Sort of OT, Wheelchair tyres/tubes

Paul - xxx

My Step-Father-in-Law is confined to a wheelchair and at present my mum
is having some trouble with constantly getting punctures. We've changed
the tyres and tubes for now, but she wondered if there were any solid
rubber tyres available to suit.

The wheel size is 26 x 1 3/8

A few shops have said they have seen some, a few shops have never heard
of them and the local wheelchair shops just want to sell her 'normal'
cycle tyres and tubes at inflated (sorry) prices.

I know there were some MTB Solid 'green' I think they were called, tyres
available for a while that didn't seem to last long and I can't seem to
find anything suitable on-line, though we haven't looked much yet as I
only found out this evening.

If anyone knows of a manufacturer or can point me to a supplier I'd be
grateful.

--
Paul ...
http://www.4x4prejudice.org/index.php
(8(!) Homer Rules ...
"A tosser is a tosser, no matter what mode of transport they're using."

Pete Biggs

Paul - xxx wrote:
> My Step-Father-in-Law is confined to a wheelchair and at present my
> mum is having some trouble with constantly getting punctures.

What sort of punctures?

> We've
> changed the tyres and tubes for now, but she wondered if there were
> any solid rubber tyres available to suit.
>
> The wheel size is 26 x 1 3/8
............

If it's worth paying the duty & VAT :

url:http://www.airfreetires.com/Bicycle/Legacy/26x138.html

~PB

Paul - xxx

Pete Biggs composed the following;:
> Paul - xxx wrote:
>> My Step-Father-in-Law is confined to a wheelchair and at present my
>> mum is having some trouble with constantly getting punctures.
>
> What sort of punctures?

Glass.

The area she now lives is not a 'nice' area, and the small 'old age
bungalows' estate of 10 bungalows she lives on is just behind a pub that
gets very rowdy, and she has to pass the pub every day as it's the only
road out. There are always bits of glass about. It's a big problem for
all the residents, so we're looking at getting a bulk order in. My mum
wants a pair to try, and if they're OK after say 3 months, then we're
going to order maybe 10 pairs for all the wheelchair users she knows and
give them at cost.

>> We've
>> changed the tyres and tubes for now, but she wondered if there were
>> any solid rubber tyres available to suit.
>>
>> The wheel size is 26 x 1 3/8
> ...........
>
> If it's worth paying the duty & VAT :
>
> url:http://www.airfreetires.com/Bicycle/Legacy/26x138.html

Nice one, Pete and many thanks.

--
Paul ...
http://www.4x4prejudice.org/index.php
(8(!) Homer Rules ...
"A tosser is a tosser, no matter what mode of transport they're using."

dkahn400

Paul - xxx wrote:
> My Step-Father-in-Law is confined to a wheelchair and at present my
> mum is having some trouble with constantly getting punctures.
> We've changed the tyres and tubes for now, but she wondered if
> there were any solid rubber tyres available to suit.
>
> The wheel size is 26 x 1 3/8
>
> A few shops have said they have seen some, a few shops have never
> heard of them and the local wheelchair shops just want to sell
> her 'normal' cycle tyres and tubes at inflated (sorry) prices.

What tyres have they tried? Surely a set of Armadillos would sort that
problem out, although they do seem expensive for using on wheelchair?
--
Dave...

Tony W

"Paul - xxx" <notcheckedever@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:35079rF4dtdifU1@individual.net...
> My Step-Father-in-Law is confined to a wheelchair and at present my mum
> is having some trouble with constantly getting punctures. We've changed
> the tyres and tubes for now, but she wondered if there were any solid
> rubber tyres available to suit.
>
> The wheel size is 26 x 1 3/8

Solid tyres will give a very harsh ride which, depending on SFinL's problems
might be uncomfortable.

Why not use Kevlar banded tyres? Possible with slime filled tubes?

T

Bob Downie

In message <35079rF4dtdifU1@individual.net>, Paul - xxx
<notcheckedever@hotmail.com> writes
>My Step-Father-in-Law is confined to a wheelchair and at present my mum
>is having some trouble with constantly getting punctures. We've
>changed the tyres and tubes for now, but she wondered if there were any
>solid rubber tyres available to suit.
>
>The wheel size is 26 x 1 3/8
>
>A few shops have said they have seen some, a few shops have never heard
>of them and the local wheelchair shops just want to sell her 'normal'
>cycle tyres and tubes at inflated (sorry) prices.
>
>I know there were some MTB Solid 'green' I think they were called,
>tyres available for a while that didn't seem to last long and I can't
>seem to find anything suitable on-line, though we haven't looked much
>yet as I only found out this evening.
>
>If anyone knows of a manufacturer or can point me to a supplier I'd be
>grateful.
>

My father's wheelchair has solid (sponge-rubber filled?) tyres so they
are certainly available. I suggest that you try suppliers of wheelchairs
for information on these.

