Shelf life of clincher tires

Triathlon Forum
1

Does anyone know the shelf life of clincher tires? I have an opportunity to buy a pair of Michelin 650’s pretty inexpensively, but probably won’t need them for 1-3 years at least. Can I talc them, store them out of the light, and expect them to be as new 3 years from now?

thanks,
brother bonk

2

My guess is that they will harden over some, but once you start riding and begin wearing rubber away you’ll have good rubber exposed.

Rubber does age, but I’ve had many tires over the years that lasted me over 3 years of riding.

3

Or, you could just use the basic american perspective of, “If it doesn’t benefit me immediately, I won’t do it!”

I would spring for them, because I usually end up using (actual mileage+1) tires per year . Always more than I think I would. Last year, it was a 4" shard of metal.

4

I have also been told to take them out of the package and store them unfolded. That way the creases don’t become worse over time.

5

I’ve got at least one tire in use that’s older than my kids (that’d be mid-90s vintage; obviously it was unused during most of that span), plus another that’s probably 6-8 years old I keep as a touring spare (a bit of an oddity in that it’s an extra-wide lightweight folding tire, so it’ll stash much more easily than a regular heavy touring tire). The rubber on both still seems solid. I’ve had other well-aged tires where the tread rubber held up OK, but the sidewall coatings got brittle and cracked, and then the thread casings started to fray.

6

I found a couple of tires that I’d stashed for at least 15 years and used them with no problem. They were stored in a garage so they were in the shade but not out of the heat. I checked them over beforehand and again after riding on them and they looked fine. I don’t think talc would help preserve them.

7

thanks for all the help - very useful!

peace,
brother bonk

8

One more thing, don’t store them near any electric motors (frig., dehumidifier etc.). The ozone produced by the motor will eat the rubber.

9

nice!

10

I don’t know about clinchers, but I remember watching an Armstrong TDF TV special where they were actually aging the tubulars before using them for the race. They had them laying flat in a cellar and apparently keep them there months to years to season them. You’re probably okay storing them a couple of years. Maybe the Michelin guy will chime in.

11

I remember seeing that show… I can still hear the guy in his Belgian accent calling them “Tub”-ularss (as opposed to “tube”-ulars)