Thread: WARNING - Dont Use Old Tyres

Originally Posted by workingonit

Myself, I think it is built in obsolescence, like they now do with pillows (date stamped) - I guess they have become part of the fast fashion culture; and like they used to do with light bulbs. Maybe poorer manufacturing in a lower wage countries with less regard to the quality of material inputs. And regulators that accept some of the guff put to them by the manufacturers. Like engines, why not regulate improvements in longevity, better performance each year, less land fill and micro plastics, and yes I understand some tyres have to be sticky and wear quicker, but overall hmmm - imagine built in obsolescence in athletes, you are approaching your athletic prime (read 'we have better science and engineering') and yet returning worse results each year, but that's good!

That's enough of my 1am rant. Off into the dark to see what's sneaking into the fruit and veg patch.

Light bulbs have not changed my friend What we did though is replace the good old and very recyclable bulb with a mess of leds that we overdrive to get enough light that still fail, cost a helluva lot more and then are barely recyclable.

In any case, my dad used to work for Good Year and I made a whole school presentation on the subject many moons ago. I recently game across that work and indeed the various rubber materials were extremely dried out. I guess 30+ years does that It does seem though that like with the venerable bf goodrich ko2's that once production of tyres has moved to thailand, quality has gone with it. A shame really.

-P

The other natural killer for tyres is oxygen. Even if stored in the dark and in cool conditions, most tyre manufacturers will state tyres have a 10 year maximum life, but typically should only be stored for up to 5 years from new.

I just threw away some 2016 tyres. I never wear them out.. they just get old.

The spare in my sports car is made in West Germany.

Originally Posted by Captain_Rightfoot

I just threw away some 2016 tyres. I never wear them out.. they just get old.

Same. I often throw my spare away - completely unused once it’s over 5 years old.

Every tyre change on my vehicles is all 5.

A few hundred dollars in rubber going bad causes much more than a few hundred dollars damage, not to mention the inconvenience.

Doing some maintenance on my Triumph Daytona and found that the powder coating is lifting in a couple of places on the rear wheel so getting it bead blasted and painted, replacing the tyre as well since i knew it was old. On closer inspection i found its the original Michelin Pilot Sport from new and the bike was complianced 12/1997 !, so coming up to 26 years old and still has plenty of tread on and only 27k on the clock.
Tyre is still quite supple and not hard like you'd expect from an old tyre and still rode well.

The outside of a tyre can look OK, but the inside can be cracked to buggery. I was shown an example of this by a tyre bloke. It came off a caravan.

.......and for people who may not be aware, Tyredate2.png

Originally Posted by Saitch

The outside of a tyre can look OK, but the inside can be cracked to buggery. I was shown an example of this by a tyre bloke. It came off a caravan.

True, i had been riding on this tyre untill last year, no issues arose but getting tossed regardless.