Nitrogen filled tires

[Hobbesca]

Does anyone have their tires filled with nitrogen on their bikes. My new pickup came with it, and i have a couple friends that swear by it for their trucks.

I have to get a new rear tire and the dealer can fill it with N2 for $ 20.

Wondering if anyone has it for their bike tires and if it changes/enhances/improves anything.

Normal breathing air is 78 % N2 already so is paying $ 20 per tire worth it to take it to 90 % if there are any improvement. The actual N2 molecule is slightly larger than a O2 molecule, which could prevent tires from losing pressure, but air is free at most gas stations.

Thanks in advance.

 

[FinalImpact]

Seems like waste too me. Save your money and get a plug kit and a bicycle tire pump you can carry with should you get a puncture.

JM2C...

 

[iSteve]

I used Nitrogen in tires back in the 80's. I lived need a shop that would charge $5 for both tires and my forks. The good thing besides not leaking as much is that it doesn't expand as much when hot. But $20 seem like a waste of money unless you're racing.

 

[Druff]

Trucks and big SUV are supposed to get better mpg over air inflated but it's all abit pseudo science. A good set of tires filled with air will do better than shoddy tires filled with N2. I'd double down on the 'if your racing' then circumstances change but of normal riding?

 

[VEGASRIDER]

In order to benefit from Nitrogen, your tires has to be completely sucked out with air, then replaced. I think this is the primary cost, but afterwards, if you needed to top off, it's free. At least that's what it was with Costco. I think Harley Dealership offers this option too.

There are several threads about using Nitrogen, just use the search function and type in the keyword. I use to run Nitro, but then switched back to air just for the convenience.

 

[ShoopCE]

Nitrogen for filling tires provides very limited benefits. The ONLY practical one is that it is more reliably dry than the compressed air that you would get out of a typical filling station. The other claimed benefits, like having a larger molecular diameter, having less mass per molar volume, and being less reactive are all true but make VERY little difference in actual use in a tire used for normal conditions, even for racing.

The reason they use nitrogen for aircraft tires and for racing vehicles is because the expansion characteristics are less extreme and more predictable if the interior of the tire does not contain any liquid water. That is a really big deal for aircraft because they and the tires move from moderate temperatures to very low ones while in flight to very high ones when they touch down. The same feature has an impact for race cars but they usually don't get to the very low temperatures. But in both cases air would work just as well if it is kept dry.

I'll skip the lecture on why it's difficult to get dry compressed air and why it's more reliable that you will get dry nitrogen.

Anyway, the other claims are true but they don't provide any practical benefits. Tires were designed to be filled with compressed air. Yes, the N2 molecule is about 10% larger than the O2 molecule but the rate of pressure loss for air is still very low. Check the pressure in your tires regularly and either gas works fine. Yes, N2 is far less reactive than O2 is. But while O2 at 100% is pretty scary, it is pretty tame at 21%. Unless you expect to keep your tires for a century, the internal surface of the tires will look almost new when you replace them. Yes, N2 is lighter than the same volume & pressure of O2 or air (2.9% vs air), but the mass of air in a tire is 0.05 lb (22 grams) versus 60 lb (27 kg) for the tire plus wheel so the difference will not change the unsprung weight of the tire.

Unless your bike, car, SUV, or airplane is going to be going from frigid to hot temperatures in a matter of minutes - just use air and check your tire pressure regularly. You will have no measureable difference in performance, fuel efficiency, or tire life.

But you can get those eye-catching green valve stem caps if you pay for the nitrogen.

Yes - I'm a scientist, and you can probably tell that I get annoyed by pseudoscience sales claims.

Chris

 

[Hobbesca]

So ... does that mean that filling my tires with Hydrogen isn't a good idea either ... ?

I thought the burn outs would be awesome.

