What to do with punctured tubes

Chartsengrafs

So I changed my first tube this evening, I'd like to point out that I wasn't an angry sweaty oily mess by the finish at all. I was just like the cool Aussie guy on the Youtube tutorial video I found!

Question is, can I just patch up the old one and use it as a spare? I paid 7/8 euros for some new ones- does this sound about right? Thanks!!

Oh and it was for a road bike btw, 700s or something.

DirkVoodoo

You can patch up a tube pretty much indefinitely (although a tube made out of patches would be interesting). The valve will probably fail before that though.

They can also be used to make homemade chainstay protectors for mountain bikes.

I can't remember who, but someone on here suggested using them to tie parts of the bike (wheels, etc.) when mounting it on a car rack.

EDIT: I have never bought a tube in Dublin outside of the Belfield bike shop, which was 5 euro. I bought a box of 20 tubes for just under 20 euro due to a CRC error a while back, so I'm not the person to ask about tube prices. Having said that, my rear tube on my commuter has a single patch and has been going since november.

kenmc

i use one to hold the BBQ cover in place!
also cut one up to use as protectors under cadence sensor mounts and so on

Ryaner

Wiggle have a pack of 5 tubes on at the moment for 20euro (linky) Cheap enough. Yet to install these yet.

I did get some of the CRC pricing error tubes too although I've found the values faulty on 3 of them so far thus the new tubes.

DirkVoodoo

Ryaner wrote: »

Wiggle have a pack of 5 tubes on at the moment for 20euro (linky) Cheap enough. Yet to install these yet.

I did get some of the CRC pricing error tubes too although I've found the values faulty on 3 of them so far thus the new tubes.

You get that too? I find that some of the valves are difficult to pump up once I get over above 80 PSI. I have had a few mornings where I have had to get someone else to hold the track pump head in place while I inflate, otherwise the air leaks out. I did a one handed pump one morning, it was torture. The valves are fine in terms of pressure sealing though, which I guess is the important part.

quietobserver

Nowadays the tubes have more percentage of plastic in the compound than rubber so patches dont stick like they used to. I usually just patch a few for spares training. The rest get used to tying posts to trees to help them grow straight. In place of bungy cords in transit van.

Holding wheels.

Many many uses.

RobFowl

Mine hold my wheely bin together
Prety much chuck all punctured tubes away TBH

Húrin

I always patch up. Makes them as good as new!

Ryaner

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

You get that too? I find that some of the valves are difficult to pump up once I get over above 80 PSI. I have had a few mornings where I have had to get someone else to hold the track pump head in place while I inflate, otherwise the air leaks out. I did a one handed pump one morning, it was torture. The valves are fine in terms of pressure sealing though, which I guess is the important part.

My pump can't grip the tubes above 80-90psi so I'm forced to do the one handed pumping. My current front tube leaks air and drops about 50psi in a week so will probably get replaced. The values also loose huge amounts of air while the value is open in the up position.
Never had this problem with any of the previous continental tubes.

blorg

Seems like maybe those Conti tubes were not the great deal they seemed...

I use these Vittoria Ultralites:

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/productdetail.asp?productcatalogue=VITTTUBE210
http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/productdetail.asp?productcatalogue=VITTTUBE220

Worked out around €2.50/tube shipped. At that price I don't bother patching although I do carry patches in my saddlebag in case I get more than one puncture.

biomech

def keep the old tube... repaired or not ull never know when they come in handy.... few weeks ago my saddle broke off and very helpful passer-by tied my saddle to the cross bar with her spare tube... happy days.... the very next week i was out again( this time with my own spare tube) i repayed her random act of kindness by giving a poor stranded guy my spare tube and got him to the end of the spin...

Chartsengrafs

OK great thanks all (it was indeed Ultralites I got). At least I know where to get them cheaper now.

I don't have a barbecue but I guess I'll have to get one. Wouldn't want to under-utilise old tubes

Home:Ballyhoura

Ryaner wrote: »

I did get some of the CRC pricing error tubes too although I've found the values faulty on 3 of them so far thus the new tubes.

