Bicycle tire rocks Hello Kitty tread pattern, world wonders why

Just when you thought Hello Kitty had touched everything she possibly could, along comes a bicycle tire (of all things) to prove you wrong. Stock up now for $25.99 apiece.

[Via OhGizmo, image courtesy of Nirve]

[Jonathan Keim @ Nov 27th 2007 9:07AM]

lol, wow

[strider_mt2k @ Nov 27th 2007 9:09AM]

Please for the love of GOD make it stop!

[Jonathan Bergeron @ Nov 27th 2007 9:14AM]

I'd rock those, then do skidding stops all the time, while taking pleasure in destroying the hello kitty face.

[tekdroid @ Nov 27th 2007 9:24AM]

exactly; isn't it there to remind the cyclist to run over furry innocent cute animals by subtly or not-so-subtly enraging the cyclist as he looks down at his tyre at all that overpowering sugar-coated cuteness?

[senyl @ Nov 27th 2007 9:25AM]

Good gosh, I almost shot my Pepsi through my nose when I saw that. Please make the madness stop!!

[austin @ Nov 27th 2007 12:35PM]

f-ing yankee
coke ftw

[AndrewP @ Nov 27th 2007 2:40PM]

Yeah, you would have been better off just saying soda, pop, or cola. Pepsi FTL.

[senyl @ Nov 27th 2007 2:44PM]

It just happened to be what I was drinking at the time. I guess I should have said, "I almost sprayed my monitors," which I almost did.

But really, make the madness stop!

[Ghen @ Nov 27th 2007 4:29PM]

Wait, I like pepsi. Its like the BluRay of colas.

[ashakydd @ Nov 27th 2007 8:21PM]

No way!! I wish that they came in 700's (27" wheels, aka road tires) so that I could get those. How hilarious would that be? It isn't any worse than the Hello Kitty vibrator or condoms.

[kyle allen @ Nov 28th 2007 12:27PM]

what the heck is wrong with you guys!? dont you know that 56% of diet cola drinkers think that diet pepsi has more cola taste than diet coke?

[Bobs @ Nov 27th 2007 9:28AM]

Um, did the hello kitty designers think treads were ugly or something? the whole point of them is to keep you from sliding all over the place. and hello kitty is marketed to little kids, so um, yeah, ill let my kids play with safe tires, if i had any

[qord @ Nov 27th 2007 3:33PM]

You want tires without thread than if you want safe tires for your kids (as long as you cycle on normal road surface). Thread patterns on cars are to avoid aquaplaning which doesn't happen with bike tires...

So, to stay on topic: If you have decoration on your tires, why not Hello Kitty... it's a break from the usual decorations like on the Continental SportContact:
http://www.conti-online.com/generator/www/de/en/continental/bicycle/themes/tires/city/sportcontact/sportcontact_en.html

[Jeff @ Nov 27th 2007 10:47AM]

Hello Kitty is marketed to people of all ages, not just little kids. And bikes are huge in Japan, HK's home market. People don't just ride them for sport; there's really no need to have treads that are capable of gripping the road at 50mph. I'm sure these will be pretty popular there.

[James Cameron @ Nov 27th 2007 12:57PM]

I use to own a racing bike and it didn't have a single treads on it. Not only that the tire is half the size of this and I never had any problem. If you planning on riding your bike in the snow or on a very smooth flat surfaces or even wet with these tires. Then you will have a greater chance of slipping. Even with the treads on the tires, you will still slip.

[Wwhat @ Nov 27th 2007 6:43PM]

You go through a corner on a wet and muddy and cold day and say again bicycles don't need threads, hell they invented threading for bicycles, before there were cars.

[JPN @ Nov 27th 2007 9:30AM]

I picture a trail of Hello Kitty bike trail prints.

[Herman Manfred @ Nov 27th 2007 10:01AM]

Oh god...you're right.

[I know a kid who has just about every Hello Kitty thing there is - including toilet paper dispenser?

http://www.engadget.com/2007/11/25/hello-kitty-gets-her-own-automatic-toilet-paper-dispenser/

This would be the icing on the cake]

[Carbonize @ Nov 27th 2007 9:37AM]

Could you imagine if you committed a crime then got away on a bike with these?

"We are looking for a suspect riding a bike with pussy cat faces for tread"

[Magnulus @ Nov 27th 2007 9:39AM]

I would never put that on my bicycle. Screw the whole Hello Kitty thing, I just have a thing about skidding into brick walls or over cliffs due to unsafe tyres. It's not me.

[Spike @ Nov 27th 2007 1:23PM]

Wanker!

Tyres!

Please, these are basically the same as pool tires, which can be great for street, flat, vert, park, and basically riding around on the street, for the right rider. Have some frickin' fun! No sense of humor! I mean humour.

[Rynth @ Nov 28th 2007 5:31AM]

Don't make me laugh! I race downhill, and on my non-race bike (for practicing) I ran a Hookworm (a basically treadless tire) on the rear, and a swap thing on the front (a rather grippy tire) and was blasting down a mud-covered hill with no problem at all.

The amount of grip your bike has is also down to the rider, not just the bike.

These tires would be wicked for street/park riding, also, I see it being pretty fun for dirt jumping.

[Will @ Nov 27th 2007 9:49AM]

"world wonders why"

Well, let me tell you:

So you can run over Hello Kitty's face, over, and over, and over, and over, and over.

That makes me a little happier, realizing it.

[Allan @ Nov 27th 2007 10:19AM]

That's exactly what I was thinking. This is probably the best one yet, for that reason!