In regards to the nitrogen, I kind of knew the answer in my work life we use quite a bit of Nitrogen but we have specific needs for it (seals, depletion of O2, etc). The strange thing is this dealership sells a ton of it, and almost everyone swears by it. But paying for an air replacement seems a little wonky.

Thanks for everyones input.

 

[VEGASRIDER]

Next time you have a set of tires replaced, ask to have it filled with Nitrogen, that way you can avoid the extra charge. Sounds like you can top off your tires at work in the event you need to add air. Or bring the new set unfilled to your workplace.

 

[FinalImpact]

Next time you have a set of tires replaced, ask to have it filled with Nitrogen, that way you can avoid the extra charge. Sounds like you can top off your tires at work in the event you need to add air. Or bring the new set unfilled to your workplace.

As pointed out; evac is the key as most of the *air's* moisture is in the tire during the mounting process. Pulling a vacuum adequate to remove the moisture would likely unseat the bead by collapsing the tire and create a never ending vicious cycle of inflating and deflating. Thus, it must be done in a chamber so the tire doesn't collapse on itself (equal pressure inside and out). Thus it is no longer cost effective!

So, only replace your tires in the dead of winter on days with low dew point and humidity where working temperature is below 22°F and then fill with N2!! Blah

Abstract - that is the ideal time to bleed your brakes so there is less moisture trapped in the system​

!

 

[JayyVee]

Does anyone have their tires filled with nitrogen on their bikes. My new pickup came with it, and i have a couple friends that swear by it for their trucks.

I have to get a new rear tire and the dealer can fill it with N2 for $ 20.

Wondering if anyone has it for their bike tires and if it changes/enhances/improves anything.

Normal breathing air is 78 % N2 already so is paying $ 20 per tire worth it to take it to 90 % if there are any improvement. The actual N2 molecule is slightly larger than a O2 molecule, which could prevent tires from losing pressure, but air is free at most gas stations.

Thanks in advance.

This may not apply as much given I had Nitrogen in my old bimmer's (car) tires vs my bike - however insight gained from that experience was; I felt no frickin difference and that 'was' a car that I took to the track at times.

It just 'sounds good' but I see no benefits unless you're looking at tenth/hundredth of a second gains as a big deal (professional track racing - sure).

Essentially it's a neat trick for tire/rim shops to make an extra buck, imho. The cost to them for one tank, versus all the tires they fill = $$$ profit.

 

[VEGASRIDER]

This may not apply as much given I had Nitrogen in my old bimmer's (car) tires vs my bike - however insight gained from that experience was; I felt no frickin difference and that 'was' a car that I took to the track at times.

It just 'sounds good' but I see no benefits unless you're looking at tenth/hundredth of a second gains as a big deal (professional track racing - sure).

Essentially it's a neat trick for tire/rim shops to make an extra buck, imho. The cost to them for one tank, versus all the tires they fill = $$$ profit.

Agree, I thought I would try it since I was riding on asphalt that was probably around 130 degrees or hotter during the summer. Like most mods I cannot tell the difference. 90% is probably mental. Yeah, it can make a difference but to notice actual physical performance between the two, I certainly cannot. Whether it's Iridium plugs, KN Air Filter or after market exhaust, I could not tell the difference.

 

[afpreppie04]

I had nitrogen in my FZ6 tires back in the day when I worked at a Ford dealer just because I did it for free during a slow period. I did not notice a difference at all.

The one thing the nitrogen filling there had going for it was the warranty. They charged something ridiculous like $100 for the initial vacuum and fill, but if you got a flat with nitrogen in it the dealer would repair it for free (so will Discount btw) but unlike Discount, if you got a flat and it was not repairable (sidewall puncture or even low/no tread remaining) they would replace it free of charge.

We had some suspicious situations come in, but I never once saw the warranty turned down. One example was a F250 that had the nitrogen put in. About a month later he came back with flats. His four tires had over 30 nails in between them, and they were all at about 2/32". The dealer bought him four new tires.