Whay are bicycle tires so damn expensive?

Why are bicycle tires so expensive? If I buy a set of 4 Michelin tires
for my care, that's about $500-$600; let's call it $550 (I haven't
checked lately). I usually get about 40,000 miles. I use Michelin
ProRace3 on my bike, usually about $80 for 2 on sale. I may get
1,300 miles from them, they're sticky but not particularly long
wearing. So 40,000 / 1,300 is 30.8. Multiplying the $80 by 30.8
gives $2,464; or about 4 times the cost of the car tires. Of course I'm
getting 4 tires for the car instead of 2 for the bike so the real cost is
double, about 8 or 9 times. My analysis is generalized, hopefully the
crude analysis makes my point. For mileage the bicycle tires are
many times more expensive.

Comments?

On Sep 6, 5:33 pm, Ronko wrote:
Why are bicycle tires so expensive? If I buy a set of 4 Michelin tires
for my care, that's about $500-$600; let's call it $550 (I haven't
checked lately). I usually get about 40,000 miles. I use Michelin
ProRace3 on my bike, usually about $80 for 2 on sale. I may get
1,300 miles from them, they're sticky but not particularly long
wearing. So 40,000 / 1,300 is 30.8. Multiplying the $80 by 30.8
gives $2,464; or about 4 times the cost of the car tires. Of course I'm
getting 4 tires for the car instead of 2 for the bike so the real cost is
double, about 8 or 9 times. My analysis is generalized, hopefully the
crude analysis makes my point. For mileage the bicycle tires are
many times more expensive.

Comments?

It is really crazy. I guess maybe the problem is keeping the weight
down on bike tires. I just wish I could get the full 3,000 miles or
so out of a rear tire before it suffers catastrophic damage.

Ronko wrote:
Why are bicycle tires so expensive? If I buy a set of 4 Michelin tires
for my care, that's about $500-$600; let's call it $550 (I haven't
checked lately). I usually get about 40,000 miles. I use Michelin
ProRace3 on my bike, usually about $80 for 2 on sale. I may get
1,300 miles from them, they're sticky but not particularly long
wearing. So 40,000 / 1,300 is 30.8. Multiplying the $80 by 30.8
gives $2,464; or about 4 times the cost of the car tires. Of course I'm
getting 4 tires for the car instead of 2 for the bike so the real cost is
double, about 8 or 9 times. My analysis is generalized, hopefully the
crude analysis makes my point. For mileage the bicycle tires are
many times more expensive.

Comments?

Well, it's not just tires, if you want to calculate things in those
ways. $25,000 will get you a roughly mid-range car that weighs maybe
3500 pounds. $800 or so will get you a roughly mid-range bike that
weighs maybe 23 pounds. The car buyer pays about $7 per pound. The
bike buyer pays about $35 per pound.

The economics isn't controlled by cost per mile, cost per pound, or any
other such metric. There's lots of influence exerted by the size of the
production run (stuff made in bulk is almost always cheaper per unit),
the degree of difficulty in the design (bike stuff has to have smaller
safety factors to be able to give competitive performance, so more
careful design and construction are needed), the amount of exotic
materials (e.g. kevlar beads), etc.

--
- Frank Krygowski

On Sep 6, 5:33*pm, Ronko wrote:
Why are bicycle tires so expensive? If I buy a set of 4 Michelin tires
for my care, that's about $500-$600; let's call it $550 (I haven't
checked lately). I usually get about 40,000 miles. I use Michelin
ProRace3 on my bike, usually about $80 for 2 on sale. I may get
1,300 miles from them, they're sticky but not particularly long
wearing. So 40,000 / 1,300 is 30.8. *Multiplying the $80 by 30.8
gives $2,464; or about 4 times the cost of the car tires. Of course I'm
getting 4 tires for the car instead of 2 for the bike so the real cost is
double, about 8 or 9 times. My analysis is generalized, hopefully the
crude analysis makes my point. For mileage the bicycle tires are
many times more expensive.

Comments? *

40,000-mile car tires are not equivalent to ProRace 3 bicycle tires.
You are comparing what are essentially bicycle racing tires to (at
best) 2nd-tier car tires. The equivalence of your hypothetical 40,000
miles tire is maybe a Vittoria Rubino Pro.

A better comparison to ProRace 3 tires might be something like
Yokohama Neovas that cost about $300 each and last no more than 20,000
miles on a lightweight sports car. Porsche GT3RS rear tires last
about 10,000 miles (if you're not too lead-footed) and cost about $700
each unmounted. Note that these aren't even dedicated track tires
that have useful lives measured in hundreds of miles; the equivalence
of those in bicycle terms would be something like the Clement Seta.

However, the biggest driver is probably the scale of production for
car tires, coupled with the fact that Michelin ProRace 3 tires (and
their brethren) are bought by affluent cyclists who can afford $50
tires.