[BatteryAcid @ Nov 27th 2007 4:03PM]

2nd that

[Maximiliam @ Nov 27th 2007 9:55AM]

They should make a Hello Titty =)

[MARSHAK @ Nov 27th 2007 12:47PM]

grow up.

[superfresh @ Nov 27th 2007 10:17AM]

Don't hate.

I think Lance won the Tour on these babies.

[senyl @ Nov 27th 2007 10:23AM]

hilarious. imagine the other racers. "Crap, I got beat by a guy sporting Hello Kitty tires"

[Don Corleone @ Nov 27th 2007 10:24AM]

I love 'em. Reminds me of over-developed schoolgirls in Shibuya. ;)

[WhiteRabbit @ Nov 27th 2007 10:24AM]

I... I'm really tempted to get these for my wife. She loves HK, and has a nice old cruiser for when the weather is warm.

As for being an unsafe tread pattern, that's just silly. On hard surfaces such as concrete and asphalt you want a smooth tread for maximum contact area and grip. It's only if you are riding on dirt/mud that you want knobbies. Don't believe me? Ask Sheldon (The Man) Brown himself.
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/tires.html#tread

[Xzavier @ Nov 27th 2007 12:09PM]

Ya-know... back in the day, in the year 1986 when I use to be in the bicycle group STAR 86. Streetstyle'n Tricksters Are Rad and I was a Kick A$$ freestyler on my Redline RL-20 II. I bought a pair of tires with no treads on them. I don't know how many times I busted my A$$ riding on those tires. They are extremely hard to freestyle on, absolutely no grip on the road, if your tires were dusty, not dirty, I was always loosing ground contact constantly sliding all of the time. But hey they felt SMOOOTH! Why... because then had no treads!
Redline RL 20 II
http://www.singlespeedshop.com/oldschoolbmx/rl20_3.jpg

I am not knocking Mr. Sheldon Brown however my freestylen skills/experience tells me otherwise! He has his opinion and I have years of freestylen experience. I would style on a pair of Hello Kitty tiers anyday before I style on another pair of slicks!

And as for his comment on Hydroplaning. I don't remember learning any of that stuff in high school which he has posted on his website? If fact, whenever it rains and I am driving in the rain I get very aware that cars DO hydroplan at around 33mph or so and either I or somebody else could loose control. Seriously should I really be driving at 66 mph or greater while it is raining? Yes I do know the info is on airplanes. He should read the section on hydroplaning here!
http://www.smartmotorist.com/rai/rai.htm

btw, I still have my RL 20 II, cherrypicker anyone!

[jbcaro @ Nov 27th 2007 10:32AM]

Next up, Hello Kitty condoms.

[Magallanes @ Nov 27th 2007 11:28AM]

Or the infamous hello kitty dildo.

[Mic @ Nov 27th 2007 10:35AM]

Granted, hello kitty is almost inexcusable, but I'm totally down with putting designs on tires. More ways to customizing my bike is A+ in my book.

[RC @ Nov 27th 2007 11:16AM]

These treads are indicative to slick tires used in summer (read:warmer or hot climates) the are obviously not intended for mountain trails or ice and snow conditions.

[5lab @ Nov 27th 2007 12:05PM]

tread is completely irellivent on push bike tyres on tarmac - studies have shown that the average cyclist would have to be traveling at 143mph with 2" tyres for aquaplaning to be a problem, not quite so with cars or offroad :)

[Major Malfunction @ Nov 27th 2007 11:41AM]

I can't wait to serve my Hello Kitty Overlord.

*gets on hands and knees while making the reverent purring sounds of submission*

I'll be the first to buy Hello Kitty contact lenses too. I said it first, please give me a cut of any profits.

[G @ Nov 27th 2007 11:56AM]

Sometimes, I wish I was a girl, so I could buy this kinda stuff without looking like a douchebag, but does that make me a douchebag anyway? Whatever, either way, Hello Kitty pwns.

Hello Kitty mineral water ftw!

[aboriginal @ Nov 27th 2007 12:05PM]

Hello Kitty: ROAD KILL EDITION

[Daniel @ Jan 10th 2008 1:36AM]

BWAHAHAHAHA roadkill edition - LOVE IT!!!! *makes note - must tell Kitty-obsessed gf that one when I get these....*

[Matthew Hilario @ Nov 27th 2007 12:13PM]

"mmmmmmmmmoooooooommmmmmm! where's my kerroppi helmet?

[Matthew Hilario @ Nov 27th 2007 12:13PM]

"mmmmmmmmmoooooooommmmmmm! where's my kerroppi helmet?

[Geoffrey @ Nov 27th 2007 10:30PM]

Engadget, you should TOTALLY start up EngadgetKITTY or something like that where you blog all things hello kitty ..... there is certianly enough material out there.

[LJKelley @ Nov 27th 2007 12:23PM]

How much is Hello Kitty paying you guys?? HUH??

Can we get a Hello Kitty free RSS Feed... Hello Kitty fanbois! :-P

[iptydafu @ Nov 27th 2007 1:03PM]

Dude, let some air out and paint your walls.

[Spike @ Nov 27th 2007 1:31PM]

Former RL20-II riders represent! Loved that ride.

Oh yeah, when I do the occasional show, the Cherrypicker still kills.

[AndrewP @ Nov 27th 2007 2:39PM]

Engadget with the Old Meme, once again.

[Magallanes @ Nov 27th 2007 4:29PM]

They are a step far to be called Engadgetchan.

[Richard Lai @ Nov 27th 2007 5:51PM]

Road kill?