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Oct. 27th, 2013 08:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stormdogI just got back from wonderful visiting with my sweeties! Danae was super-busy with a conference this weekend and catching up on school stuff. I can sympathize. I love you sweetie! *hugs*
Lisa is making more pretty things for a local sci-fi/fantasy con, Windycon, where she will be vending. She's also going to be making me a second woven copper bracelet, this one in genderqueer colors. Yay! She's also going to come up to Kenosha prior to the con to borrow my car to get all her stuff there.
That means I really need to deal with the tire issues. Now that I'm home and most of my homework is done, I'm working out how to manage a number of tire-related issues. When I bought the Lumina, Super-mechanic Juan told me that I needed to get tires replaced ASAP. I haven't yet, but I knew that with winter coming, I need to. I went outside today to look at the size. 225 60 16. So much bigger than the little 155 70 13s that were factory-spec on my Swift. It makes me think of the conversations Lisa and I have had about how ridiculously long my car is. And it's only a mid-size! People drive absurdly large vehicles. Have you noticed that?
Anyway.
While looking at the size, I noted that one tire has a big hole in the tread, and another has threads of canvas hanging out past the rubber. These are *well* past worn out. None of them look all that great in general. I had been planning to go to Ed's used tires and get two replacements for the ones that had been worn down by the dead ball joints prior to my taking possession. But tonight I decided that I'm just going to buy four new ones. Maybe I can find a sale. I might just splurge on some low rolling resistance tires and see if it improves my gas mileage from the kind of sad 20-22 MPG it's been it. I hate to rag on my car. I know we're going to spend a lot of time together. But sometimes I think I should have held off for something more my speed.
So I'm probably going to lay out $500 or so for tires and an alignment, which it's needed since I bought it. Cars are expensive.
Speaking of tires, I'm going to need new ones for my bike too. I got too flats on the way home on Friday. Yes, two of them! The back wheel went first. As it happens, I'd received a frame pump in the mail just the week before, so together with the spare inner tube I keep in my panniers, I had everything I needed to fix the flat on the spot! I felt annoyed, but quite capable and confident by the time I was done! Just as I was finishing up, a woman in a minivan stopped nearby to ask if I needed any help; she'd seen me working and drove back around to check on me. But I was all set! Or so I thought. I biked another block and realized my front wheel was low on air. I stopped and pumped it up to 90 PSI, and it was a slow enough leak that I got home on it. But now that I'm back from a couple days away, it's flat again.
Looking at my tires, it's clear I need at least one new one. The back tire's cross section is no longer circular, having worn down to flatness around the perimeter. I put 1000 miles on them just this year, so that's reasonable. But now I'm debating with myself over what to do.
Do I buy another set of street slicks, knowing that they won't do well through the winter and I'll have to buy some snow tires soon anyway? Or do I buy knobby tires now and lose speed on my rides? Or do I buy the more expensive studded snow tires and save myself the aggravation of buying knobby tires that don't work in the snow and I have to buy studded ones anyway and have spent money on tires I won't use? But knobby tires and studded tires wear down more quickly on the street, as well as being slower than slicks. *sighs* I dunno.
Regardless, I'm going to take my car to school tomorrow, hoping I don't get a flat, so I can duck out between classes and buy a tire. I'm also going to make an appointment with the local shop we use for an alignment. And tonight, I'm going to look around for sales on car tires. Those things are expensive!
I may end up in Kenosha this weekend, dealing with various transport issues.
Lisa is making more pretty things for a local sci-fi/fantasy con, Windycon, where she will be vending. She's also going to be making me a second woven copper bracelet, this one in genderqueer colors. Yay! She's also going to come up to Kenosha prior to the con to borrow my car to get all her stuff there.
That means I really need to deal with the tire issues. Now that I'm home and most of my homework is done, I'm working out how to manage a number of tire-related issues. When I bought the Lumina, Super-mechanic Juan told me that I needed to get tires replaced ASAP. I haven't yet, but I knew that with winter coming, I need to. I went outside today to look at the size. 225 60 16. So much bigger than the little 155 70 13s that were factory-spec on my Swift. It makes me think of the conversations Lisa and I have had about how ridiculously long my car is. And it's only a mid-size! People drive absurdly large vehicles. Have you noticed that?
Anyway.
While looking at the size, I noted that one tire has a big hole in the tread, and another has threads of canvas hanging out past the rubber. These are *well* past worn out. None of them look all that great in general. I had been planning to go to Ed's used tires and get two replacements for the ones that had been worn down by the dead ball joints prior to my taking possession. But tonight I decided that I'm just going to buy four new ones. Maybe I can find a sale. I might just splurge on some low rolling resistance tires and see if it improves my gas mileage from the kind of sad 20-22 MPG it's been it. I hate to rag on my car. I know we're going to spend a lot of time together. But sometimes I think I should have held off for something more my speed.
So I'm probably going to lay out $500 or so for tires and an alignment, which it's needed since I bought it. Cars are expensive.
Speaking of tires, I'm going to need new ones for my bike too. I got too flats on the way home on Friday. Yes, two of them! The back wheel went first. As it happens, I'd received a frame pump in the mail just the week before, so together with the spare inner tube I keep in my panniers, I had everything I needed to fix the flat on the spot! I felt annoyed, but quite capable and confident by the time I was done! Just as I was finishing up, a woman in a minivan stopped nearby to ask if I needed any help; she'd seen me working and drove back around to check on me. But I was all set! Or so I thought. I biked another block and realized my front wheel was low on air. I stopped and pumped it up to 90 PSI, and it was a slow enough leak that I got home on it. But now that I'm back from a couple days away, it's flat again.
Looking at my tires, it's clear I need at least one new one. The back tire's cross section is no longer circular, having worn down to flatness around the perimeter. I put 1000 miles on them just this year, so that's reasonable. But now I'm debating with myself over what to do.
Do I buy another set of street slicks, knowing that they won't do well through the winter and I'll have to buy some snow tires soon anyway? Or do I buy knobby tires now and lose speed on my rides? Or do I buy the more expensive studded snow tires and save myself the aggravation of buying knobby tires that don't work in the snow and I have to buy studded ones anyway and have spent money on tires I won't use? But knobby tires and studded tires wear down more quickly on the street, as well as being slower than slicks. *sighs* I dunno.
Regardless, I'm going to take my car to school tomorrow, hoping I don't get a flat, so I can duck out between classes and buy a tire. I'm also going to make an appointment with the local shop we use for an alignment. And tonight, I'm going to look around for sales on car tires. Those things are expensive!
I may end up in Kenosha this weekend, dealing with various transport issues.
