Tyre prices

Seriously.. why are they so expensive?

Say for example these Contis:
http://www.cecilwalker.com.au/category11_1.htm

$86 - $112 for a pair?? You can buy whole mountain bikes for that!

All I want is basic slick 26x1.3 tyres.. no fancy tread patterns or
brand names. I've seen US retailers selling them (but they wont ship
over me) Every local bike shop tries to sell me some
super-dooper-safe-puncture-proof-reinforced-whatever tyre.

I feel stupid spending $100 on tyres for a bike I only paid $400 for
(including Conti SportContacts, which I have to admit I love!)

Jules said:

Seriously.. why are they so expensive?

Say for example these Contis:
http://www.cecilwalker.com.au/category11_1.htm

$86 - $112 for a pair?? You can buy whole mountain bikes for that!

All I want is basic slick 26x1.3 tyres.. no fancy tread patterns or
brand names. I've seen US retailers selling them (but they wont ship
over me) Every local bike shop tries to sell me some
super-dooper-safe-puncture-proof-reinforced-whatever tyre.

I feel stupid spending $100 on tyres for a bike I only paid $400 for
(including Conti SportContacts, which I have to admit I love!)

I've bought from probike kit at excellent prices. That being said, the rubber on your bike is one of the most important aspects of your bike - it's part of your safety insurance and should not be compromised. Buy the best you can afford, and tyres that suit your riding conditions. They will last, grip when you need them to, and may even save your ar$e. My wheels on my track bike are worth twice as much as the bike itself. All my bikes have good quality tyres on them, because they help to keep me upright.

If you have a car, would you put cr@p cheap tyres on it??

warrwych said:

If you have a car, would you put cr@p cheap tyres on it??

You're making the assumption that cheap=[censored] whereas this isn't always
true, particularly not with tyres, both car and bike. If you want high
performance, low rolling resistance, high grip at 200km/h then feel
free to spend silly amounts of money on tyres (most people can't test
all these qualities legally anyway). I used to buy the cheapest tyres I
could find for my old car and drive it at UK motorway speeds
(70mph,110km/h) with heavy loads (weeks worth of camping gear, 4
people, 4 kayaks and a few bikes) and at no time did I ever have
problems with tyres. As with many things, price is often as much a
function of marketing as it is of capability. [1]

Graeme

[1] As a non-tyre related example, last night I was in Bunnings looking
at those bathroom 3 in 1 light/heater/extractor units. One came with
2x270W heat bulbs and an otherwise identical model came with 2x350W
heat bulbs for $50 extra. Two replacement 350W bulbs came to $30, so
you could buy the 270W model, use the 350W bulbs and have a couple of
270W spares for $20 less. "Ah, no" says Bunnings drone "the 350W model
is of better quality and the 270W cannot handle the higher heat
output." Never make such a wild-ass claim to an engineer! :-) So after
about a minute of opening boxes and comparing part numbers and dates on
the plastic molding, circuit boards etc. we came away with the 270W
model and some "spare" 350W bulbs. If you don't hear from me again,
maybe I've been incinerated by a melting bathroom light ;-)

quote='Graeme Dods'warrwych said:

If you have a car, would you put cr@p cheap tyres on it??

You're making the assumption that cheap=[censored] whereas this isn't always
true, particularly not with tyres, both car and bike. If you want high
performance, low rolling resistance, high grip at 200km/h then feel
free to spend silly amounts of money on tyres (most people can't test
all these qualities legally anyway). I used to buy the cheapest tyres I
could find for my old car and drive it at UK motorway speeds
(70mph,110km/h) with heavy loads (weeks worth of camping gear, 4
people, 4 kayaks and a few bikes) and at no time did I ever have
problems with tyres. As with many things, price is often as much a
function of marketing as it is of capability. [1]

Graeme

yes, price is as much a function of marketing as capability. But I wouldnt buy a kenda tyre over a conti just because its cheaper.

Quoted message said:

problems with tyres. As with many things, price is often as much a
function of marketing as it is of capability. [1]

Bingo.

I used to accept the ridiculous price of motorcycle tyres based on their
comparatively low production volume. One bike I used to own consumed
$300 tyres remarkably quickly, and I had little option but to buy the
same again.