Cheers

--
Bob Downie
Downie GeoScience Ltd.
please remove #n0spam# to reply directly

m-gineering

Paul - xxx wrote:
>
> My Step-Father-in-Law is confined to a wheelchair and at present my mum
> is having some trouble with constantly getting punctures. We've changed
> the tyres and tubes for now, but she wondered if there were any solid
> rubber tyres available to suit.
>
> The wheel size is 26 x 1 3/8
>

first what kind of punctures? Wrong size innertube, ill fitting rimtape
or tyrepressure to low is easily solved. And punctureresistance varies a
lot between different types and brands. If sharp opjects are the main
problem you could consider Schalbe marathon plus or Dutch-perfect

--
---
Marten Gerritsen

INFOapestaartjeM-GINEERINGpuntNL
www.m-gineering.nl

Al C-F

On Sun, 16 Jan 2005 22:14:18 -0000, "Paul - xxx"
<notcheckedever@hotmail.com> wrote:


>
>If anyone knows of a manufacturer or can point me to a supplier I'd be
>grateful.


http://www.greentyre.co.uk/

Green Tyre Co plc, Riverside Park Road, Riverside Park Industrial
Estate, Middlesbrough, TS2 1UU, 01642 223322


No idea whether they're any good, but there's a page of wheelchair
tyres for you to go at.

Pete Biggs

A.Lee wrote:
> On Sun, 16 Jan 2005 22:14:18 +0000, Paul - xxx wrote:
>
>> My Step-Father-in-Law is confined to a wheelchair and at present my
>> mum is having some trouble with constantly getting punctures.
>
> You are doing something wrong then.My daughter has had a wheelchair
> for 7 years, and we havent had a puncture yet.

Different environment?

> 'Proper' tyres are much better than solid rubber - just that little
> bit of 'give' really does make a difference to ride quality.

Airfree tyres are supposed to give a better ride than solid rubber ones.
No experience of them myself but I remember reading rave reviews on
rec.bicycle.tech.

~PB

Günther Schwarz

Russ wrote:

> No VAT or Duty payable on wheelchair parts or spares.

Might be an interesting bit of information for trike riders.

Guenther

Paul - xxx

Russ composed the following;:
> "Paul - xxx" <notcheckedever@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:351soaF4ffadqU1@individual.net...
>> Bob Downie composed the following;:
>>> In message <35079rF4dtdifU1@individual.net>, Paul - xxx
>>
>>>> If anyone knows of a manufacturer or can point me to a supplier I'd
>>>> be grateful.
>>>>
>>>
>>> My father's wheelchair has solid (sponge-rubber filled?) tyres so
>>> they are certainly available. I suggest that you try suppliers of
>>> wheelchairs for information on these.
>>
>> Thanks, that's what we're after, but the one's we've tried either
>> suggest they cost about £50 per tyre or are unavailable. We
>> suspect, after trying a few local shops, that they may have had some
>> in the past, especially one shop, and had bad reports from them and
>> are reluctant to sell them again. At least, that's the impression we
>> get. How do your fathers stand up to general use then? Are they
>> long-lasting, are they normal tyres with a foam liner, or a special
>> tyre and foam inner ?
>
> They last forever - or at least just about, judging by some of the
> ones in the physio's dept at the spinal injuries centre. They're
> horrible to use and many full time wheelchair users hold them in
> equally high opinion to most cyclists however some people like them -
> primarily those on a completely maintenance free target.

My mum is really after security and safety. If she gets a puncture
whilst out it's a real struggle for her, even with the electric assist
wheel, to get him home again. Even pushing a few yards with one wheel
punctured is too much of a strain for her, and one day she got two
punctures.

> AFAIK
> they're all one piece tryes similar to the well loved (not)
> greenstuff tyres.

They were the ones I remembered. Can't remember now if it was on my
bike or a mates that we tried some .. godawful things on a bike, but I
thought they might be OK on a wheelchair.

