Date 31/01/2012
Comparing Alloy Wheels
We’ve been selling alloy wheels since i’d say 1990, and in this time the alloy wheel trade has changed alot in many ways. The biggest change I suppose is how many wheels are made in China and other Asian country all in a bid to buy cheaper and cheaper wheels. But nowadays this is the story with just about everything from clothes to expensive electrical items.
So whats the difference between the average chinese wheel and the european manufactured wheel? Well firstly it depends on the manufacture in both case wheather its china or europe. But I can say, we are dealing with Borbet alloy wheels for the past 12 yrs and in this time we haven’t had one claim or problem wheel in this time, this is a credit to the German manufacture. We also dealt with a Malaysian company called BSA some years ago and they broke my heart with bad paint finishes etc.
But on the other hand Revolution wheels are produced in Asia in there own factory and i would trust these wheels with my life strenght wise (as i use them on my rallycar ). But the problem with most asian produced products is if the suppliers dont have them in stock there normally on the slow boat from china which can take a long time 
If you have any other questions on this, e-mail me or call me
TEL 051 873777
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Date 20/01/2012
All weather tyres
Well all the panic about snow seems to have been for nothing at the end of 2011 & the begining of 2012. But the only good thing i think that has come out of it is the tyre supplier have begun to introduce All season or all weather tyres into the Irish tyre market. For ourselves the Bridgestone AOO1 was the most readily available making it also the most popular.
An all season or all weather tyre is the great happy medium tyre to deal with the new Irish climate that we are been handed. This type tyre has more natural rubber in it to help grip the road in slippy conditions. With the economic climate in Ireland still has bad as ever people cant afford to buy summer and winter tyres so the simple answer is all season tyres. Most people fear low milage from these but its actually the opposite with customers actually reporting higher milage then summer tyres which is always a bonus. The tyre may cost a little more but only having to buy one set of tyres rather then two and gaining extra milage should make this easy to justify.
g>Tom Geraghty Tyres Blog for all thats new and worth knowing in the tyre world:
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Date 09/06/2011
Tyre Prices Keep Getting Higher
No one wants to here that any product is going up in price especially in recession times, but unfortunately tyre prices are going up and up every month. Most of our customers think its because of oil prices but oil at the moment isnt the problem, its because of the shortage of rubber as a raw material. Rubber is grown like any other plant on small plantations in countries like Malasyia etc and with the bad winter suffered by most of us all over the world the corps were bad last year which has given this shortage of rubber. With any shortage there is always a huge price increase with demand. Rubber has increased by 50% on the stock market in the past 6 months, some tyres have taken up to 30% increase in price. So if you think your tyre supplier is rising there price, he has no choice unfortunately.
g>Tom Geraghty Tyres Blog for all thats new and worth knowing in the tyre world:
Date 16/07/2010
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Michelin coming to Waterford
Every so often Michelin run there safety check around the country, we are happy to be able to tell you that they will be in Tesco Ardkeen in Waterford on the 30th of sept. The check carried out it free is of charge, the people from Michelin will check the pressures and thread depth in you tyres and make sure your car is safe for the coming winter. We hope some of you will avail of this free check especially as it’s so hard to find a petrol station with a pump these days.
If you have any other questions on this, e-mail me or call me
TEL 051 873777
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Date 18/06/2010
Continental win Tyre test
Every so often Auto express hold there Top sellers rated Tyre Test, comparing 12 branded tyres by putting them through there paces. All tyres are identical to those you buy in your tyre shop in Ireland or the UK. The Size choosen was 205/55×16 the most popular tyre size on the market, the car used in the test an Audi A3 (not that it makes a difference really. The Tyres were test under the following headings,
Dry Handling
Wet Handling & Cornering
Aquaplaning
Dry Braking
Wet Braking
Rolling Resistance
Price
Noise
After all the points were added up Continental came out winner ahead of all there leading competitors.
If you have any other questions on this, e-mail me or call me
TEL 051 873777
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Date 17/06/2010
100,000 Miles for a set of Bridgestones
If I read this on another website I probably wouldnt believe this but I can honestly say it a customer of our got 100,000 miles from a set of Bridgstone Van tyres.
The customer came to us about a year and half, looking for 195/70×15 Nankang. At the time he was getting good milage from the Nankang and thought they were the best tyre for milage. At the time Nankang wasnt available so we told him he should try bridgestone as we had good reports back from customers. The customer followed our advice and we fitted a set of 195/70×15 Bridgestone R630’s. On the day the customer recorded the milage of his toyota hiace on the cash sale doc. (otherwise i dont think i’d believe this ) which he produced a year and half later.
If you have any other questions on this, e-mail me or call me
TEL 051 873777
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Date 05/08/2010
Continental Agent
Here at Tom Geraghty Tyres we are delighted to add Continental to our range and hope to offer Continental tyres at very competitive price to the public. Continental is one of the largest tyre manufacturers in the world with one in three new cars coming O/E with there tyres. Continental have a huge range of tyres from space saver tyres to earth mover. Tom Geraghty’s is one of five tyre retailers in the republic of Ireland who have been appointed as a partner by Continental.
