FAQ

Air Fom use multiple layer construction to meet many of the requirements of today’s cyclist for an airless technology. One of these requirements is impact resistance.
A key component in the Air Fom system is a very light weight, high strength material that is the same as used in the Automotive industry for impact protection (crash) in the front and rear bumpers.
This material can take very large impacts, absorb them and not deform. This is one of the reasons the Air Fom concept is possible.

No More Pinch Flats – Smooth Ride Experience

Air, contained in a relatively low-pressure structure such as a tire, is very good at moving away from any source of higher pressure that pushes upon it.
So good in fact, that while it makes your ride super smooth, it allows any obstruction presented with enough force, to move all the air out of the way completely and damage your rim.
This is how standard air system tires get a “pinch” flat in your tube or a “flat spot” in your rim.

Impact Absorption – Protection for Your Rims

Air Fōm, while having many of the dynamic ride properties of air, cannot move “out of the way” when an impact hits your wheel.
Air Fōm must take the hit and absorb the impact. This not only dampens the impact to the rider but also provides powerful protection to the rim of your wheel.

To deal with this Air-Fōm must use lightweight high strength materials that, in multiple layers, provide a durable structural foundation for your wheels.

Air pressure is what allows you to ride your bicycle. Without air pressure your tire would not be an inflated structure that allows you to smoothly glide along the surface you are riding on.
Air can do this since when you pump up your tire you are forcing air molecules together closer and closer and closer. Air molecules do not like this and as you force them closer and closer together, the rate at which they collide with each other and the container (your bicycle tube) increases.
As the number of air molecules increase within an enclosed space the number of collisions also increase. This is what creates “pressure”.

Simulating Wheel Air Pressure With Advanced Materials

Air Fōm is not air. This means that it must create the simulation of air pressure in your tire in a very different way. Air Fōm must use the structural characteristics of the materials in the Air Fōm insert in combination with a precision design process to create a structure that has the “feeling” of air pressure. We call this “simulated pressure”.

Multiple Layers – Different Simulated Wheel Pressures

By using multiple foam layers we can manufacture the Air Fōm product to have different, precisely simulated air pressures. One of the materials we use is a very strong, very lightweight material that gives Air Fōm the ability to simulate the high pressures in bicycle tires.
No other air less technology in the market uses this material. This material is key to the Air Fōm concept. Through the ability of this material to provide a long-lasting durable foundation for the tire pressure Air Fōm can guarantee a great ride for any cyclist.

Many people wonder “how does the Air Fōm insert keep the tire on the rim?” If there is no air pressure, then there cannot be any pressure to force the bead of the tire onto the rim?

Tire Pressure Simulation and Virtual Modeling

This is one of the key technologies of Air Fōm. Air Fōm engineers use proprietary modeling techniques to measure a range of tire and rim combinations of each size of insert that Air Fōm offers. By averaging the internal inflated structural dimensions of a specific tire dimension, we can then design the Air Fōm insert to “act” like an inflated tube.

Perfect Insert Fit & Easy “Inflated” Installation

If the Air Fōm insert is an “inflated structure” then how can a bike mechanic get it into my tire? That is another very good question.
The precision engineered design of the insert allows the insert to be manually mounted by any professional bike mechanic because its sizing is engineered to fit inside the tire while still allowing for a tolerance at the bead diameter. This gives the mechanic the ability to mount the bead.

Due to the multiple layer construction of Air Fōm, Air Fōm engineers are able to use “high energy” materials that imitate the dynamic rebound feeling of air (the bounce of an inflated tire).

Lightweight Energy Layers

One of the key materials used is the same that is used in athletic footwear that gives a basketball or running shoe a large amount of energy return. This material is brand new in the global world of energy return materials. By using this material in combination with other high tech lightweight materials Air Fōm can give up to 60% rebound compared to air.

60% of Air Rebound Performance

Other materials such as EVA and other older foam technologies can give only 25-30% rebound. This new high energy material is what make Air Fōm feel like air and ride like air.

Air Fōm uses our secret proprietary lubricant called Bead Butter. Bead Butter reduces friction between alloy and rubber by 80%. Bead butter lubrication lasts @ 30-45 mins after application.

