Saturday, May 26, 2007

bike tires


Sent: Saturday, May 26, 2007 9:59 AM
To: wwo@worldwithoutoil.org
Subject: bike tires


I need to replace one of my bike tires and can't afford a new one. Over the summer and fall they got harder and harder to find, and gradually more expensive. I wish I'd seen this coming and gotten a couple of spares when I could.

I guess it figures, they can be made out of two kinds of rubber, both of which are impacted by the current situation. The first is traditional latex rubber which comes from South America and Southeast Asia. As we all know the shipping costs are now prohibitive. The second kind is butyl rubber; I guess that's some kind of petroleum product, because it was developed by the company that eventually became Exxon. I see all these abandoned cars everywhere I go and keep wondering if there's any way to melt the melt down or re-work the rubber in their tires to make bike tires. Does anybody know?

By the way, I've been wanting to send you some news about the re-birth of the Latino corridor, but don't have time right now; I have to go out and try to find a tire.
intwoworlds





2 comments:

Unknown said...

I read somewhere recently that the US no longer has anywhere that makes bicycle tires - they're all imported. Good luck finding them...

Anonymous said...

That's very nice post about bike tires ,it's very helpful,thanks for sharing.