Stupidly expensive tubeless tyres

[warthog1]

Yep, cycling has been described as the new golf for some.
Prices seem to be rising well past those for golfing equipment.
If you can think of a more expensive pastime that may be more apt.
Anyway, tyres are a consumable, they last 4 or 5k km on the road before being worn ime.
They therefore are a necessary replacement with some regularity.
Tubeless road tyres seem to take the expense to ever more ridiculous levels.
I've stopped buying Continental GP tyres due to the price of the GP5k S TR
Although they have come down from the $130 price point they were.
https://www.pushys.com.au/continental-g ... -25mm.html

Pirelli seem to have got on board too now
https://www.bicyclesuperstore.com.au/pr ... -road-tyre

The p zero race tlr speed core is apparently fast and relatively puncture resistant.
Pity it is priced like a car tyre with a small fraction of the manufacturing, freight and developmental cost. Similarly it's longevity will be nowhere near as long either.

[brumby33]

You should try buying motorcycle tyres, I had a standard 650cc Suzuki V-Strom and to replace a set of tyes cost about $600 and they only last for 13-17,000kms. So if you commute everyday to and from work, you could be up for a set every 12 Months.

[warthog1]

Yeah had plenty of motorcycles in times past.
Sure they are more expensive. Softer rear tyres don't last a heap longer either.
A fair difference in the size weight and complexity of construction in a motorcycle tyre as compared to a bicycle tyre.

[Thoglette]

I ran Yoko A032s for a while on a little midengined thing. My tyre dealer was impressed that I managed to get 7,000km out of them.

But then happiness is never having to slow down for roundabouts

[find_bruce]

True that, but as my toy car does less km per year than my bicycle, it's not such an imposition.

Ironically my issue is not the price of tyres, but their non-availability - I like schwalbe marathon supremes around 40mm, but can't find them or an equivalent anywhere

[Nobody]

Yep, cycling has been described as the new golf for some.
Prices seem to be rising well past those for golfing equipment.
If you can think of a more expensive pastime that may be more apt.
Anyway, tyres are a consumable, they last 4 or 5k km on the road before being worn ime.
They therefore are a necessary replacement with some regularity.
Tubeless road tyres seem to take the expense to ever more ridiculous levels.
I've stopped buying Continental GP tyres due to the price of the GP5k S TR
Although they have come down from the $130 price point they were.
https://www.pushys.com.au/continental-g ... -25mm.html

Pirelli seem to have got on board too now
https://www.bicyclesuperstore.com.au/pr ... -road-tyre

The p zero race tlr speed core is apparently fast and relatively puncture resistant.
Pity it is priced like a car tyre with a small fraction of the manufacturing, freight and developmental cost. Similarly it's longevity will be nowhere near as long either.

I can think of a more expensive sport which priced itself largely out of this country at least. That is windsurfing. You can easily spend $10K+ to get setup with a couple of boards and some rigs to match various wind speed ranges. Considering how little use they can get in the eastern states, it's easy to see why most gave up on it. Me included.

As said, motorcycle tyres are expensive for what they appear to be. Even on a fairly small MC, good tyres will cost $200 to $300 per tyre. But I'm getting about 20K+ km out of mine, so I can't complain too much. Some people only get 5K km on some heavy, high powered bikes.

But yes, some bikes and parts are getting to insane levels of expense. I think you are correct with the implication that the manufaturers are continuing to test where the top of the market is. I suppose that's just business since they're likely to get bigger margins at the top end.
Fortunately no one has a gun to my head telling me to buy them. So I'll leave them for those who enjoy impressing others. Or those who can only accept the best available. I suppose I should feel sorry for them since I'm fortunate to be content to be largely a cost minimalist, or at least frugal. I need to see long term value/benefit before accepting the cost these days. Now my mortgage interest rate is 7%, I'm unlikely to be buying much for the foreseeable future.

[warthog1]

I can think of a more expensive sport which priced itself largely out of this country at least. That is windsurfing. You can easily spend $10K+ to get setup with a couple of boards and some rigs to match various wind speed ranges. Considering how little use they can get in the eastern states, it's easy to see why most gave up on it. Me included.

As said, motorcycle tyres are expensive for what they appear to be. Even on a fairly small MC, good tyres will cost $200 to $300 per tyre. But I'm getting about 20K+ km out of mine, so I can't complain too much. Some people only get 5K km on some heavy, high powered bikes.

