Solid rubber tyre
Neumático macizo de caucho
- Date
- 1845-1867 · confidence medium
- Place
- Paris, France (velocipedes); London (Thomson, 1845)
- Credited to
- Clément Ader and velocipede manufacturers (1868-1869); Robert William Thomson (pneumatic tyre, 1845, unsuccessful)
- People
- 👤 Clément Ader1841–1925👤 Robert William Thomson1822–1873
- Field
- Movement
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A band of vulcanised rubber over the iron rim that cushioned bumps and quietened the ride. Thomson had patented a pneumatic tyre in 1845, but without cheap rubber it failed to catch on; the solid tyre prevailed on velocipedes and carriages.
Thomson (London, 1845) invented the pneumatic tyre 43 years before Dunlop; Ader patented the solid tyre for velocipedes in 1868.
What it led to
- Comfort for bicycles and carriages; urban adoption of the velocipede
- Dunlop's pneumatic tyre (1888)
- Demand for plantation rubber
Built on
Made possible
- Pedal bicycle (Michaux velocipede)1861-1867
- Gasoline automobile1886
- Pneumatic tyre
- Rubber-tyred tram