However I reasonably expect that bicycle tyre production far exceeds
that of any other type of tyre, and I expect to see the economies of scale.

And - when scouring online - I do see this. It just seems that we're
getting shafted in Aus. That includes eBay.

I tried to order a large number of 26x1.25 slicks I found for $US6 a
piece, but the inept online retailer simply couldn't fathom delivery to
Australia.

warrwych said:

Graeme Dods said:

warrwych said:

If you have a car, would you put cr@p cheap tyres on it??

You're making the assumption that cheap=[censored] whereas this isn't always
true, particularly not with tyres, both car and bike. If you want high
performance, low rolling resistance, high grip at 200km/h then feel
free to spend silly amounts of money on tyres (most people can't test
all these qualities legally anyway). I used to buy the cheapest tyres
I
could find for my old car and drive it at UK motorway speeds
(70mph,110km/h) with heavy loads (weeks worth of camping gear, 4
people, 4 kayaks and a few bikes) and at no time did I ever have
problems with tyres. As with many things, price is often as much a
function of marketing as it is of capability. [1]

Graeme

yes, price is as much a function of marketing as capability. But I
wouldnt buy a kenda tyre over a conti just because its cheaper.

not for racing, but I have elcheapo MTB tyres on my MTB and they're
fine.
And we put cheapy tyres on commuters with no problems.

Quoted message said:

--
warrwych

Bleve said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

yes, price is as much a function of marketing as capability. But I
wouldnt buy a kenda tyre over a conti just because its cheaper.

not for racing, but I have elcheapo MTB tyres on my MTB and they're
fine.
And we put cheapy tyres on commuters with no problems.

Quoted message said:

--
warrwych

The tyre I melted on the trainer last week was a low mileage elcheapo 😉 I have also had a bontrager blister from general road use.

At what point is cheap no longer cost effective? If it's cheap and quality great, if it's cheap and cr@p, not great.

Jules said:

Seriously.. why are they so expensive?

Say for example these Contis:
cecilwalker.com.aucategory11 1.htmOpen ↗

$86 - $112 for a pair?? You can buy whole mountain bikes for that!

All I want is basic slick 26x1.3 tyres.. no fancy tread patterns or
brand names. I've seen US retailers selling them (but they wont ship
over me) Every local bike shop tries to sell me some
super-dooper-safe-puncture-proof-reinforced-whatever tyre.

I feel stupid spending $100 on tyres for a bike I only paid $400 for
(including Conti SportContacts, which I have to admit I love!)

I'm running the contact sports at the moment and don't mind spending the money on these tyres, mind you I bought them from probikeit for around $30 each plus postage but I ordered 4 tyres at one time.

The last thing i want when travelling to work is a flat and after riding 2000k this has not happened as yet, not the say it won't but the chances with a good proven tyre are pretty slim.

Prior to the Contact sports I had the Specialized Armadillos and they were bombproof but quiet heavy to push along.

If you're not worried about the weight then get some armadillos and they will probably outlast the wearable parts of the groupset on the bike, I think mine have done 10000k and they still have plenty of life.

Dancier wrote:
<snip>

Quoted message said:

The last thing i want when travelling to work is a flat and after
riding 2000k this has not happened as yet, not the say it won't but the
chances with a good proven tyre are pretty slim.

<snip>

Well, the chances _were_ slim, until you made that brazen remark to
incur the wrath of the puncture gods...

Tam

I bought MTB slicks through torpedo7 for $13each...........they are waht your looking for

warrwych said:

Bleve said:

Quoted message said:

> yes, price is as much a function of marketing as capability. But I
> wouldnt buy a kenda tyre over a conti just because its

cheaper.

not for racing, but I have elcheapo MTB tyres on my MTB and they're
fine.
And we put cheapy tyres on commuters with no problems.

Quoted message said:

--
warrwych

The tyre I melted on the trainer last week was a low mileage elcheapo
😉 I have also had a bontrager blister from general road use.

I've never had a problem with a bontrager racelite, nor heard of one.
Maybe the select's are junk? I don't know. Your tyre will have melted
because either it was underinflated, or it was slipping because it
wasn't tight enough against the roller, I'd suggest, not because it was
a cheapy.

