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From solid to pneumatic, from bikes to motor vehicles, wheels and tires are like so many other vehicle components: we take them for granted. Most of us are accustomed to the regular replacement of our car?s tires, which eventually wear out. It?s easy to forget (or ignore) how different it was just a few decades ago, before innovations like radial tires, long-life tread, run-flats, and TPMS (Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems). But what were tires like at the dawn of the automobile"
We are NOT going to make any attempt to document the invention of the wheel!
Whether made of stone, wood, metal, or some combination, the wheel has been around for many thousands of years. Our interest here is in the automobile?s use of rubber tires mounted onto a center disc. Below are just the highlights of 100+ years of rubber tire innovations and improvements. It really begins with the bicycle, which went through several popular crazes in the 1800s. We will trace the path of tire development from bikes to cars, focusing on some of the better-known milestones in the industry.

BICYCLES BEGIN THE INNOVATION
VULCANIZED RUBBER
Horse-drawn carriages required strong wheels. As the pathways of the 19th century were hard earth, stone, or even unpaved fields, wood or metal wheels could stand up to these harsh conditions. The trade-off was an equally harsh ride. Rubber may have been considered as an alternative material, but in its natural ...