Changing bikes on the village square
04/30/2011
Truly a rare picture. Yes, in today's road conditions and with modern tires, this kind of thing is rather rare.
It used to be commonplace! Even in the middle of the village square, as here on the Flüeli in the canton of Obwalden (central Switzerland), wheels were changed.
At that time, cars still had real spare wheels and not the space-saving emergency wheels we have today, which allow you to drive at a maximum speed of 80 km/h and look like a skier with one downhill ski and one cross-country ski! And there were no tires that could never really go flat ("runflat") and with which you could get home without air.
In any case, the Mercedes-Benz 170V from Zurich was still on the road with inner tubes. Probably a Sunday outing, judging by the clothing of the three gentlemen.
Let's just enjoy these two historic photographs without wasting too many words.