Quoted message said:

At what point is cheap no longer cost effective? If it's cheap and
quality great, if it's cheap and cr@p, not great.

Of course!

Quoted message said:

--
warrwych

Jules said:

Seriously.. why are they so expensive?

Because the margins are high on those high quality tyres so shops are
stocking only them to force people to buy them. Same thing is happening
with chain lube. Both the LBS near me now only stock Rock & Roll, if you
want anything else then tough luck.

The only solution is to shop around.

I saw some cheap Dunlop slicks in Big W once, no idea if they are value for
money or not though.

dewatf.

quote='dewatf'On Mon said:

Seriously.. why are they so expensive?

Because the margins are high on those high quality tyres so shops are
stocking only them to force people to buy them. Same thing is happening
with chain lube. Both the LBS near me now only stock Rock & Roll, if you
want anything else then tough luck.

The only solution is to shop around.

I saw some cheap Dunlop slicks in Big W once, no idea if they are value for
money or not though.

dewatf.[/QUOTE]

I wouldn't trust Dunlop to make a whole bike (and I'm sure that I'veseen that somewhere...too lazy to google for it) but I'm willing to bet that they make a passable tyre 🙂 First pneumatic tyre was a Dunlop bike tyre after all.

Jules said:

Seriously.. why are they so expensive?)

absofarkinlutely!! I'm with ya. We're really getting farked over on tyre and clothing prices

I can get a Mavic CXP33 rim for about $100 to $110, but a top tyre costs me $90? Crazy! I can get a good car tyre for about $125, which is rated to a coupla hundred kph, and will last at least 50,000km (the way I drive), but a bike tyre........??!!

I usually pick up stuff on sale, whether I need a tyre or not. I'll often buy a tyre when I've bought another part, coz, often enough, the shop guy will say, "eh, just make it an extra $40 for the tyre"

Michelins are way overpriced. I can get a Vredestein Super Light for 20 or 30 bucks less than a Pro Race. Vredestein tyres are generally much better value than most other brands. I was getting TriComps for $55 in shops.

but yeah, as has been said a million times on this forum, Probikekit seems to be the place to go.

I'm waiting for someone to make cheaper chainrings?

How on earth can chainring prices be justified?????

"Jules" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Seriously.. why are they so expensive?

Say for example these Contis:
http://www.cecilwalker.com.au/category11_1.htm

$86 - $112 for a pair?? You can buy whole mountain bikes for that!

All I want is basic slick 26x1.3 tyres.. no fancy tread patterns or brand
names. I've seen US retailers selling them (but they wont ship over me)
Every local bike shop tries to sell me some
super-dooper-safe-puncture-proof-reinforced-whatever tyre.

I feel stupid spending $100 on tyres for a bike I only paid $400 for
(including Conti SportContacts, which I have to admit I love!)

Quoted message said:

I bought MTB slicks through torpedo7 for $13each...........they are waht
your looking for

erm... more info please?

Jules said:

Quoted message said:

I bought MTB slicks through torpedo7 for $13each...........they are waht
your looking for

erm... more info please?

Nevermind.. found it
http://www.torpedo7.com/page/australia/PROD/tires_mtb-mountain_bike/WTB-TYR-SLI-15

Nice one!

dewatf said:

Jules said:

Seriously.. why are they so expensive?

Because the margins are high on those high quality tyres so shops are
stocking only them to force people to buy them.

[censored]. We stock road tyres from $30 to $120, and the same with MTB
tyres etc. Shops do exist to make money though, so you can't expect
them (esp when wholesale isn't all that cheap here) to give them to
you.

Katharine & Paul said:

I'm waiting for someone to make cheaper chainrings?How on earth can chainring prices be justified?????
]

still a lot more reasonable than tyres. I recently bought a 9sp Ultegra ring for about $45, and it will last a lot longer than my $80 Pro Race! 🙂

But wait, there's more: I can get a Silca floor pump for less than a Pro Race 2!! Just doesn't make sense. We're being stung for quick-wearing stuff.
Insane in the membrane