Monday, November 26, 2012

Of tyres and tubes

On Friday we mundanely drove the latest load of garden greenery-waste to the municipal dump. Shocking then that my back tyre was so flat. At the garage air pump on the way back it registered 6 psi - fifty pence saw it back to the mid-twenties.

A slow puncture? A year ago a fast encounter with a pot-hole on the top of the Mendips caused an explosive blow-out (as in a big bang and the car lurches at speed). An hour-long wheel change in the gathering gloom at the Castle of Comfort car park followed.

This morning down to the Wells Tyre Centre for advice. I checked on the Internet and you can buy self-repair kits: these are aerosol-like containers which squirt goo into the tyre which then seals the hole - but, it said, only for tubeless tyres. Cue blank incomprehension on my part - there's more than one type of tyre?

The Wells Tyre man explained: 99% of car tyres, including mine, are tubeless. But the gunk is a poor idea as it can prevent a later, proper repair.

So far, the tyre in question is holding its pressure, leaving me wondering how it ever got deflated in the first place.