The shortage of bicycle tires drives Cubans from the provinces crazy, where there are no transportation options that still exist in a city like Havana. These days, in Sancti Spíritus, acquiring a single unit can cost up to 4,200 pesos. And only in the informal market.
“Here they never take out tires and that everyone has their bicycle,” says Rayner, who lives ten kilometers from the center of Sancti Spíritus and, as he says, “either you go by bus, which passes twice a day, or you go to foot”. The young man assures that this same Tuesday he paid 3,600 pesos for the tire of the front wheel that he needed, the same as he receives per month.
The tires of his bicycle, which is eight years old, couldn’t take it anymore, full of shoes and vulcanized by several parts.
Four months ago, he bought the rubber for the rear wheel and it cost him 4,000 pesos, “and almost crying to the man who sold it to me, because there is none,” he tells this newspaper. Since then, he has been saving for the front.
Meanwhile, in the Cuban capital, this Wednesday, a long queue formed at a state store in Plaza de Carlos III where they had put out rubber bands for sale, for $5.33 each.
Four months ago, he bought the rubber for the rear wheel and it cost him 4,000 pesos, “and almost crying to the man who sold it to me, because there is none”
The customers who came out of it did not carry one or two, but many. “Here I never see anyone on a bicycle,” commented a woman who passed by the place, surprised. “This is most likely to be taken to the field to sell.”
Tires suffer great wear and tear in Cuba, not only because of the frequent use of bicycles as a means of transportation, but also because of the poor condition of the streets and the terrible condition of the brakes in many of these vehicles, which forces their drivers to brake by rubbing the tire with the sole of the shoe.
Streets with large areas where the asphalt is missing and there are plenty of potholes are common throughout the Island, but in the cities and country towns the situation is even worse. Also objects on the road, such as broken bottles, pieces of metal and even nails add greater risks. Hence the need to have frequent spare parts to replace the tires that are deteriorating.
To this we must add that the bicycle is also a means of family transportation, frequently used by street vendors to cover a wider area with potential customers, an improvised moving truck and it is also common to add motors to increase its speed, an ingenuity that is popularly known as riquimbili.
The bicycles transformed into light motorcycles, after adding an engine, also consume the useful life of the tires more quickly. But not all those that are sold are of good quality, the least valued are the rubber bands called creolesof national invoice, while the imported ones can cost much more in the informal market.
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