🚀 go-pugleaf

Index Number: 7070

In article <10385@bunker.UUCP> Chita.Cazares@f114.n202.z1.fidonet.org (Chita Cazares) writes:

>Index Number: 6951

>I never thought of it before - snow tires for wheelchairs?! Makes good 
>sense. DO wheelchair users typically have more than one set of tires? 
>Do you ever get flats? I've never noticed air valves - do you have to 
>pump the tires to different pressures when carrying different weights?

Most manual wheelchairs have pneumatic tires and tubes that get
flats.  I get one or two flats a year in mine.  I don't keep a
set of spare tires around but I do have a spare tube, since
nearly all flats are small punctures that do not severely damage
the tire but do prevent the tube from holding air.  So far I've
kept the inner tubes that came with my chair by patching them,
and have the spare tube in case I end up with a puncture that
can't be repaired.

While the weight of the occupant can influence the tire pressure
you'd want to keep, the rated pressure is usally sufficient for
average weights.  A 300-pound person might want to pump up their
tires a little more to avoid too much tire squash, but running
the tires at too high a pressure increases the risk of unseating
the tires or of having blowouts.  Conversely, letting the tires
get too low causes sluggish handling and increases the risk of
pinch flats (caused when the inner tube is holed by being pinched
between the tire and the rim).

Wheelchair users who are handy tend not to keep anything more
than a spare tube, a patch kit, and a pump around.  Wheelchair
users who have difficulty with fixing tires may want to keep a
spare wheel around, so they can swap in the new wheel and fix the
wheel with the puncture later.

By the way, I've learned from experience that you can run on a
flat without running too much risk of damaging the tube.  My last
flat occurred several blocks from home, and the only way I could
get back was to push on the flat.  The inner tube was fine,
except for the small hole that a shard of glass made.  If you get
a puncture from a thumbtack (this is very common, as are glass
cuts) you should leave the thumbtack in if the tire has not lost
all pressure.  If the tire is losing pressure too quickly, take
the thumbtack out to avoid chewing up the opposite side of the
inner tube.

You can greatly reduce your risk of flats by purchasing "tuff
strips", which are strips of puncture-resistant plastic that you
place on the inner surface of the tire between the tire and tube.
These prevent most flats from glass cuts and tacks, and will also
allow you to run on tires that have become cut by holding the
inner tube in.  You will still get some flats when something
manages to work its way around the edge of the tuff strip, and
it's very important to make sure the tuff strip is aligned
properly to prevent these kinds of flats.  Tuff strips are
available in bike shops, and since most wheelchair tires are
standard bike sizes you should have little trouble finding ones
that fit.  At worst you can buy ones for 27-inch wheels and cut
some off the ends to fit them into standard 24-inch wheelchair
tires.

--
Steve VanDevender 	stevev@chemstor.uoregon.edu
"Bipedalism--an unrecognized disease affecting over 99% of the population.
Symptoms include lack of traffic sense, slow rate of travel, and the
classic, easily recognized behavior known as walking."