How long do tubes last ?
02-19-18 | 10:47 AM
#27
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02-19-18 | 11:30 AM
#28
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From: Mid Atlantic / USA
Bikes: 2017 Specialized Crosstrail / 2013 Trek Crossrip Elite
I just gave away a 15 year old bike to a friend after fixing it up for him.
I've replaced the tires on it multiple times. But it still has the original factory inner tubes and they work fine.
I've also had tubes go bad after a month.
As a kid I used to go tubing in the local river on larger car inner tubes. They are the same tubes my father used to use. Those tubes still have air in them right now. They are a little thicker, but are the same rubber in a modern bike tube.
So in theory...they could last forever. In practice, also forever unless punctured or you get a defective one.
I've replaced the tires on it multiple times. But it still has the original factory inner tubes and they work fine.
I've also had tubes go bad after a month.
As a kid I used to go tubing in the local river on larger car inner tubes. They are the same tubes my father used to use. Those tubes still have air in them right now. They are a little thicker, but are the same rubber in a modern bike tube.
So in theory...they could last forever. In practice, also forever unless punctured or you get a defective one.
02-19-18 | 06:38 PM
#29
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I have tubes that are likely 40 years old or more, most butyl but some latex. If they aren't installed, they are either in a plastic bag or just hanging in the garage. I have yet to see much deterioration. I do fill them with 78% nitrogen, though.
02-19-18 | 08:02 PM
#30
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From: ALASKA , SoCal
Bikes: /Skye/ Torker mt, Sirrus flat bar
02-19-18 | 08:05 PM
#31
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From: ALASKA , SoCal
Bikes: /Skye/ Torker mt, Sirrus flat bar
Original tubes & tires.
Not flats so far
02-19-18 | 08:06 PM
#32
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From: Perth, Western Australia
The little bubble thing on my string trimmer you have to push to prime it with gas started leaking. I didn't want to bother going to the store, but needed to make the yard look nice. So I cut a piece of a bike inner tube and put it in it's place hoping for a temporary fix. To my surprise it worked very well. Four years later it's still there today and leak free despite being in constant contact with gasoline and the two stroke oil mix.
I have a couple of machines that need a new one, they don't seem to last very long for me.
02-19-18 | 11:07 PM
#35
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I wish had the same problem as the OP. I think I am buying tubes every few months.
02-20-18 | 10:05 AM
#37
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From: Denver, CO
Bikes: Some silver ones, a red one, a black and orange one, and a few titanium ones
Mine last through at least 30 goatheads. I’d rather spend $0.25 and a few minutes for each patch than $6 for each tube.
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Stuart Black
Dreamin' of Bemidji Down the Mississippi (in part)
Plan Epsilon Around Lake Michigan in the era of Covid
Gold Fever Three days of dirt in Colorado
Pokin' around the Poconos A cold ride around Lake Erie
Dinosaurs in Colorado A mountain bike guide to the Purgatory Canyon dinosaur trackway
Solo Without Pie. The search for pie in the Midwest.
Picking the Scablands. Washington and Oregon, 2005. Pie and spiders on the Columbia River!
02-21-18 | 01:05 PM
#38
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Bikes: 1940s Fothergill, 1959 Allegro Special, 1963? Claud Butler Olympic Sprint, Lambert 'Clubman', 1974 Fuji "the Ace", 1976 Holdsworth 650b conversion rando bike, 1983 Trek 720 tourer, 1984 Counterpoint Opus II, 1993 Basso Gap, 2010 Downtube 8h, and...
Also, if it has been soaked in motor oil, it cannot be patched.
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02-21-18 | 02:01 PM
#39
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The tubes on my '83 Cannondale and '84 Raleigh seem to be solid .... though of course I have a little rust on the Raleigh ....
02-21-18 | 02:41 PM
#40
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I forgot if it was 1965 or 1967, but the tubes on my wife's Schwinn cruiser still had the date codes on them that looked fresh as the day they came out of the factory, and worked just fine.
Put some new ones in, but I still have the originals!
Put some new ones in, but I still have the originals!
08-12-18 | 10:55 PM
#41
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Hello everyone, This is my first real post. Tubes Yeah? I didn't read all 45 pages of posts. Only about 3 pages. Alas, I did not see anyone mention the valves on the tubes. All my bikes are old so I tend to be fixing flats more than I want to. I have seen them covered in rust stain. I have seen them rotten. I have seen them with more than one hole. A rotten tube just toss it of course. I don't restrict the patches exactly. The thing that gets to me is a valve that holds air initially and then goes flat in a couple of hours/days. I have not discovered any way to repair a tube that fails in this way. Replacing the inner valve doesn't seem to work very often. Once they start leaking out they are pretty much done, whether they have any patch or not. I am wondering about an optimum time for a tube under pressure. I suspect about three years but I have not discovered a formula yet. However, this summer I have discovered that an old tire will generally hold air with a fresh tube. For my comments about old tires I will use an appropriate thread.
08-13-18 | 08:19 AM
#42
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Yup. I just changed the tires on my wife's 1969 Raleigh Sports. Original tires, badly dry rotted, the bead was exposed in several places and the sidewall threatening to tear.
The tubes, however, were fine; and higher quality than you can get today. I didn't replace the tubes.
The tubes, however, were fine; and higher quality than you can get today. I didn't replace the tubes.
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08-13-18 | 08:52 AM
#44
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From: Alpharetta, GA
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I've only been riding since around 2007 +/-, and I've gone through some tubes, but I really can't say with any confidence how long tubes should last. I've only tossed them when a patch or layered patch didn't take or maybe the valve stem was bollixed, because it's not worth spending any more time on it. Or when I wanted a lighter tube or had different size tires. Possibly every tube that I've thrown out could still be in use given a little more care.
