snake oil dynabeads quote

I myself don't believe in these "beads", physics isn't there. While reading some pros & cons posts, saw this one that is undeniable, sort of funny:

One big complaint I've always had about the Dyna beads is the lack of any way to really verify they work aside from "they feel OK" and their demonstration video. They have created a situation where it's impossible to verify they function.

From their site:

" Can I put the tire on a balancer to see if it's working?

No. Dyna Beads operates on physics principles, and requires the tire assembly to be in motion against a road surface to detect the exact counterbalance position. An electronic balancer has a solid, fixed mount, and does not allow the tire to react to imbalance."

My biggest complaint is the last sentence:

" An electronic balancer has a solid, fixed mount, and does not allow the tire to react to imbalance."

Uhm - when you bolt the tire/rim up to the car (or bike) it ALSO has a solid, fixed mount. I don't see how this makes ANY difference. Plus, if the balancer doesn't allow the tire to react to an imbalance, then how does the balancing machine detect them being out of balance for lead weights? If they work on "physics principles" (EVERYTHING in the world does, in fact), then they should balance out a tire on a balancer just the same as they do on the road. The other thing I know about electronic balancers (at least for car/truck tires, which they sell Dyna beads for) is that they also balance for "wobble" - side to side motion. That's why you will sometimes see weights on both sides of the rim of your car if you look. Again, that doesn't sound like a "solid, fixed mount".

It reads like snake oil, and the lack of any easy way to verify their claims makes me even more wary. If you can't test them with a spin balance machine, how can anyone ever know if they truly work? I can't find any scientific review on those things, just lots of "they seem to work great". Some people say the same thing to doctors after being given a sugar pill...

 

ugh, here we go again. It's really simple. Find a wheel + tire you know to be balanced via traditional weights. Remove the weights and go for a ride. Does it feel unbalanced? If so, fill with the appropriate amount of beads. Go for a ride again. Does if feel unbalanced still? There are your real world results.

So many of these dead horse beating discussions can be avoided if people would try it for themselves. If you don't believe in the product, do not use it. If you love a product that no one else uses, screw 'em. You won't be able to convince someone to change something they believe it. There is no empirical proof of God, look how popular religion is!

 

Laugh my ass off!

Through all of this I've never understood why some view a stick on weight that perplexing. My rear wheels have one on each wheel and it's colored the same as the wheel so I don't even notice it. If I do a track day I use a piece of duct tape over it just to be safe. If ain't broke why try and fix it? Stick on weights are inexpensive as well. If you want to use anal beads to balance your wheel go for it. I'll keep sticking to stick on weights.

 

Just as a FYI - I have Dynabeads this time around. I just recently got an 8 spoker and didn't want to have ugly weights on it. So I figured since I am halfway through the life of my tires, why not try them? Seem fine to me.

In no way do I want my earlier post to be construed as an insult to highway star. It's just a tired discussion.

 

You could try road force balancing to verify Dynabeads claims.

 

I think an electronic balancer does have a fixed axis of rotation and strain sensors will detect the forces exerted on it by an out of balance wheel. But the fixed axis prevents the wheel from actually moving perpendicularly to the rotation. A vehicle mounted wheel is free to move because it is mounted to a suspension of some type. An out of balance wheel will cause motion of the wheel perpendicular to its rotation.

On paper, the physics do work out as the beads will be caught up in the "high" (low?) point of the perpendicular motion, equalizing the weight difference and causing the wheel to balance and achieve somewhat of normalization, after achieving a certain speed. I get it on paper and I've seen the demos online for bikes and truck wheels where it seems to work. I'm not adventurous enough to try them, wheel weights work as well.

There's a vid on youtube of a truck wheel bead solution and they use a timing light to show how the beads gather to one spot. Worth a look. The physics are real, check it out.

edit: Here's the vid for the truck tire product, same concept.

[video=youtube;ullnFQD4F1I]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ullnFQD4F1I[/video]

 

vfrcapn - dude, that was awesome! I can't believe I have never seen that video before. Dynabeads should also put a video just like that on their website.

 

Loved that video. They put dyna beads in my last set of tires (not the present ones) when I asked for weights. An oversight on their part but I thought I would ride with them for a bit and see how it rode before I took it back for them to re-do. Truth of the matter is, I did not notice anything different so left it as it was. I didn't record the mileage but what I got out of that set of tires, was not any different give or take, than with the weights. This present set of tires, I went back to the wheel weights. Guess I was just sort of stuck in my ways. But after seeing that video, I may return to the dyna beads.

 

That was a good video. Though those are not Dyna Beads. The ball bearings are captured in a ring. The dyna beads roll around in the tire. I just wonder if they bounce around some. The tire doesn't stay round per sey because the bottom get's flexed by weight, holes and bumps. It would be nice to have a clear tire so you could see what's going on when the rubber hits the road sort of speak.

I don't know a thing about Dyna Beads and really have no opinion. I static balance my own tires the old way and use weights. Never had a problem in racing or on the street even at speeds of 130+mph. So my thinking is why.?

 

Ya. I think, but not certain, that dyna beads are some sort of plastic or nylon bead and very much. smaller than what you see in that video. Maybe someone here who has them and about to change a tire, could post up a photo with something there as a comparrison so we can see what these things really look like.