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

You get that too? I find that some of the valves are difficult to pump up once I get over above 80 PSI. I have had a few mornings where I have had to get someone else to hold the track pump head in place while I inflate, otherwise the air leaks out. I did a one handed pump one morning, it was torture. The valves are fine in terms of pressure sealing though, which I guess is the important part.

Ryaner wrote: »

My pump can't grip the tubes above 80-90psi so I'm forced to do the one handed pumping. My current front tube leaks air and drops about 50psi in a week so will probably get replaced. The values also loose huge amounts of air while the value is open in the up position.
Never had this problem with any of the previous continental tubes.

Hi guys, I got like 15 or 20 of these tubes at the same time as ye (I was actually the person who originally advertised the unbelievable pack of five tubes for €4.23...sorry about that, looks like it caused more problems than bargains!)

I had my suspicions for a long time about these tubes and just how good they were. One day I took a trip to the bathroom and filled up one sink with water, grabbed my box of tubes and track pump and got to work testing out each and every one of them. Turns out I was right in the beginning, they are bloody faulty!!! Well about half of them anyway. Many problems occurred, air leaking from the valve when locknut left open (I mean lots), air slowley leaking from valve when tightened to the max, some air leaking through what seemed like invisible cracks in the wall of the valve and one which leaked air from where the valve joined the tube (not forgetting the two which the valves just broke off on).

What I was left with was around 10 that seem to work just as normal, and another 10 that were either broken or left air leak in some form. I reluctantly contacted CRC about the problem for fear that they would catch me out for the deal I probably shouldn't have got. They said that they had never heard of the likes of it with any of the other tubes sold to other customers so they couldn't promise anything until I sent them back. I held off until last week to actually send them off eventually risking the €6 postage to see what I could get out of it. I put together a package of the 5 worst tubes to see what would happen. The other faulty ones would soon follow if things worked out OK.

They received them and agreed they were faulty (however they would not refund the cost of return due to the fact it was over the 30 days return policy, saying that it was a kind gesture just because they were faulty) and offered my a replacement or refund. Deciding not to take the £3.99, I said I would take an exchange for tubes that actually work this time! SWEET....everything is looking good until they send me in invoice for like £18 to cover the difference in the cost of the tubes now and when I bought them. Surely I thought and exchange meant a straight swap with no mony passing hands, its not my fault that they changed they pricing in the meantime!

I tried to make the point to them that why would I spend €6 on postage to get €4.23 back??? It doesn't make sense really. Anyway, I did say to them at this stage I think I would be better of getting onto Continental themselves to see what they can do for me unless they can offer me a better solution (I told them I would take the €4.23 if they could math Ribbles prices for either the Vittoria Ultralites of the same Continentals again).

Maybe if anyone who ordered these tubes and found problems would speak up and actually do something about it, then they would see clearly that there was a big problem with that batch of tubes and agree to work out a solution for it. I must dig up that old thread of mine to see who ordered them too.

P.S. They still work out pretty cheap if only half of them work properly, instead of 85c per tube it's just €1.70....not really that bad when you think of it like that! Sorry for the long post, it was painful but I'm glad to have got that off my chest! Hehe

leftism

Old bike tubes really do work well for tying stuff to the roof of your car!

I've used them for tying stuff to trailers aswell and they're great...

JMJR

Home:Ballyhoura wrote: »

Hi guys, I got like 15 or 20 of these tubes at the same time as ye ...................

They received them and agreed they were faulty (however they would not refund the cost of return due to the fact it was over the 30 days return policy, saying that it was a kind gesture just because they were faulty) and offered my a replacement or refund. ............................. [/I]

If CRC refers to Chain Reaction Cycles then I think that they are wrong. The paragraph below is from their website and the important sentence is "Our Terms and Conditions do not affect your statutory rights". The UK legislation regarding the Sale of Goods and Services to consumers is similar to our own, in which case you have a statutory right to expect that the goods are fit for purpose. In this instance I would argue that regardless what price you paid for them they should replace them at no cost to you. You have already returned the items to them , at your cost, so if I was you I would not tolerate any more expense.

