Tyre life - what's wrong with this photo? ....

[2manyoranges]

There's been something weird going on with tyres for quite a while.

In the far far distant mtb past (around 1992) I used to look at a rear Ground Control and see that a number of knobs were missing and the rest were worn to almost nothing, and the remainder were cracked and broken. Time for a replacement; after all, that one had done thousands of miles on the South Downs.

Fast forward to 2024 and the Grom has had a soft compound Schwalbe on the rear of his DH bike for two weeks. And there are maybe 20 missing knobs, many with significant wear, and lots of damage. OOOh says he... '...time for a new one, I can feel the wear on it as I ride....'. That's 30gbp a week. And a VERY big pile of tyres at the end of a season.

....SHRALP!! go the youngsters in the berms. RIIIIP go the cornering knobs on the tyres.



And then there's something else. I obtained a whole pile of tyres from a guy who said 'they are useless now, punctured...'. OR not actually. Tubeless has led to people abandoning tyres with holes which the sealant doesn't seal, but a plug does.







And the photo? This is from an interesting article on Schwalbe's recycling programmes - although they do use Pyrolysis (700 deg c heating, with quite a few emissions) rather than enzyme recycling (with impacts not yet established). As with the guy who said 'these tyres are useless' - and they weren't - this photo has many tyres which appear perfectly serviceable - at least in respect of tread wear.



I think we've moved a lot from the long life of tyres in the 1990s to very short life in the 2000s - riding styles, changing expectations of performance, heavier e-bikes, lack of technique in repairing tubeless. Deary deary me.

Mind you, running tubeless, can't remember the last time we sat down and had the 'twenty-minute-puncture-chat' - that relaxed discussion as we fix yet another snake bike or thorn ingestion....

 

[highlandsflyer]

Rampant consumerism is destroying the planet. How many of these folk are actually racing?

 

[bikeworkshop]

We send our tyres for recycling
It works out costing about a pound a time.
You get ones with good tread where the bead has failed due to low pressure riding or poor fitting technique, and huge glass cuts cutting the casing, but id say its about 10%.
90% are baldy.

If a customer wants new tyres due to a change in lifestyle or whatever, we will reuse the tyres on a used bike.

Most shops can't do that though. Their only way of saving part- worn rubber is for a staff member to take them to sell at a boot sale, or "Bike Jumble", if that's not a sub- category of boot sale

 

[2manyoranges]

We send our tyres for recycling
It works out costing about a pound a time.
You get ones with good tread where the bead has failed due to low pressure riding or poor fitting technique, and huge glass cuts cutting the casing, but id say its about 10%.
90% are baldy.

If a customer wants new tyres due to a change in lifestyle or whatever, we will reuse the tyres on a used bike.

Most shops can't do that though. Their only way of saving part- worn rubber is for a staff member to take them to sell at a boot sale, or "Bike Jumble", if that's not a sub- category of boot sale

Thanks-be to the cycling gods for the LBS....long may you live....

 

[bikeworkshop]

Mainstream consumer culture is a one-way flow.

Resources dug out of the ground
Shipped to refinery
To Asian Manufacturer
Then Assembly factory
shipped to consumer nation
sold to the punter
half-used item then binned
and buried back in the ground.

The abandonment of reusing glass bottles in the 70s is an interesting example.

As a rule each step of the chain can only work in one direction, because that's cheaper, and that's what the market and average consumer wants.

 

[Totoro]

When I worked for a large tyre manufacturer in the motorcycle department we would get through hundreds per week.
Most of the businesses we worked with had to pay to have theirs removed but we found a company who would take them for free and recycle them into that rubber floor stuff you get at children's playgrounds and parks. They would also do this with car tyres.

I never worked with bicycle tyres.

 

[LondonClassic]

Thanks for the breakdown @bikeworkshop. An LBS having recycling costs is something most punters aren't aware of. Tyres are one of those cycling things that seemed to have mysteriously crept up in the last 15 years (at least at the 'performance' end of things). Tyres and bartape!

 

[bikeworkshop]

Nowdays ithink all tyre suppliers have to pay to recycle.
Uk creates 700,000 tons per annum!

If we rate cycling at 2% of journeys and tyre weight at 5%, then cycle tyres represent 1/1000 overall, but harder to recycle.

 

[bikeworkshop]

Thanks for the breakdown @bikeworkshop. An LBS having recycling costs is something most punters aren't aware of. Tyres are one of those cycling things that seemed to have mysteriously crept up in the last 15 years (at least at the 'performance' end of things). Tyres and bartape!

Cinelli cork bar tape, still £12

And they invented it.

I think tyre quality has increased massively since we used to think a Michelin world tour was a good tyre
And the demand for light weight can mean that 1000 miles is beyond usable range!

 

[2manyoranges]

Nowdays ithink all tyre suppliers have to pay to recycle.
700,000 tons per annum!

If we rate cycling at 2% of journeys and tyre weight at 5%, then cycle tyres represent 1/1000 overall, but harder to recycle.

....nice insights and facts.

Yep quality has increased massively - I remember the early Schwalbe Marathons which threw you on the ground in the wet - it seemed enough for tyres to be black and round - now they indeed grip and protect. I am getting good mileage and use with care, and run my rear tyres off road until they look VERY SAD.