PeteHski

Yeah, I certainly couldn’t afford high-end bikes in the 80s. I also don’t remember anyone having more than 1 family car back then. Obviously depends a lot on individual circumstances and location though.

squirtdad

you do get what you pay for and after riding high end tires I would never go back to lower end tires

but shopping sales is key

also look at source like UK bike shops two gp5000 with tubes come out at 65 per tire with shipping https://www.merlincycles.com/en-us/c...ir-129803.html

bike tires direct has gp5000 for $70 (for tubed model) or $85 for Tubeless

WaveyGravey

I stick with Gatorskins. Their prices seem to be staying about $55 on Amazon.

veganbikes

That is one tire out of thousands and who knows how few tires back in "the old days". Not a good sample size at all. In terms of price $80 is correct for a GP5K (and really hasn't changed over 4+ years) nothing has really changed. You might find something on sale once and while but that again is not a good sample for pricing.

Manufacturing defects happen for any number of reasons for pretty much any major manufacturer sometimes something might slip out of the factory unintentionally or they had a bad batch it is part of normal manufacturing. So many variables involved you cannot really say much about anything other than that. Certainly if Panaracer had done a recall on the Pasella then it would be ground for saying there is a quality issue but simply because one tire was bad means only that and nothing else can really be gleaned from it.

mstateglfr 

Good lord- it was mentioned already and the thread should have died right then - REI has basically msrp pricing.
If you buy a tire from REI, it had better be because you are in person and need it right away. In any other scenario, buy the tire online for 25-40% less.

This is no different from seeing Conti tires at full msrp in bike shops too. Buy one of you need it right away. Otherwise, spend 5 minutes searching the internet and save.




Shut it down now.

stevel610 

I checked Bike24 a couple of nights ago looking for GP5000'S. They said "this item cannot ship to the US". Not sure sure if it was just a blip, or a new policy.

zandoval 

Sure... I get it. And I certainly would not want to debate the factors of statistical insignificance. After all I only had to return one of the six Pasela tires tires I had bought.

Every one of us needs to closely inspect any tire we mount regardless of its age, wear, or manufacture...

jaxgtr

Yep, I am glad I picked up back up tires when I did, the price was very good and I bought two sets so I would have spares on the Pirelli's I run if needed. When I checked their site a couple of weeks ago, they have doubled in price at the place I was buying them. I wonder if this is due to Pirelli making in Italy now versus China.

dmark 

Part of the pricing is seasonal with spring arriving. I waited until August 2023 to buy a pair of GP5000 at $50 each last year. As a practicing cheapskate this is the first time I bought a premium tire and the GP5000 is definitely a noticeable improvement in ride.
I rationalized as since I got a great deal on my Lemond Zurich the bike deserved them.
(riding 10spd's since the 70's always bought cheapest model name brand tire eg Specialized, Michelin etc)

Rick

stevel610: Bike24 doesn't ship some brands that are on there sight. They do have live inventory, so if you order the last one it will ship to you. They use DHL to USPS. The slow part is usually at our end. I have had items show up in one to four weeks. I order from them primarily due to the availability of the items I am looking for and the price. I order Schwalbe tires and Rohloff specific items mostly.

indyfabz

You can save 15% on a full price item if you’re a member and use their credit card. Member Sale is also going on now. 20% off a full price item. You won’t get the dividend, but you will still earn points for using the card. But yeah; REI is usually not the cheapest option,

roadcrankr

I could not finalize an order, despite checking all their boxes and loading all necessary info.
With a few of you offering encouragement, I placed an order today for several tires, chains, bar tape, tubes. $318 shipped!
Great prices, but they recoup with a hefty shipping cost of $62. No VAT or sales tax, so perhaps the gubmint will zap me later.

Nevertheless, even the lowest tire prices appear 30% higher than my last crop from three years ago. Elephant in the room = inflation.

HelpSingularity 

After over 50 years of purchasing and using bicycle tires (including Clement Seta, Extra Seta, Campionato del Mondo Seta and all sorts of wired-on tires over the decades) I tell anyone (who will actually listen to me, which is far and few between ) that we live in the golden age of bicycle tires.
The suppleness, the puncture protection, the rolling resistance, (have not tried tubeless) and just general longevity are all off the charts.
Stuff costs, inflation is off the charts.
I would not go back to the old days (including costs) for nothing.

icemilkcoffee 

You are telling me you used to buy Continental GP5000's for ~$36 3 years ago? I rather doubt that.

mstateglfr 

I bought gp5k 25mm tires on Feb 26 '21 for $41.95 per tire from BikeTiresDirect/WesternBikeworks.
That isn't $36 per tire, but it isn't far off.

