Noticed the Prius riding rough earlier. Sure enough a tire blew at 70mph. Smoke and chunks and everything. I put the spare on and it seemed ok.... for a few minutes but was still riding rough... got off the freeway and sure enough the spare is going flat too. But lo and behold what is sitting on the side of the road. 2 firestone fuel fighter tires in good condition 195 65r15. Only 10mm off for the back pair. They are now on the car and the spare is reinflated and ready. Sorry no pics but it was so unlucky and lucky at the same time was hard to believe.
Well it was too good to be true. The off size triggers the traction skid control at high speed. Guess I'll have to get 2 more of the right size.
I do all the time, I grew up there. As bad as the roads are I don't remember getting many flats. I know in detroit for sure there are free tires on every corner. But if you get a flat there, trying to save a few bucks on tires is the least of your worries.
I had left the food co-op there one evening (back when it was next door to where Avalon Breads is now, on Cass) on my way home (near southwest side). I'm heading southwest on MLK Jr Blvd, right about where it goes over the Jeffries, when a nondescript white van pulls up even with my bike from behind. And slows down, more or less matching my speed. And the passenger window rolls down. And out of the window leans a guy's head, and he says: Pardon me, do you have any Grey Poupon? Years after that, I found out you can actually get Grey Poupon in little foil packets. I keep one in my handlebar stem bag now. Not that I'm really expecting the incident to repeat, but sometimes people ask about the packet, so I get to tell the story.
Interesting. Well, an update. I rotated the larger size tires to the front, problem solved. Now the rear tires are spinning faster than the front and apparently the vsc doesn't have a problem with it.
