• IndiBrony@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    21
    ·
    1 day ago

    That last point sticks with me.

    I always used to get the cheapest, shittest tyres just because cost, but since I became a driving instructor a few years back I got into the mentality of thinking “I need decent tyres because I don’t want my learners to lose control of the car”

    Normally I’d buy tyres once every 6-8 months after squeezing out every morsel of life from them, but my current Bridgestone tyres have been on for nearly a year now - doing driving instructor mileage on top of my usual - and they’re not showing any signs of needing replacing yet.

    The fact is I’m actually saving money doing it this way, because whilst the tyres are more expensive, I’m replacing them much less often.

    I’m going to try out Pirelli next because it sounds like they’ve started lining the inside of some of their tyres with that puncture repair stuff and padding them out with foam to significantly reduce road noise.

    • barsoap@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      29
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 day ago

      Obligatory Pratchett:

      The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money.

      Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles.

      But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that’d still be keeping his feet dry in ten years’ time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet.

      This was the Captain Samuel Vimes ‘Boots’ theory of socioeconomic unfairness.

      • IndiBrony@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        12
        ·
        1 day ago

        I’ve carried that with me for years. I always try to buy long-lasting quality items for this very reason.

        Not to mention that, due to inflation, those ten dollar boots themselves will cost 20 to 30 dollars before long.

      • chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        14
        ·
        1 day ago

        They did mention being a driving instructor. Driving (and teaching students to drive) all day every day is going to put a lot more wear on the tires than a typical driver.

        • huppakee@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          8
          ·
          1 day ago

          They also mentioned getting good tires after they started doing that, not before

      • IndiBrony@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        1 day ago

        Yeah I put 30k+ miles on the car just doing instructing, then I often also drive when I go on holiday, putting at least a good 500-600 miles on the car if I go away on the weekend (which is often).

        I’ve had dedicated works vehicles which I’ve put fewer miles on the clock 😂