But yes, some bikes and parts are getting to insane levels of expense. I think you are correct with the implication that the manufaturers are continuing to test where the top of the market is. I suppose that's just business since they're likely to get bigger margins at the top end.
Fortunately no one has a gun to my head telling me to buy them. So I'll leave them for those who enjoy impressing others. Or those who can only accept the best available. I suppose I should feel sorry for them since I'm fortunate to be content to be largely a cost minimalist, or at least frugal. I need to see long term value/benefit before accepting the cost these days. Now my mortgage interest rate is 7%, I'm unlikely to be buying much for the foreseeable future.

Wow, I'm glad I never took up windsurfing.

I like your take on them testing where the top of the market is and why some people may be buying them.
Yes, I have scratched quite a few tyres off my list.
Matter of fact I've scratched Continental off entirely. They appeared to lead on the stupid tyre pricing so it annoyed me enough to boycott them altogether.

[Mr Purple]

I ran Yoko A032s for a while on a little midengined thing. My tyre dealer was impressed that I managed to get 7,000km out of them.

But then happiness is never having to slow down for roundabouts

I had AO32Rs on my Mini for a while. The cornering speed those things could generate was amazing, though I kept on breaking driveshafts.

My feeling regarding bike tyres is that it's only really an issue if you must have the absolutely fastest ones (Vittoria Corsa Pro/GP5000).

I'm running Vittoria Corsa Next tubeless and they're 'only' $75 each, so around half the price. Having said that my rear is already looking decidingly sketchy at 760km so I'm not sure how much longer they're going to last than tubed.

[AndrewCowley]

Unless you are OCD, tyres aren't that complicated. For whatever type of tyre you are after, you can just buy whatever is on special at the time. If it matters to you, a bit of research on the Rolling Resistance web site goes a long way to help with the decision.

[foo on patrol]

Unless you are OCD, tyres aren't that complicated. For whatever type of tyre you are after, you can just buy whatever is on special at the time. If it matters to you, a bit of research on the Rolling Resistance web site goes a long way to help with the decision.

Unless I want tyres for "racing" then I buy cheap and can't se the sense in stupid amounts of money for coffee rides.

I use $25 tyres for my training rides and get good klms from them. It just does my head in when I see blokes that are paying out huge $$$$$'s for what is virtually, training rides.

Foo

[DavidS]

I buy the Pirelli road tyres, they are expensive but not ridiculous. It isn't like I need race tyres, the P Zero Road is not too expensive, has good grip and rolling resistance.

Just don't buy the full blown race tyres unless racing I reckon.

But, many above are right, there is so much overpriced stuff out there, not just for bikes, but bike stuff is pretty bad.

DS

[g-boaf]

I buy the Pirelli road tyres, they are expensive but not ridiculous. It isn't like I need race tyres, the P Zero Road is not too expensive, has good grip and rolling resistance.

Just don't buy the full blown race tyres unless racing I reckon.

But, many above are right, there is so much overpriced stuff out there, not just for bikes, but bike stuff is pretty bad.

DS

I am using Pirelli now too, they aren’t any more expensive than the S-Works I used to use before. They seem to grip nicely which is all I care about.

It’s just a matter of looking around to get the best prices.

For what it’s worth I used to get good mileage out of S-Works Turbo tyres as well so I never spent too much money there. Those were good for me, but others hated them.

[blizzard]

The most offensive part is when I last bought GP5000 TL I paid $75 ea, same with Vittoria Corsa. Not much has changed but the tyres are now $125; that's a huge difference

[warthog1]

Yeah ditto. I am simply not paying over 100- for a bloody bicycle tyre. I class that as stupidly expensive.

[Mr Purple]

The most offensive part is when I last bought GP5000 TL I paid $75 ea, same with Vittoria Corsa. Not much has changed but the tyres are now $125; that's a huge difference

Yep.

And the Vittoria Corsa NEXT tubeless are still $75 (as are Schwalbe Pro One).

Hard to justify 50% more for Continental.

[blizzard]

I did see that Ccache currently has the new Pirelli P Zero Race TLR (Made in Italy) on sale for $95, almost a bargain. They also have the older version on sale for $65.

[open roader]

Oh for the good old days were back when one could purchase high end tyres (of all sorts) via Ribble UK and pay less than the "stupidly expensive" prices (including shipping) that are now charged in AU. I really do appreciate what a great deal I got back in those days. Same goes for just about everything consumer bicycle related.

Alas, the AU dollar is slipping back to peso levels against the Pound / US Dollar and Euro and so we in the far flung reaches of the velo parts distribution galaxy just have to cop the inevitable price rises.