I would be very surprised if they were made from any type of metal, as being much harder than the rubber, could make wear inside the tire wall, a dangerous issue.

 

I have used dyno beads for the life of my bike and I am very pleased with them. Where I live is filled with giant pot holes an the city does the ole "patch and pray" method or the "fill em with rocks method" to fix them. I guess my tax dollars are better spent on lining the pockets of the great politicians we in Louisiana are famous for having. I have never had a problem driving at high speeds or low speeds. I work for a shop on my days off from my REAL job and I have put them in more tires then not. I got them because I didn’t want the weights on my rims. Its that simple. I have only had to put 4 sets of tires on my bike and one was due to a gash in my tire that the city told me was my fault not there’s and I would have to buy new tires myself. Me and three others all got flats on the same bridge around the same time. Within a few days of each other and contacted the city. They at first cited that the bridge is above the water and that neither city owns the rights to the Red River so there is not a responsible party to the damage. About a week later there was a road crew out filling in the holes where the rebar was showing. I would guess they found a reason to fix it and a responsible party to pay for it. A long story even longer I will use them and will continue to since I powder coated the rims and don’t want the weights on the outside. I have never heard a customer come in and ask for there money back because they felt that the beads were not functioning correctly. Lastly I know that they have been using another similar product in big rigs for years to help with the cost of balancing tires every time they stop because of the failing condition of the US highways.

 

dynabeads are ceramic I think.

 

Never thought of ceramic. I just plain don't know what they are made of cause I have never seen them. Maybe I could start a cottage business and make environmentally friendly dynabeed from processed yard waste and red oak sawdust.

 

I've got them in my Suzuki. They seem to work fine. I've had it up to a 100mph and no vibes at all. I have heard however at very high speeds they can start to loose their ability to keep up and the balancing ability will start to diminish. This is why most pro racers stick with lead weights.

I think a lot of shops are using them these days because it's easy for them (no need to speed balance) and it works for 99.9% of riders.

Keep in mind your tire does not stay round when traveling down the road. This is where beads are supposed to do their magic. You can't get the same result with a fixed weight. Only time a fixed weight can be tested is when it's rolling against a fixed roller.

Did I mention I don't know shift a about balancing a wheel. Lead or beads, if it's properly balanced I'm happy.

 

I use them on my bike. they work great! Got about 1k miles on my new avons i put on myself. very smooth even at high speed. i would recommend.

 

My experience with dynabeads mirrored this comment. The previous owner of my bike had put new tires on with dynabeads. It was glass smooth up to ~100mph. But any time I went faster than that there would start to be very noticeable vibrations.

I have since put on new tires and replaced the beads with rim weights. This works, in my opinion, much better. I now have no vibrations that I can feel. The perks to the beads is that they don't ugly-up your rim with weights on it. But I think they're a questionable solution in my experience.

For those wondering what they look like: They are whiteish-grey balls about .5mm in diameter (very small, .5 may even be too big). And when you take your tires off in your driveway they will likely tumble out of the rim and get everywhere.

 

Or so you are told I suppose!

 

I realize that this thread is old, but I would like to publish my 2014 results with DynaBeads for the record:

Last year at this time, I installed two new Metzler RoadTec Z6 tubeless tires on my 6th Gen ABS at 12000 miles. This is my third set of tires since new. I installed the DynaBead kit recommended by Innovative Balancing; 1 oz., front, 2 oz. rear. I cleaned the inside of the carcass as instructed, installed the beads through the valve stem per the instructions, and inflated to recommended pressures. After riding for a few miles, I noted that the bike vibrated slightly, starting at 65 mph. At 85 mph it was much more noticeable and above 95 it was terrible.

I called Innovative and they told me to put in another 1/2 oz., front and rear. The 65 mph vibration went away, but the 95 mph and up shakes showed no improvement and maybe worsened.

Innovative said my new Metzlers were out-of-round. I could not see evidence of unusual run-out with a dial indicator.

I rode the bike last year to the end of the Montana season, for my daily 44 mile round-trip commute, rode this season to now, hoping the vibrations would disappear. I gave up, pulled the wheels, dismounted the tires, vacuumed the beads out, cleaned the carcasses again. What I did notice was that about half the beads were gummed up and black, sticking to the center of the carcass in a long string, somewhat embedded in the rubber. After re-mounting and inflating the tires, I Used my vertical static aircraft wheel balancer. I ended up with 2 oz. of clip-on lead at the light spot of the rear wheel installed on the center flange bead. The front tire only took a 1/2 oz. of clip-on lead similarly.

The bike is smooth up to and including 139+ mph on two-lane roads.

So, DynaBeads don't work for me. Thanks for the forum opportunity.

 

My tire guy uses dynabeads or a reasonable copy. I've had them up to an indicated 165 mph (@150) with no issuses. Had them through 10,000 miles of tires front & rear.

 

Not sure what a vertical static aircraft wheel balancer is or how it differs from a wheel balancer for road going vehicles. I think a product like dyna beads has limitations meaning the beads can't compensate for all imbalance issues. Balancers that place a rotating drum against the tire surface during the balancing process are the most accurate IMO. The computer will measure any imperfections in the tire and balance accordingly. Tire & rim can also be phased matched to further reduce vibrations.

Interesting results nonetheless, thanks for posting dashapiro.