Fuck me, the price of inner tubes!

Strangely enough paid £7 for one today which was painful.

Yeah that is the price I saw too. I may just get one and see. There aren't many reviews in English about these tubes.

Why is £7 painful?

It's about £5 more than you should pay?

£7 is the most I’ve ever paid for a tube by some distance. Normally around £3.50?

Went tubeless a few years ago so lost track of the price but dusted off some old Campag bullets this summer so they did have a 60cm valve but still £7 is a lot for a tube imo.

It won't change much, since they're consumables, but the amount of tubes that I accumulate in a month that are guaranteed to go to landfill is fucking terrifying.
I'd rather charge more then pay Schwalbe or someone to recycle them.

@user85518 if you've gone tubeless with premium tyres, not sure why you're shocked at £7 for a tube to be honest.

Wait till you see how much everything is going up in price soon.

If I had gone to private school I probably wouldn’t be shocked at £7 but I sort of was.
Don’t think my normal tyres (Corsa G) were much cheaper then my tubeless (pro1) tyres, no doubt charging more for tubes will encourage people to repair rather then replace but they don’t last forever for various reasons, do you sell repaired tubes?

do you sell repaired tubes?

I don't understand your question.

£7 is now about the standard for a decent tube in any brick and mortar store. It's bread and butter and you'll be surprised at how little margin there is.

You're running £50 per end tyres on two wheelsets....One being Corsa's, which are lightweight tyres that are susceptible to cuts, but your quandary is with £7 tubes?

Curious.

I actually really rate the corsa’s for puncture protection although I only ride them in the summer.
Tyre tech seems to be always evolving but £7 for a tube that appears to be the same as one from 5 / 10 years ago & looks pretty simple to make is harder in my mind to justify paying out for.

Just wondered what you did with the terrifying amount of tubes you collect, maybe (if not to scary) repairing and reselling would be more eco & a better margin / price point for your customers?

How many patches per inner tube is deemed o.k. to keep using … asking for my very best friend - even if he is a cheapskate twat …. ?

At least five

Personally I don't think there is a limit as long as each patch is applied properly. Maybe when they are overlapping all over the shop as I don't know if the vulcanising solution works as well on the top of the patches.

I've certainly had some in use which looked like they had measles.

How come a tyre for all vehicles, car, motorbike, BMX, road bike, mountain bike all seem to cost about £40? Such varying amounts of material.

Guessing the materials cheap but the cost is in the manufacturing process?

They're simple yeah, but just like a loaf of bread doesn't cost the same as it did 10 years ago.

Just wondered what you did with the terrifying amount of tubes you collect, maybe (if not to scary) repairing and reselling would be more eco & a better margin / price point for your customers?

We don't, because the risk of it failing and people coming back pissed off is untenable. We try to recycle them, but costs come into it.

@n3il Average cost of motorbike tyres for me is about £250

Soon recycling will become law, we’re gonna charge an extra £1 for every puncture repair to cover the cost of disposal (we’re currently at £12 - 6 tube 6 labour, not London)

Wow, I wish my car tyres only cost £40. It's not even a very good car. Last tyre I bought lasted all of 2hrs before getting an unrepairable slash in it, expensive afternoon that was

Wow, I wish my car tyres only cost £40.

Same here. Last time I bought a new set of boots for the daily driver it was just over £1,200. And that was with a discount.

Normally around £3.50?

In 2001?

Wait till you see how much everything is going up in price soon.

Also, fucking hell this.

Last years mid level model cost as much as this year (2022) entry level model.

How come a tyre for all vehicles, car, motorbike, BMX, road bike, mountain bike all seem to cost about £40? Such varying amounts of material.

Not many car tyres are £40 any more. Remember £40 buys you a high performance bicycle tyre but a low quality car tyre, there are plenty of lower end bike tyres for £10-15. But car tyres do have economies of scale because they’re made in significantly higher numbers - that’s why they’re comparatively cheaper given the amount of material.

Not many car tyres are £40 any more.

They’re around £40, we were recently given the option of a £35 one from the last service (went for a £45 one in the end)

Haven’t tubes always been about £6 in a shop anyway? I left the country a few years ago and if it has gone up a quid in that time, that’s not so bad? Don’t understand the issue. With that said, I buy Conti tubes (sorry @hippy) in sets of ten and I think they come out to $3.00 each.

Have previously been to be able to get Conti tubes at around £2.50 to £3 online, but yeah around £6+ is standard in a shop. Conti Tour 28's are £3.50 on a deal at Wiggle currently and these (supposedly far better performing) Conti Hermetic tubes are £7 each on eBay.

They must be ditch finders at that price. Half decent tyres will start at around double that