Side note- the tires have been awesome. The helmet was awful and was immediately sent back. Terrible retention cage design that moved on its own.


ETA- the tires were advertised back then as $79.95 msrp.

indyfabz

Interesting. My Mojo Cubed stays in place, but the ventilation is pretty bad. I read that after I bought it. I kept it to use as a cool/cold weather and commuting helmet. I paid the same price you did.

mstateglfr 

The piece that adjusts how high or low the back of the helmet sits had to tension to it. It's usually a piece of plastic with a bunch of teeth and you can slide the retention cage up or down with some resistance due to the teeth.
This thing had no resistance. You could set the cage before a ride and when you put it on for your next ride, it would move and you would have to adjust the height to fit once again. Repeat.
Really odd. I otherwise liked the fit and finish.

Duragrouch

As part of a court case against amazon, in the past year it was disclosed that they have algorithms, not only to constantly compare prices to others, but to automatically probe the upper price limit, raise prices, see if people will pay it, if not, bring the price back down.

Ironically, amazon has saved me a ton of money on older generation bike parts. However, from things learned on another thread, my own experience, and Zero Friction Cycling, I've come to learn that my 8-speed chains are junk, I thought they would wear better than thinner chains, except now manufacturers are using best quality on 10/11/12 speed chains, and softer metal with no surface treatments on their lower speed chains. So that explains the $10 sale price (reduced from $17).

I'm careful about buying used rubber, looking close at age, but I just bought two tires at my LBS, look like takeoffs from new, perhaps a couple miles on them, rubber looks fresh, $5 each. And a 6-way spoke wrench for $2, checked, still good sizing of the slots on nipples.

jgwilliams

Not only getting more expensive but more complicated as well. I went to buy some new tyres for my mountain bike a few months ago and felt quite overwhelmed by all the different compounds and options. Even after deciding to fit Maxxis Minions and choosing the size there were still two different tread patterns and numerous compounds available. The last time I bought MTB tyres (Schwalbe Nobby Nics) I don't recall there being any options other than size to choose from.

csport

FWIW, last summer I tried to buy a rack from them which was not easy to get in the US. I chose the "USPS" shipping which is in fact SpringGDS (courier in Netherlands, that is why orders seem to come from Netherlands) with the final delivery by USPS. A month after the ordrer date (no problem with that, I understand that I chose the budget shipping) a delivery was attempted and USPS tracking said "notice left". There was no notice, and I also received the following email from tradeinn:

email from tradeinn

I came to my USPS station, showed them the printout of the tracking history from usps.com and they could not find the package saying it probably had not reached their station yet. It was returned to sender as described in the email above, tracking was updated the same day saying a required number of delivery attempts had been made and the package was being returned to sender. This is what happened. One delivery attempt, no notice left, no chance to pick up the package at the USPS station.

I could think it was just my experience unless it was stated otherwise in the email from tradeinn. Why are they using this courier?
They also had a DHL shipping option, which was more expensive.

Not a scam, I got money back.

Rick

csport: Although USPS has never returned one of my international shipments to sender. They have put them on the wrong mail truck to another city and also delivered them across town to the wrong street # even though the correct address is clearly labeled. I am currently waiting for a package with a Tubus Grand Expedition Rack and some Schwalbe tires. I used to use my bank to order international orders but I noticed the service charge on an order just over 400 euros was over $35. I tried my credit union on my next order and on an order over 600 euros the charge was $2.35.

bblair

Everything has gone up. Been to a grocery store lately?

I always look for sales, even if I don't need them. Chains and tires will keep.

But $89 for tire, $198 is really not terrible considering they last me a year. My brother pays that for one round of golf, and that doesn't include all the Titleist balls he hits in the water.

terrymorse 

I don't know how people get their tires to last so long. I get maybe 3-4 months on the rear.

t2p

last week (3/13/2024) they had a one day sale @ 30% off

t2p

you ride too much