In a recent tyre test by Auto Express Continental finished No. 1 overall, ahead of all the leading competition.
If you have any other questions on this, e-mail me or call me
TEL 051 873777
Date 2/06/2010
Tyres gone up in price
Its bad news again for the punter unfrotunately with all tyre manufacturers pushing there prices up this month. Each manufacturer is different but its approx 5%. But it’s not just the EU tyre manufacturers who have stepped up there prices most of the asian tyres have jumped in price in the past two months. Another factor which is affecting the tyre price to the punter is the uk pound growing in strenght compared to the euro as so many tyres come from the uk or northern ireland.
If you have any other questions on this, e-mail me or call me
TEL 051 873777
Date 13/05/2010
Dumping Tax on chinese imports
The biggest news to hit the alloy wheel world is the latest tax on importing wheels from china. Most people will think who cares but this tax is so large its going to change the buyers market in wheels. Chinese manufacturers were taking over the last few year and even if the quality wasn’t as good as some european manufactures which wasnt always the case the price was dominating the market, people couldnt resist the amazing prices been offered on the these wheels. But this is all about to change, europe has just add this dumping tax this week from 4% to 20.6% + the 4% which is massive. The tax is paid on arrival of the container into the country so there’s no avoiding it unfortunately. So this I think is bye bye to the low cost replica wheels flooding our markets.
Date 27/04/2010
Most Popular Alloy Wheel
This years most popular wheel so far in 2010 is the same wheel that was in 2009. Most people would think it might be a TSW, wolfrace or some well known wheel brand but at Tom Geraghtys its the simple Borbet Design CC that keeps on out selling all the rest both retail and wholesale wise. There’s a few reasons for this, one its available in quite a few popular fittments and sizes, its a basic design which appeals to people who like a wheel thats easy to keep clean. The Borbet CC is finished in a crystal silver for those who like the O/E style wheel and also in polished with matt black for the more wild at heart. Click on the below link to view the most popular wheel
If you have any other questions on this, e-mail me or call me
TEL 051 873777
Dave
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Date: 20/4/2010
Cars with no spare wheels
For many years people complained when car manufacturers put a temporary spare into the boot of a car. In more recent time the average driver is faced with a bigger problem then look stupid with a red or yellow wheel as a spare and having to keep to a certain slow speed, now a days many cars such as the new Mazda 6, Honda Civic, Ford S-max to name but a few. Most people wouldnt even think this is possible for any car to come with no spare but this seems to be the way car maufacturers are going, the reason being to save weight. The modern car is becoming so heavy with so many electrics etc, the manufacturers are looking for any reason to cut weight to help fuel consumtion and the spare wheel is an easy option. Instead of a spare your given a can of puncture foam which is fine if you do have a simple nail in a tyre but if your unfortunate to bust a tyre your up the creek without a paddle. In the last few weeks we have help over 20 customers solve this problem by supplying them with an alloy wheel and tyre which will fit in the well in the back of there car.
If you have any other questions on this, e-mail me or call me
TEL 051 873777
Dave
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Date: 7/4/2010
The best tyres
Every second customer wants to know what’s the best tyre on the market. It’s a simple question to ask but that straight forward to answer unfortunately, because it all depends on the customers needs each. Some want the best tyre for milage some want the best for grip and some similar want round and black. We get customers telling us that certain tyres are rubbish because they got under 30,000 kilometers out of them but when asked were they good to grip they answer they were unreal to grip in the wet or dry. If you want a tyre that you get lots of milage out of your going to have to understand the grip will have to suffer. Each tyre company have there own qualities, such as Michelin is normally the best tyres for milage, Bridgestone have the strongest sidewall which is good with condition of the roads in Ireland at the moment. Uniroyal has a soft side wall to increase the comfort of a car especially on low profiler tyres. There is a tyre to suit every customers needs once the is realistic in what there looking for from the tyre, so the be all and end all of it is whats best for one isnt for another.
If you have any other questions on this, e-mail me or call me
TEL 051 873777
Dave
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Date: 6/4/2010
E marked tyres
The most talked about subject in tyres lately is E marked tyres in Ireland. What most people dont know is this marking has been a legal requirement since 1997 in every other country bar Ireland and Holland. Like many things Ireland is slow to follow on with standard in any industry. Although before 2010 it hadn’t been illegal to sell non E marked tyres, 99.9% of tyres been sold in Ireland for the past 13 yrs have been e marked as the branded tyres supplied by the manufacturers were been made in europe to the required standards of all the other EU countries. As there was so many papers warning people that if there tyres didnt have an E marked on them they would fail the NCT test, we are been constantly asked by customers are our tyres all E marked and the answer is ‘yes they are’ , but to any other buyers out there ‘it doesnt cost anything to ask the question’. We have seen many tyres over the years been brought into us by the public asking us to fit them and the tyres havent been E marked. This is something to keep in mind if you are buying tyres online trying to save money, it may cost you more in the long run.
If you have any other questions on this, e-mail me or call me
TEL 051 873777
Dave
