Would you change the tyres and tubes because they are old?

[peter]

Got back on the bike last Saturday, it was a great feeling other than the butt hurts and a flat on the way back. I pinched 2 new tubes and had to resort to patch, not sure if that was because I forgot how to properly change a tube or the tubes degraded during storage.

Anyway, it got me thinking that may be it's time to refresh the tyre and tubes? They are not super old, around 7 years, Conti 4 Seasons 28's with matching Tour tubes. The tyres are not very worn but one of them has a deep cut from before, I used an emergency tyre boot to re-enforce.

MS Gong Ride is coming up in 3 weeks and a bit, so still have time if I order now. On the other hand, I'm not sure if that is completely necessary.

By the way, the new cycle way to Menai is amazing, albeit too short.

[10speedsemiracer]

For the minimal outlay involved, I'd be swapping them out, especially in anticipation of an 80km ride like the MS Gong ride. Also, doesn't need to be $140 worth of Conti 4seasons, maybe try something a bit more cost-effective. Am a big fan of the Vittoria Zaffiro tyres or the Maxxis Re-Fuse. Both come in 28mm.

[Thoglette]

I forgot how to properly change a tube or the tubes degraded during storage.

The former. Unless you left the tubes in the sun. But it does sound like one of your tyres is cactus

[madmacca]

Tubes are cheap, more susceptible to perishing than tyres and you should have a stock of spares anyway, so best to replace those.

If you are pinch flatting, perhaps up the air pressure. You may also want to carefully check (by feel as well as visually) for any embedded glass or foreign objects on the inside of the tyre.

[cyclotaur]

I lost count of the numbers changing flats in the first 50-60kms of the ATB to Sorrento yesterday. I can only imagine some bikes were pulled out of the shed and had the dust blown off for the event.

I actually put brand new tyres on my bike last week. I was hoping I wouldn't get a flat as it took me a lot of effort getting the new ones on the rims to start with, but on balance I'm glad I had the new tyres.

My old ones were only 10 months old but had minimal use (<200km?) - I must admit the only reason I changed them was to swap to 28s for the 200km ride.

[eeksll]

how big is the gash the boot is covering? That would be my determining factor on using or replacing the tyres. Tube wise, I would replace, unless you do a bit of riding between now and the MS Gong ride, if the tubes hold up for a few rides then keep using them.

Also how big of an event is the MS Gong to you? If it is a big event then go the new tyres and tubes.

[peter]

Thanks guys for your input.

The cut is only a couple of mm, a small one, but close to the side wall. I have been riding with it for many hundred kms, so it's holding up well.

In the scheme of things a new set of tyres is probably not a huge deal, I will go ahead to have them replaced. Tubes are consumables anyway.

The Gong ride is only a social ride for me, but I have been telling people about it, so it would be good to go and actually complete it. I have done it many times before, but the upcoming one is the first after a long break.

[RonK]

7 years old is quite old to my thinking. Rubber can harden and crack over such periods. If you were just riding locally a failure is not much inconvenience but more so when you are far from home.
For peace of mind I’d replace tyres and tubes. And also inspect the rim tape and maybe replace it too if showing any signs of deterioration.

[ironhanglider]

I don't replace tyres just because they are old. I replace them because there is a fault.

However, I recognise that tyres are relatively fragile. It only takes one piece of debris to destroy a tyre, and if that happens on a Sunday afternoon and I have to ride to work on Monday that could be a problem. As a result I always have spare tyres on hand. Fortunately for me I do enough kms to wear out a few tyres every year so my spares are always turned over.

I do know people who carry spare tyres with them when they ride. In the event of a puncture they put a new tyre and tube on, to eliminate the possibility of a repeat puncture from an undiscovered cause.

In short, definitely buy new tyres now. Whether you replace them or not will depend on their condition.

Cheers,

Cameron

[Patt0]

7 years old is quite old to my thinking. Rubber can harden and crack over such periods. .

2-5 years is the cherry for most rubber compounds. I replace the rubber on all my vehicles if they reach 5 years.

[foo on patrol]

There is a big difference to a tyre that has been ridden on for 7yrs and one that has just sat around and gone hard. Turf them and put new ones on.

Foo

[bychosis]

As mentioned above, if riding locally I'd be fine with older tyres, provided the didn't look cracked or perished. I reckon tubes last pretty well stored inside a tyre, but for the small outlay I'd rather have either tested them for a few weeks, or replace them prior to a long ride away from home.

I've got a stack of tubes with patches that I have no idea how old they are, but I keep using them until the valve goes, or there are too many patches. Some stored in tyres inflated, some hanging in the shed, some folded and carried around for roadside flats. They all get interchanged fairly randomly so I have no idea of age or kms on them.

[Thoglette]

so I have no idea of age or kms on them.

When it comes to tubes the older the better (there's a thread on poor quality of modern tubes and tube rubber somewhere)

I've just thrown out a tube that was, as far as I can work out, about 35 years old. Patched umpteen times but kept out of the sun. Finally, it failed around the valve insert, as is often the way

[peter]

I have ordered the necessary parts from Chain Reaction just in case, discovered that they are Wiggle.

[jules21]

rubber does deteriorate over time, as others noted here. I repair punctured tubes and I've learned that perished tubes will just develop new holes as soon as you repair and inflate the previous one. if you squeeze the tube you can usually see the micro-cracks/perishing that is a good hint it's past its use-by date.

tyres - same deal. it's easy to see if a tyre has perished. it will be brittle and with mini-cracks in the tread.

other than those symptoms, I wouldn't replace either tubes or tyres that appeared to be in good working order.

[human909]

I am still running a tyre over 12 years old on my regular commuter. Continental sport contact....

I dare not think how old the tyres are on my old loan bike are... Probably around 20 years old. It still gets regular use.

[eeksll]

one of the tyres on my commuter is 5 years and a bit old now.

The front tyre on my other commute bike (old road bike) is also about 5 years old and there are cracks all through the tread. I had thought it was fairly safe based on sheldons page but I don't really know otherwise. It is a gp4000s tyre.

[jules21]

The front tyre on my other commute bike (old road bike) is also about 5 years old and there are cracks all through the tread. I had thought it was fairly safe based on sheldons page but I don't really know otherwise. It is a gp4000s tyre.

it's probably safe enough for shopping trips. I wouldn't descend Mt Baw baw on it

[uart]

Yeah it depends on how you intend to ride and what sort of speeds are involved, but I'm always much more concerned about degradation of the casing than of the rubber compound itself. I've ridden plenty of kms on tyres with cracking sidewall rubber without any concerns, but watch out for damaged casing as that can really cause things to go south very quickly.

A while ago I had an old bonterager tyre that looked in perfect condition (rubber looked perfect), when I had a puncture due to a small piece of glass that worked its way through the tread. Even though it was just a tiny cut (like about 2mm), the casing totally lost it's integrity and start to distort slightly at that spot. I know should have ditched that tyre straight away, but I continued to use it for a few weeks as it was just an old commuter.

Anyway, one day a few weeks later I was riding home when I noticed a LOT of pulsation from my front wheel so I stopped to take a look and sure enough that slight distortion had suddenly ballooned out to massive bulge. I immediately let out about 15 psi and gingerly tried to nurse it home (about 15 km away), but literally only 100m later it explosively blew out with about a 10cm rip in the tyre. Never in my life have I seen such a sudden catastrophic tyre failure!