Thread: tube shelf life
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Old 05-26-06, 03:43 PM
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stapfam
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Originally Posted by divineAndbright
I have a 1968 bicycle that still has the original tubes, no problems with em.
You are lucky. I have always found that a new tube can sit on my shelf for a few years without any deteriation in quality, Never had a tube longer than that so can't quote for a longer period. However- Once out and used- Then they start to go off fairly quickly. I have a batch of Michelin tubes bought in 2002, and I still have one new one left in the box, but If the tubes are fitted with a liberal showering of Talc, they do last. Then out on the road you get a puncture on a wet day- repair it but the tube gets wet and loses the talc. 6 months later and you puncture again and you find the tube stuck to the tyre. Always happens to me and when you pump it up- It has thin patches on it that balloon up out of the tyre. That is the time for me to Chuck it.

If you keep them talced- They seem to last a good few years, but once it "Dries" out- then chuck it.

Edit- Correction on the brain not working.---That should have read as meaning- You pump the tube up out of the tyre and it then balloons out
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