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Tires. What A Miracle.


Razors Edge

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I was driving this weekend and also out riding.  My mind kept returning to how tires have gone from something that folks used to fret and think about - for good reason - to now it is a big fat "meh".  Change your car tires easy peasy every 50k or 60k miles, and swap the bike tires after a few years or whatever.  Basically, mount em, inflate them as necessary, and that's about it. Done.

My parents used to tell me stories of tire blowouts and crashes causes by tires failing, but that only seems to happen anymore in trucks & trailers - and likely due to user error/abuse.  Same with bike tires - they just seem to "work".

Man, it is a great time in the world of tires :)

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There are literally 2 or 4 (in most configurations) things keep your transporter tied to the ground -- and that's tires.  I am willing to cut corners on things but not on tires.  Good tires are all about safety, security, and saving on repair costs.  I just want to put 'em on and forget about them.  And honestly, when it's time to replace them -- getting new rubbers is one of the more joyous things I can think of.  I spent almost $200 per tire + install on my wife's RAV4.  When they wear out in 3 years I'll do it again.

 

Long live tires!  Long live tires! 

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FYI tires are made from rubber. Most rubber comes from Indonesia nowadays as the former global producer South America was dethroned after a tree blight wiped out the trees. Climate change will cause trees in Indonesia to get their version of Covid. Shit will hit the fan without rubber. 

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13 minutes ago, Old No. 7 said:

FYI tires are made from rubber. Most rubber comes from Indonesia nowadays as the former global producer South America was dethroned after a tree blight wiped out the trees. Climate change will cause trees in Indonesia to get their version of Covid. Shit will hit the fan without rubber. 

Won't we have flying cars and flying bikes by then?  What's the worry?

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6 hours ago, Razors Edge said:

I was driving this weekend and also out riding.  My mind kept returning to how tires have gone from something that folks used to fret and think about - for good reason - to now it is a big fat "meh".  Change your car tires easy peasy every 50k or 60k miles, and swap the bike tires after a few years or whatever.  Basically, mount em, inflate them as necessary, and that's about it. Done.

My parents used to tell me stories of tire blowouts and crashes causes by tires failing, but that only seems to happen anymore in trucks & trailers - and likely due to user error/abuse.  Same with bike tires - they just seem to "work".

Man, it is a great time in the world of tires :)

Back in the early 70's, I could barely afford tires on my 64' Chevy Impala.  I had two tires with about 1/8" of tread on the front, two baloney skin tires in the back, and two baloney skin spares in the trunk.

A college friend named Muriel had use of her father's big house in West Ocean City, Maryland for 2 weeks every summer and I was in the clique of friends that got invited each year.

One year, I was the only one with a car staying there at the beginning of the two weeks and was shuttling people back and forth the half mile to the beach and boardwalk in Ocean City proper, and two tires went flat within two days and didn't look patchable.

I was afraid to drive the car around except for one trip in and out of Ocean City each day, stopped at the closest gas station, and was told that in 2 days a guy was getting 4 new tires and the old ones, with a lot more tread than I currently had, would fit my wheels and he'd sell the old ones to me for $5 each - a real deal even back then.

So, in two days I felt like I was rich - even my two spares had a little tread!

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