Commuting - Shipping tires

I bought a pair of 700 x 28 Continental Gatorskins a couple of weeks ago & while they are great tires, 28's are just too narrow for my commuter, so I'm looking to put them on ebay or something. I tried Criagslist, but didn't get any takers. my question is, does anyone know how to ship them? They are wire-beaded, so they don't fold. Do you just get a really big box, or is there some way to compress them safely to fit into a smaller box? Thanks,

I would think a large skinny box or two thicker flat pieces of cardboard with the tires sandwiched in between would work, just thoughts. I have never shipped tires, but that is the route I would go.

There is a technique for "folding" wire-bead tires. I personally don't know how to do it because I always buy folders, but you could probably google it and find out how.

Edited by Moderators

Tarwheel-Thanks for the idea. I"ll google that to see if I can find how to fold them.

They can be folded sort of like this: http://www.advantamarketing.co.uk/acatalog/Fling_300.jpg I've done it before when taking tires home from the bike shop.

EDIT: Found a good step-by-step of how to fold with little risk of kinking them: http://home.comcast.net/~mandmlj/tirefolding/index.html

As usual, Sheldon Brown (http://www.sheldonbrown.com/video/tire-folding.html) to the rescue (video).

Sweet, thanks for the links guys. That will make shipping them a lot easier.

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As usual, Sheldon Brown (http://www.sheldonbrown.com/video/tire-folding.html) to the rescue (video).

Bittersweet to see Sheldon in video, RIP.

"Red is the only color that works" :lol:

Juha, sorry about that.

As usual, Sheldon Brown (http://www.sheldonbrown.com/video/tire-folding.html) to the rescue (video).

:thumb:

same way as folding a bandsaw blade

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PI1Okb4Vp9Q

except most of us don't need the gloves, long sleeve shirt and face shield

Bittersweet to see Sheldon in video, RIP.

"Red is the only color that works" :lol:

LOL. Now I have a use for those toe-straps I never use. Wait none of them are red...