> FWIW using them on rough ground will be very uncomfortable. I use a
> spare set of wheels fitted with 2inch reinforced touring type tyres
> on 559 (mtb) rims for similar purposes as these give a vertually
> identical outside diameter as my 26inch wheels with notmal tyres.

That was my other thought ... see if I can't get a spare set of hubs and
make a decent wheelset up with mtb rims and tyres, though larger touring
tyres might be even better. We think, however, that this won't solve
our major puncture problem, though it might make it a tad easier for her
to push or get him around the 'off-road' bits.

--
Paul ...
http://www.4x4prejudice.org/index.php
(8(!) Homer Rules ...
"A tosser is a tosser, no matter what mode of transport they're using."

Paul - xxx

Guy Ballantine composed the following;:
> "Paul - xxx" <notcheckedever@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:35079rF4dtdifU1@individual.net...
>> My Step-Father-in-Law is confined to a wheelchair and at present my
>> mum is having some trouble with constantly getting punctures. We've
>> changed the tyres and tubes for now, but she wondered if there were
>> any solid rubber tyres available to suit.
>>
>> The wheel size is 26 x 1 3/8
>>
>> A few shops have said they have seen some, a few shops have never
>> heard of them and the local wheelchair shops just want to sell her
>> 'normal' cycle tyres and tubes at inflated (sorry) prices.
>>
>> I know there were some MTB Solid 'green' I think they were called,
>> tyres available for a while that didn't seem to last long and I
>> can't seem to find anything suitable on-line, though we haven't
>> looked much yet as I only found out this evening.
>>
>> If anyone knows of a manufacturer or can point me to a supplier I'd
>> be grateful.
>
> If you need part for a wheelchair, cycle shops are going to be hard
> pressed to get you the things you need but there are several
> companies that cater for mobility needs. The one I use is GBL
> Services in Hounslow (http://www.gblwheelchairs.com/) They do have
> another store in Littlehampton and can do mail delivery. The tyres
> you are looking at are called Greetyres. They are good for rolling
> over glass but wear a glove on your hands as pieces can get caught up
> on the tyre and get onto your palm. I have a set of the tyres when I
> was overseas for a while and was off road a lot, but they do have a
> hard ride due to the lack of air.

Cheers for that.

> Oh, I hope your a strong fella, or know one as they are REALLY tough
> to put on, but you only do it once. Once they are worn down the tyre
> will become a sponge on wet days and you'll start leaving
> snail-trails around on the floor, but the tyres do last a rather long
> time for normal use 1 year to 18 months.

We have the kit to do it, we also ride Motorcycle Trials, so change
tyres regularly.

--
Paul ...
http://www.4x4prejudice.org/index.php
(8(!) Homer Rules ...
"A tosser is a tosser, no matter what mode of transport they're using."

Paul - xxx

A.Lee composed the following;:
> On Sun, 16 Jan 2005 22:14:18 +0000, Paul - xxx wrote:
>
>> My Step-Father-in-Law is confined to a wheelchair and at present my
>> mum is having some trouble with constantly getting punctures.
>
> You are doing something wrong then.My daughter has had a wheelchair
> for 7 years, and we havent had a puncture yet.

Probably because of where mum has to take the chair ...

> 'Proper' tyres are much better than solid rubber - just that little
> bit of 'give' really does make a difference to ride quality.

Ride quality is not really our main aim, we're after resistance to glass
punctures, everything else comes below.

--
Paul ...
http://www.4x4prejudice.org/index.php
(8(!) Homer Rules ...
"A tosser is a tosser, no matter what mode of transport they're using."

Paul - xxx

Al C-F composed the following;:
> On Sun, 16 Jan 2005 22:14:18 -0000, "Paul - xxx"
> <notcheckedever@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>>
>> If anyone knows of a manufacturer or can point me to a supplier I'd
>> be grateful.
>
>
> http://www.greentyre.co.uk/
>
> Green Tyre Co plc, Riverside Park Road, Riverside Park Industrial
> Estate, Middlesbrough, TS2 1UU, 01642 223322
>
>
> No idea whether they're any good, but there's a page of wheelchair
> tyres for you to go at.

Excellent, many thanks. I knew the name had 'green' in it .. but had
come up with shed-loads of combinations, just not greentyre ...

--
Paul ...
http://www.4x4prejudice.org/index.php
(8(!) Homer Rules ...
"A tosser is a tosser, no matter what mode of transport they're using."