The following question was presented:
OK, so the new scooter arrived and it wasn't damaged on arrival so I took it out ... down the Bay Trail ... which doesn't allow motorized vehicles including scooters, however, I did look online and it said there was an exception for mobility devices and I figured why not go for it and let someone tell me I'm not supposed to be there. As you would expect, nobody I came across cared and pretty much everyone is friendly and says hello, so yeah. Now, the first part of the trail is a nice paved area, but then you get onto a hard gravel / stone type trail. So I figured it made sense to hoon it down there at the 12mph top speed which was like sitting on a jack hammer, but lots of fun. At least until we blew out the front right tire. The scooter has solid tires on the rear and air tires on the front. Presumably to give a bit of shock absorption. Now, I'm note entirely sure we've blown out the tire as it is currently holding air after we pumped it back up, but it definitely lost all its air. Some mini testing is required, but assuming it's damaged, I can either replace the innertube or there appears to be solid tires available. The wheel is the same size as the e-scooters and apparently they've suffered many punctures so a lot of models have switched to solid rubber, but with holes in to provide some flexibility/cushioning. All this to say, if I have a puncture on my mobility scooter, should I replace the innertube or switch to solid tires?
Results:
Solid tires was the clear winner with 67% of the votes selected from the following:
- Inner tube (33%)
- Solid tires (67%)
Graphic of Results:
Analysis:
Back to normal with a vote that nobody cares about. Yeah, I think going to solid is the right answer, but I've pumped up the current tires and they're holding out pretty well. At least for the spin around Heather Farm I did on Saturday, so I'll probably leave these on until I notice problems. Plan is to go out with William next weekend and do a bit more off-roading, so we'll see if that causes problems or not. If the tire goes down again, I'll replace both of them. After William's carried me back because I can't ride the scooter due to a flat tire 😁