Sometimes the strongest opinions are held by those with purely thought experience.  What's a front wheel weigh?  Add 1 oz of beads, how's that going to impact the gyroscope!!  Not much, if any.

I got a new front tire.  Pulled off the weights.  Mounted the heavy spot of the rim against the light spot of the tire.  I rode the tire unbalanced up to 60 something.  Clearly had a bit of a wonk, not a great deal.  Couldn't tell much at all until 35. Tires are pretty good.

Popped in 1 oz of dyna beads.  No difference from takeoff.  There's no thump thump of the beads.  They must distribute pretty quickly.  And the bike is dead smooth (at least as smooth as these things get) at speed.

As far as thought experiments go, I find the concept of a dynamic balance that works around the entire wheel much more appealing than a fixed approximate balance by a lump of lead.  Static balance isn't all that hot a thing.  

I'm pleased enough that I'm going to pop some in my rear wheel, too.  I think I might have a little residual stuff going on there.

Oh, and I'll pop the stuff into my truck tires, too.  That will be a good test. They've worn to imbalance.  Should have a pretty good idea of effectiveness once I do those installations.

Dynabead use voids warranties?  Example?

I can actually ride vehicles and feel what's going on.  I can see debates over subtle effects.  But just about anyone can feel an out of balance tire (even slightly out) and tell when that out of balance is resolved.

The beads make perfect sense from a theoretical standpoint.  

A key problem is that people tend to like things they've purchased.  And promote those things.  And vice versa - ding the things they haven't purchased or have decided not to.  

What specific problems do those who have tried and don't like dynabeads point to?  

Serowbot wrote on 08/03/09 at 19:06:11:




I must agree.  Car manufacturers do everything they can to save pennies on every car they make.  Lead weights are expensive because lead is classified as a hazardous material , and a variety expensive safety precautions are required in its manufacture. Used lead wheel weights are expensive to dispose of as they are classified as a hazardous waste, in many states, requiring strictly controlled disposal methods, at serious cost to the tire shops.

If Dyna beads worked all the time, then the car manufacturers would have long since bought the patent, or at least licensed their use.  Also, anything that worked that well would have made the news media by now, as the beads would eliminate a serious environmental problem  (manufacture and disposal of toxic hazardous material and then waste, lead weights).  If they always worked reliably, consumers would have known about this for some time now, via the media.


Search the net, and you will find consumers stating pro and con opinions, based on their practical experience with the beads.  This product does not work well for everyone, which is probably why Detroit won't use it, why tire manufacturers void your warranty (buy a set of new tires and refuse to let the store balance them because you intend to use the beads, and watch what they say to you), and why it hasn't caught on big time with the motoring public.

I can see the beads having a difficult time on low profile tires.  I haven't had any vehicles with low profile tires!

Would be interesting to see some real testing.  

As to manufacturers not installing innovative things - well, that's not uncommon!

Unlike magnets on fuel lines and so on, there's actual physical principles behind things like dynabeads.  

If the things don't work, then I can't see this happening: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eq263AYgyYg

I can certainly see them working in light narrow tires and not in wide flat.