Costly bike tyres :- As a purely recreational cyclist I'd much rather have a faster wearing bicycle tyre with reliable grip (and feedback) in both wet and dry conditions than a hard wearing woody hoop masquerading as a bicycle tyre. Commuter cyclists may prefer a less expensive option that lasts for ages and for their purposes likely provides adequate grip for the daily ride.

Fortunately for me I'm in a position to afford pretty much what ever I want, even if it costs considerably more than it did when my memories of the good old days are still fresh enough in mind but I'm not stupid for paying the prices being asked now - just fortunate to be able to afford to still do so.

[Mr Purple]

Costly bike tyres :- As a purely recreational cyclist I'd much rather have a faster wearing bicycle tyre with reliable grip (and feedback) in both wet and dry conditions than a hard wearing woody hoop masquerading as a bicycle tyre. Commuter cyclists may prefer a less expensive option that lasts for ages and for their purposes likely provides adequate grip for the daily ride.

I'm with you. I do a lot of descending and this makes me fussy to the point where I won't really accept anything other than pretty much the top spec tyres in each brand. Even then I've ridden a few which had completely unacceptable grip in the wet (Pirelli P Zeros were particularly bad).

Unfortunately each rear only lasts me 1000km maximum so it's a bit of an expensive process. Having said that, it's still probably only 7-8 tyres a year. Enough to look at Continental prices and think 'heck no', but there's still a few solid tubeless options in the $70-95 price range.

Back when I was doing flat rides only I was happy to use Continental Gatorskins and change them when I started getting too many flats. But then again I literally didn't have to maintain my bike except every few years then. Climbing and descending wears things out.

[warthog1]

I get all that stuff, gripper, fast rolling, somewhat puncture resistant.
I just struggle with the comparison to a car or motorbike tyre, even a tubed clincher bicycle tyre.
$130 smackers for 250gm of short lived bicycle tyre where the manufacturing, freight and storage is so small in comparison, just does not add up. Profiteering is how I see it.

[rkelsen]

$130 smackers for 250gm of short lived bicycle tyre where the manufacturing, freight and storage is so small in comparison, just does not add up. Profiteering is how I see it.

Remember the days before online shopping?

To this very day, I still remember the LBS quoting me $130 for a Vittoria Rubino some time around 2008 or 2009... "because it's a racing tyre"

[warthog1]

$130 smackers for 250gm of short lived bicycle tyre where the manufacturing, freight and storage is so small in comparison, just does not add up. Profiteering is how I see it.

Remember the days before online shopping?

To this very day, I still remember the LBS quoting me $130 for a Vittoria Rubino some time around 2008 or 2009... "because it's a racing tyre"

Sure. Using that example however, without the online competition, they'd be asking for over $200- for one now because it's "tubeless".

Yes happy there is a bit of competition though, and options to avoid the more ridiculously priced tubeless tyres.

[AndrewCowley]

Stupidly expensive XXX.

Substitute in every pointless 'innovation' forced upon us by the bike industry over the past 5 years.

It culminates in the peak stupidity of a mass produced road bike costing as much as a motorcycle.

[warthog1]

Stupidly expensive XXX.

Substitute in every pointless 'innovation' forced upon us by the bike industry over the past 5 years.

It culminates in the peak stupidity of a mass produced road bike costing as much as a motorcycle.

Yep. That is peak stupidity. Utterly ridiculous.

[blizzard]

Stupidly expensive XXX.

Substitute in every pointless 'innovation' forced upon us by the bike industry over the past 5 years.

It culminates in the peak stupidity of a mass produced road bike costing as much as a motorcycle.

Yep. That is peak stupidity. Utterly ridiculous.

Yes, but you don't have to spend $20k on a bike, but some people do. There are options at every price point, arguably an entry level TCR with 105 you are probably at 90% of the performance of an SWorks, put on carbon wheels and good tyres the gap would narrow further.

[rkelsen]

Yes, but you don't have to spend $20k on a bike, but some people do. There are options at every price point, arguably an entry level TCR with 105 you are probably at 90% of the performance of an SWorks, put on carbon wheels and good tyres the gap would narrow further.

I'd wager that most of the people spending $20k on a bike are incapable of pushing its limits... If they did they'd not have to pay for new bikes... You could probably extend that to say that most people would never find the limits of a 105 equipped TCR either.

But a bike with deep carbon rims, disc brakes, 25mm tubeless tyres, automatic electronic wireless shifting, 13 speed cassette, semi-compact crank, tapered headset and a frame made out of space age composite materials weighing less than a water bottle sure looks good leaning against the cafe window, eh?