These little ceramic beads have been a known quantity long enough know there should be some informed opinion of their effectiveness. Do they work well? Not at all? Vary by road condition or speed? What's the story.
Not asking how a tire manufacturer's warranty might be jeopardized by their use. Just if they work.
I gave them a good honest try in my bike. Before the beads were in, I had about 2.5 oz of lead on each wheel. I put 2.5 oz of beads in each tire, removed the weights and rode it. I was told by the rep at Innovative Balancing to only use 2 oz of beads, even tho I had 2.5 oz of lead applied.
Bottom line, it was terrible. I rode it for the whole MV '08 weekend. It was bad enough that I could look at the front axle while riding and just see it bouncing up and down like crazy, even on a local slab that is milled smooth.
I took the wheels to the local tire changer and paid them to unmount, vacuum out the beads, remount and balance the tires. I then sent them to a member of the site for free. By time I was done, it was a $100 experiment that did not work.
I then bought the No-Mar static balancer and do my own balancing. I am much happier with the ride now, it's smooth as silk. I check the tires a couple of times during their life and tweak the weights as necessary. I also use it to balance the wheels on the Bushtec trailer.
Here's the problem I saw with the beads....
As described, the beads move away from the heavy spot to balance the tire. I'm cool with that.
The problem I have is that to keep the beads where they need to be, there needs to be a constant imbalance condition. Otherwise they will migrate and spread out around the circumference.
I put them in my truck too and am now waiting for those tires to wear out so I can take them out.
I bit hard on the cute little beads, but in the end, I got bit.
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Topic: Dyna Beads balancing system (Read 16253 times)