One Time Activation

Bead Butter will not be reactivated by any exposure to water. When the mechanic uses the Bead Butter to mount the bead on the rim they can overcome the resistance of the tire bead and make a safe and powerful lock onto the rim.

Key to Easy Installation / Replacement

The mechanic can also use Bead Butter to unmount the tire bead to remove the Air Fōm inserts. Bead Butter is key to the Air Fōm technology and system.

Environmentally Friendly
Bead Butter is fully organic and safe to handle. There is no issue with contact with skin and it is non toxic.

Air Fom Weight 280-320g

Only 75G Per Wheel Difference But No Flats Ever

If you pump up your 700 / 40 c tire to 60 psi in a garage at 15 degrees Celsius and then go outside at a temperature of -10 degrees your tire will lose about 8% of pressure. Why ?

Cold Air Causes Pressure Loss

The cold temperature “slows down” the molecules of air as they collide with each other inside of your tube. The air, becomes “smaller” so to speak. The greater the temperature difference between the air you pump into the tire and the temperature you ride in, equals the amount of pressure you will lose.

Can Cause Rim Impacts & Lost Performance

If the temperature difference is very high for example when you pump air into your bike inside your kitchen and then you go outside into very cold air, say -20c, then you can lose as much as 20% of your pressure making your bike ride slower and making the handling less safe. It also increases the chances of an impact damaging your rim or giving you a flat tire.

Air Fom Works Perfectly from -30 to +50 Celsius

Air Fom is not air. It is made of high tech materials that were engineered to maintain their physical properties across temperatures from -30 degrees Celsius to + 50 degrees. The Air Fom will ride the same no matter what the temperature is. This is significant advantage for safety, performance and comfort. Air Fom is the highest technology airless insert you can purchase for your bike.

Many foams like EVA and others have very poor compression set properties. Compression set means that if a certain amount of weight is applied to a sample foam block for a certain amount of time a foam may not be able to “rebound” to its original shape.
This is bad and makes most foam materials unsuitable for use in tire insert applications. Its critical that for Air Fōm our materials have almost zero compression set.

Air Fom has a Zero Compression Set. Wow!

In field testing with actual riders and in our lab testing, bikes that have Air Fōm inserts in them can be left for weeks and have no “dent” in the tire from compression set. This means that once you install Air Fōm you can store your bike wherever you want in any temperature for any length of time. When you go to find your bike you just get on and ride.

Throw Away Your Pump

If you had air inside your tires and you didn’t ride for weeks you would have to pump up your tires before you rode again. Air Fōm allows you to ride anytime anywhere and never worry about flat tires or unsafe air pressure ever again.

We all hate the ways in which plastic pollutes our environment. We all hate the way industries irresponsibly use plastic for everyday items that get used only once.
At Air Fōm we take the environment and our impact on it very seriously. This is why Air Fōm uses materials that are FULLY recyclable. The high tech foam materials in Air Fōm are made from composite materials that are NOT CROSS LINKED.

Your Bicycle Tube is Bad for The Environment

Every other foam or rubber material used in bicycle tires and wheels are what we call cross-linked. Cross linking is a heat or chemical process that is a way to make these materials much stronger and more durable. If your bicycle tube was not cross linked then it would tear and rip the moment you put pressure into it.

Cross-linked Tubes Cannot be Easily Recycled

The process to make a rubber component stronger is called “vulcanization”. Vulcan refers to the Greek god of fire. In this case it means heat. When a bicycle tube is vulcanized it is baked in a mold for a specific amount of time at a specific temperature. This causes the rubber molecules to “cross-link” or join together to make the rubber much stronger.
Unfortunately once this happens it renders the rubber non-recyclable (certain special rubbers can be recycled however it is expensive and time consuming) and they can only be shredded or burned.

Air Fom Can Be 100% Recycled & Re-used

The material in Air Fōm is not cross linked and therefore it can be returned to a recycler or manufacturer of the raw material and it can be fully recycled back into its original form with no loss of properties. By riding on Air Fōm for at least 2 years you will save the planet from many kilos of rubber waste in the form of discarded rubber tubes.