Secret, go to one of those UK bicycle dealers, they sell Michelin, Conti and other brands of tires CHEAP! No middleman, no markup!

Checkout:
Ribble Cycles.co.uk
Probikekit. om
Wiggle.co.uk
chainreactioncycles.com
totalcycling.com

Good Luck!

On Sep 7, 1:33*am, Ronko wrote:
Why are bicycle tires so expensive? If I buy a set of 4 Michelin tires
for my care, that's about $500-$600; let's call it $550 (I haven't
checked lately). I usually get about 40,000 miles. I use Michelin
ProRace3 on my bike, usually about $80 for 2 on sale. I may get
1,300 miles from them, they're sticky but not particularly long
wearing. So 40,000 / 1,300 is 30.8. *Multiplying the $80 by 30.8
gives $2,464; or about 4 times the cost of the car tires. Of course I'm
getting 4 tires for the car instead of 2 for the bike so the real cost is
double, about 8 or 9 times. My analysis is generalized, hopefully the
crude analysis makes my point. For mileage the bicycle tires are
many times more expensive.

Comments? *

Anti-puncture belts have historically been known to introduce losses
which relate also to poor milage, but a pure racing tyre is going to
have a thinner tread anyway. Your best bet is to look for a simple 2-
ply or 2.1/2 ply carcass construction with a single tread compound.
The heightened traction at the sides of the Michelin will cause the
centre to slip more, so worsening the the problem of centre wear.
Michelin also fail to offer a larger size, which is important for a
back wheel. A rider over twelve stone is going to have much trouble
in preventing pinch punctures and as such will be using a small
contact length due to the the extreme high tyre pressure. The result
is increased centre wear. A 23mm wired-on tyre will never be the
match of a tubular. If you insist on using this size in wired-ons as
a back tyre you had better be less than 11 stone.

The Michelin Pro Race is for lightweight racing. Don't expect
anything more from it. If you can afford to use it as an everyday
tyre, that'll keep the Michelin shareholders happy.

bfd wrote:
Secret, go to one of those UK bicycle dealers, they sell Michelin, Conti and other brands of tires CHEAP! No middleman, no markup!

Checkout:
Ribble Cycles.co.uk
Probikekit. om
Wiggle.co.uk
chainreactioncycles.com
totalcycling.com

Good Luck!

I hadn't seen totalcycling.com before. Thanks!

--
JS.

Ronko wrote:

Why are bicycle tires so expensive? If I buy a set of 4 Michelin tires
for my care, that's about $500-$600; let's call it $550 (I haven't
checked lately). I usually get about 40,000 miles. I use Michelin
ProRace3 on my bike, usually about $80 for 2 on sale. I may get
1,300 miles from them, they're sticky but not particularly long
wearing. So 40,000 / 1,300 is 30.8. *Multiplying the $80 by 30.8
gives $2,464; or about 4 times the cost of the car tires. Of course I'm
getting 4 tires for the car instead of 2 for the bike so the real cost is
double, about 8 or 9 times. My analysis is generalized, hopefully the
crude analysis makes my point. For mileage the bicycle tires are
many times more expensive.

If you had ever worked on a car, you would not wish for bikes to
become more like cars, Good cars have more in common with BSOs than
they do with good bikes.

If you compare the cost/size/mileage of radio control model tires to
bicycle tires, you'll find another price gradient.

Chalo

On Sep 6, 7:33*pm, Ronko wrote:
Why are bicycle tires so expensive? If I buy a set of 4 Michelin tires
for my care, that's about $500-$600; let's call it $550 (I haven't
checked lately). I usually get about 40,000 miles. I use Michelin
ProRace3 on my bike, usually about $80 for 2 on sale. I may get
1,300 miles from them, they're sticky but not particularly long
wearing. So 40,000 / 1,300 is 30.8. *Multiplying the $80 by 30.8
gives $2,464; or about 4 times the cost of the car tires. Of course I'm
getting 4 tires for the car instead of 2 for the bike so the real cost is
double, about 8 or 9 times. My analysis is generalized, hopefully the
crude analysis makes my point. For mileage the bicycle tires are
many times more expensive.

Comments? *

Regular old getting around tires are $10 or so. Should last 3K.
Comparing race tires, where the economy of scale bites you in the ass,
is a little silly. My last two sets cost $0, being takeoffs from new
bikes where the owner could't leave well enough alone...

In article 7d814e9d-a0ef-46d6-98bb-
,
says...


Secret, go to one of those UK bicycle dealers, they sell Michelin, Conti and
other brands of tires CHEAP! No middleman, no markup!

Checkout:
Ribble Cycles.co.uk
Probikekit. om
Wiggle.co.uk
chainreactioncycles.com
totalcycling.com

Good Luck!
Well my $40 was based on a somewhat average price for the ProRace3 but
I order from Probikekit often and they are a standup company and
occasionally have the PR3 even cheaper. I've noticed the Conti 4000S is
not discounted as much, I believe it wears better.

Rick