Do you periodically replace your spare tubes? I've got a tube that's been in my seat bag for over a year. Looks good, but I've had used/patched tubes sit on a shelf for a year and they pretty much fall apart.

Just curious what the consensus is on when to replace spare tubes- replace at the start of the season, keep them until needed, check them every so often, what...

Now that you've thought about it you have to replace it because you'll feel like an idiot if you don't and have a problem later. Tubes are cheap so a new one is worth it's price in peace of mind.

If you hadn't thought about it you'd all-but-certainly be OK. I don't do anything but patch the punctures, re-roll the repaired tube and stick it back in my bike bag.

As long as they haven't been exposed to the elements (E.g. "sitting on a shelf" in sunlight), they should be ok for more than a year. Three is probably pushing it. I don't get a lot of flats but it's enough where this is not a concern.

Cool dry dark storage, away from sources of ozone... Depending on where you store your bike a saddle bag might qualify. I have 6 year old butyl tubes that are perfectly fine. I have no recent similar experience with latex tubes, though some say they are more subject to deterioration over time and I have seen latex surgical tubing and similar deteriorate. I keep the spare tubes on my bikes tightly wrapped in plastic wrap to keep the compressed to a compact size and protect them from abrasion. It may contribute to preserving them to some small extent.

Yeah. Stick them in a sealed plastic bag with a dash of talcum power and quit worrying. Looks like Looigi may have refined the process by sucking the air out with a vacumn cleaner. Better and takes up less space.

No sucking. Tubes come deflated and I simply fold them tightly, sprinkle on a dash of talc, then wrap them tightly in plastic wrap. IMO, talc doesn't do anything other than make it easier to change and keep from pinching in the process.

I wouldn't throw them.
Our club had bike world traveler come speak and keep keep patching tubes until they had 20 patches and then tossed them.... too extreme for me.

With a spare that has been patched and stored at least yuo know the tube was once good.

New tubes also fail.

I'd go with inflating and leaving overnight or better still all week. That way you know. I also always carried 2 tubes and a patch kit.

Think about it, one patch of thorns and yuo may have 2 flats with multiple punctures. Never got that unlucky, but on my first double century less than 25 miles in I gave one of my 2 spares to a rider on his 3rd puncture.

rotate and/or replace the tires every spring and put in my spare tubes. Carefully inspect the inside of each tire for any thorn, wire or fragment that might have worked its way in. Also carry the spare in a plastic bag - it is easier than keeping it in the original box and protects it from road grit. That would be an interesting marketing idea for tube/tire companies - package their tubes in a sealed pouch. I get new spare tubes in the spring.
Think of the project as my annual homage to the flat fairy - who has been very very nice to me. Tx FF.

I have used spare tubes that were years old with no problems. Store in dry, cool, dark spot. And I patch tubes until the valve stem fails - had a couple with 12 to 15 patches before the stem failed.

Yeah, I usually get nervous at 10 patches and get a new tube. Besides, beyond that, you start to risk having to patch over patches if the flats get too close to each other, which I think is a poor idea.

I have never seen any need for replacing tubes. I have tubes from 50 year old bicycles that still work fine.

I have to admit, though that all my tubes are the old black rubber tubes, no latex or anything else.

I still have spare tubes in my garage that are 5+ years old. A couple of my wheels are some form of tubeless (UST/Stans). Of the wheels I still run tubes, they've been patched using Park glueless patches and still in use. I'm gettin' my $3 worth outta them tubes!

Hehe,...you've got me then!

The tires/tubes on my 1987 Schwinn Cimarron are original, as it's been in storage for 23 years or so and bike is 25 years old. It's been stored in an unheated garage the last 7 years, ....inside house before that.
I got her out of storage several weeks ago and cleaned off all the dust, and removed the gel seat cover and added a Thudbuster LT to ease the blow on my "softenafied" fanny!

The knobby tires are getting changed out today to a pair of inverted tread Serfas Drifter 26 X 2 , more suited to the road work i've been doing the last few weeks to get some exercize and tone back into me! At almost 56 i could use it!

I've been riding it the last few weeks as the tires/tubes pumped right up and have been holding presure fine.........

.......i figure i can sneak new tubes in when the originals finally bite the dust!

BTW, if you missed my adding substaintial support added dust sealing to my Thudbuster LT, you can read about it here in the Mechanics forum:

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...of-As-Possible!



Note: The gel seat is now off,.....saved over 320 grams!





The seat i'm using (sans gel seat) is the original shown here, but not showing the added Thusdbuster LT:

Tied up in a plastic bag with a little talc, out of the sun, they should be OK for years.