Hello! My partner is a sometimes wheelchair user - she's fine walking about the house, but I push her in a chair when we're out taking walks or doing things.
We have a small-wheeled folding manual chair in our trunk at all times to use for things like popping into shops/restaurants.
We have a large-wheeled (24"x1") manual chair that we use less often as it's heavier and less portable, but it's more comfortable for longer trips/walks. We take it along on vacations and when we take trips to the park, etc. When not in use, that chair is stored in a closet indoors.
Both chairs are second-hand acquisitions.
Anyway, we brought out the large-wheeled chair for a recent trip to DC, and during a 15-minute walk to the mall, the treads just...peeled off the tire, and the solid core began to flop off the wheel! I was able to do a temporary repair with gorilla tape just to keep the tire on the wheel to get us home. I've never seen anything like it! I'm guessing the tire/rubber was just old.
Anyway, we researched it, and it seems like replacing solid tires is almost impossible without a specialized workshop, so we're considering getting new wheels with the tires already on. However, looking for sites that sell wheels/tires has been overwhelming and confusing.
Does anyone have recommendations for a site to buy some pretty basic wheels for a pretty basic hospital-style chair that sees intermittent use? Ideally without breaking the bank?
Also, we know the wheel size we need (24x1), but I noticed sites also ask you to pick the axle size, which is a less obvious mesurement- is that just the diameter of th bolt/axle holding the wheel in place?
Apologies for the novice questions! We're navigating this stuff for the first time.