the placebo effect.
So, I'd like to hear from people who have actually tried bead balancing. What is your best subjective opinion about whether they worked or not?
Also, if anyone knows of an objective way to measure the effectiveness of beads, I'd like to hear what that is.
If bead balancing does work, it would eliminate the problem of tire/wheels going out of balance over time. As everyone knows who has their wheels re-balanced periodically, they go out of balance as tires wear. Also, beads (if they work) would make balancing so much easier. So I'd like to learn more about it. I'm guessing that I'll probably just end up going with traditional balancing weights but this is at least checking out more.
The subject of the best tires also came up in my other thread so I'm going to open a thread about just that. I'd appreciate any input you might have on that subject too as I'll probably be changing my tires soon.
Bead balancing. Does it work or is it nonsense? I'm VERY skeptical about it. I hadn't even heard about it until recently but I found a lot of positive reports about it. But, as someone in the other thread pointed out, the placebo effect could be at play here. (The placebo effect popped into my mind immediately when I read positive reports about bead balancing.)
It was mentioned in the other thread that people who've tried it "can't measure any improvement." The problem is that it would be very hard, if not almost impossible, to objectively measure the difference if there actually is a difference. The videos on YouTube and reports by people who put a bead balanced wheel on a dynamic balancing machine (spin balancing), whether in dynamic mode or static mode (which technically isn't static mode but simulates it, as far as I know) are invalid. The reason is that spin balancing machines don't allow the tire/wheel to move up and down as it does while rolling down the road, hitting bumps, etc. In theory (if bead balancing works), it's the up and down movement of the tire that causes the beads to reposition themselves in the tire and do their thing. With no up and down movement possible with the wheel mounted on a spin balancing machine, the beads would just spread out evenly and do nothing. So reports that they work or don't work are almost always subjective. (I'm not even sure how you could objectively measure the effectiveness of bead balancing.) On the other hand, most of the reports by people who say they don't work are by people who never tried them. They're just skeptical of the whole idea of bead balancing (like me). So, from what I can tell, the only thing to go on is subjective reports by people who have used them but that gets back to the placebo effect.
So, I'd like to hear from people who have actually tried bead balancing. What is your best subjective opinion about whether they worked or not?
Also, if anyone knows of an objective way to measure the effectiveness of beads, I'd like to hear what that is.
If bead balancing does work, it would eliminate the problem of tire/wheels going out of balance over time. As everyone knows who has their wheels re-balanced periodically, they go out of balance as tires wear. Also, beads (if they work) would make balancing so much easier. So I'd like to learn more about it. I'm guessing that I'll probably just end up going with traditional balancing weights but this is at least checking out more.
The subject of the best tires also came up in my other thread so I'm going to open a thread about just that. I'd appreciate any input you might have on that subject too as I'll probably be changing my tires soon.