Regards
John


Chain Reaction Cycles (CRC) is a UK based company and complies with UK consumer law including the Distance Selling Regulations. This means that shopping with CRC is safe. You won't get ripped off, you’ll get your parts and we’ll sort out any problems you have. Our Terms and Conditions do not affect your statutory rights.

Ryaner

JMJR wrote: »

If CRC refers to Chain Reaction Cycles then I think that they are wrong. The paragraph below is from their website and the important sentence is "Our Terms and Conditions do not affect your statutory rights". The UK legislation regarding the Sale of Goods and Services to consumers is similar to our own, in which case you have a statutory right to expect that the goods are fit for purpose. In this instance I would argue that regardless what price you paid for them they should replace them at no cost to you. You have already returned the items to them , at your cost, so if I was you I would not tolerate any more expense.

Regards
John


Chain Reaction Cycles (CRC) is a UK based company and complies with UK consumer law including the Distance Selling Regulations. This means that shopping with CRC is safe. You won't get ripped off, you’ll get your parts and we’ll sort out any problems you have. Our Terms and Conditions do not affect your statutory rights.

Seconded. I'd do the same expect that I've only two left. One in the box and another that is a working one. Rest got destroyed in a bad spell of punctures over a two week period.

blorg

@John- CRC are within their rights to simply offer a refund of what the purchaser paid, there is no obligation on a retailer to replace rather than refund. They have offered him his money back.

Similarly there is no obligation to refund return postage, retailers who do this for faulty goods do it as a good will gesture so they can put a 30 day restriction on it if they like.

The people who bought these tubes got them on a _severe_ pricing error so to be honest I wouldn't be complaining too much.

Straatvark

JMJR

Id suggest that anyone interested should read this document-
http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets/general/oft698.pdf
It is a guide for businesses whose trade is covered by the Distance selling Regulations, which CRC say on their T&C that they apply.
To my reading of these guidelines CRC have been applying the regulations concerning 'cancellation' of contract in this case and not the conditions that should apply in the case of faulty goods. And it seems to me from a quick read that their cancellation conditions might be a bit stricter than the Distance Selling Regulations.
Regards
John

JMJR

Also
@ blorg, from CRC website
"Distance Selling Regulations



Chain Reaction Cycles conform to the Distance Selling Regulations, which are designed to protect you when buying items by Mail Order. We offer a flexible returns policy and are happy to accept items back for a refund or exchange if they don’t fit, you’ve ordered the wrong things, the items are damaged or faulty upon receipt or you simply don’t like what you’ve ordered.

Regards
John

tomasrojo

Straatvark, that is a delightful picture. The dogs look so happy.

blorg

@John- The Distance Selling Regulations apply to customer cancellation of the contract within the legally required 7 day cooling off period, (which CRC extend to 30 days) it does not apply to goods returned due to a fault months later. CRC said they would refund his postage if he sent them back earlier.

Later claims for faulty products come under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 and the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 (this is in your link BTW.) I am not sure that there is a right to have your postage refunded under these Acts although I am not 100% sure on this and happy to be proven wrong. Certainly in the case of non-mail order it is the customer's responsibility to return the goods to the retailer.

DSR wrote:

After the deadline for cancellation has passed, a consumer
claims that goods are faulty or services do not conform to
the contract. Do I have to refund the consumer’s money?
3.67 In general the DSRs do not affect the consumer’s rights under other
legislation, for example the Sale of Goods Act 1979 or the Supply
of Goods and Services Act 1982. If the goods or services do not
conform to the contract and consumers exercise their rights to reject
them, you will have to refund their money.

Acoustic

wrap the tube around the road signs

6 euro a tube we do