gerv 

Ekdog, you wanted this thread!

We use a lot of zip ties at the bike co-op. Mostly to connect component pairs, like pedals, so they can stay together in the parts bins.

When I put these together, I steal an old tube from the trash and cut it up -- lengthwise -- to make little ribbons that I can use instead of zip ties. Just make a knot and you are good to go.

gerv 

While I'm thinking about it, I've also used tubes to lash packages and gear on by bike rack. They are almost as versatile as bungee cords and they don't ruin you wheel if they get loose.

zonatandem

Add a metal hook at ends of a cut up tube and presto: bungee cord.
Have also used it to lash down a X-mas tree on roof of our Honda.

frantik

one 700c tube cut into 2 pieces is perfect for lashing a full grocery bag to a bike rack

Caretaker

Why do you keep calling them inner tubes?

They are just tubes where I live.

I use a cross cut of a tube around my puncture repair box to keep it shut and around a spare patched tube to keep it tidy.

Artkansas 

Because that's what they are called.... at least everywhere in the U.S. I've lived.

rockmom

You can make a giant sling shot between two trees to launch water balloons.

Roody

I mentioned in the other thread that I had used a piece of tube as an emergency shim to keep a seat post from sinking down into the seat tube. They can also be used as permanent shims on mountings that go around the handlebars or tubes for lights, computers, locks and so forth. (Pieces from an aluminum beer can can also serve as shims.)

You can also hold up your pants with rubber cut from inner tubes. Just put it behind two adjacent belt loops and cinch knot it. This is known as a "jailhouse belt" or it's sometimes called (where I work) a "psych ward belt."

dcrowell

Now I've got plans.

1nterceptor

Jared.

Tube + old chain = a little extra saddle security.

curbtender

Tubes can be electronics, or even a band https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvi44yfdYkA

Roody

Not to mention down tube, top tube, seat tube--all parts on a bicycle frame. Very confusing if you don't use the modifier!

Roody

You can put an inner tube around a chain or cable (like a sleeve) to protect the bike frame or other surface from being scratched. Make a home made lock for your bike with a heavy chain, inner tube sleeve, and a padlock.

Caretaker

Not really. It's all about context. Never had any confusion. To follow your argument we should call this Forum 'Living Motor-Car Free' to distinguish from other types of 'car', on trains for example.

The english language has developed on either side of the Atlantic in seperate ways and long may it continue.

cabledawg

I use old inner tubes for tidying up loose straps on my tactical gear and rucksacks. Good for tying up cargo straps too. I've even used them for wrapping up the good inner tubes I keep as spares in the garage

gerv 

Ok... time for another retraction.

I was at the bike co-op today and found a pair of pedals that needed to go in the parts bin. So I reached for a old tube to use it to lash the pair together for future use.

Unfortunately as I cut the tire, I discovered it was full of slime. (Believe me, they call it slime for a reason!) Ewwww!

Usually the tube is a great way to do this, but today I reached for the zip ties.

Roody

Over there, I believe Tube could also refer to the subway? Over here, one U.S. Seantor said he understood the Internet--"It's not like a truck. It's a series of tubes."

Ekdog

I've heard that a length of old inner tube can be filled with sand and then tied off at the ends and used as a weapon or--for more peaceful folk--as a device for keeping draughts from coming under the door.

https://www.ehow.com/how_6694341_inst...-stoppers.html

Caretaker

You say 'eraser' and I say 'rubber'.

Let's call the whole thing off.

zeppinger

autoerotic asphyxiation

johnr783

Pedicabber here.

A couple of weekends ago a buddy got a flat and they couldnt take off the tire. He had someone bring a new front tire out. When I got that tire to come off as fast as a prom dress. He needed to switch tired because the replacement was torn.

Now he had the problem of having to carry a spare rim. I took the old tube and used it to lash the tube onto the undercarriage of the pedicab.

Also, I am saving old tubes in hopes of making frame bags for the pedicabs.

johnr783

You say "rubber" I say Condom"

Caretaker

Actually, I don't.

I'm old enough to remember a time when we used pieces of old tubes to repair punctures.

If you really want to research the recycling of bicycle equipment you should go to Cuba. Decades of economic sanctions have made the Cuban people experts at 'make do and mend'. When I was there three years ago it was amazing what they could do to keep old bikes on the road.

MichaelW

When the grease in my hub gear froze and the hub was stuck in one gear, I defrosted it with an inner-tube hot water bottle wrapped around the hub shell.