Posting tyres

[freebooter]

I have a pair of 27 1/4 tyres I want to sell. They are light but because of the size all the postage options I have found so far are expensive. ie £8 upwards. I don't want to fold them.

Does anyone know of a reasonably priced courier option for bike tyres?

thanks

[Mick F]

You say you don't want to fold them, but you can twist them and they sit in a coil quite well without any stress or strain. I think the coil is three "rings" and you have to hold them with a bit of string, so you can get the parcel smaller.

Would that do?

Someone may be along with a detailed description about how to twist them, but it's difficult to explain.

[531colin]

4 rings. It'll be on you-tube, I think one of the usual suspects on here posted it.

[freebooter]

4 rings I have seen 2 and 3 but not 4.

The reason I didn't want to fold them was I tried a few years ago with another tyre and ended up with a definite twist/kink in the bead. I think I have an old tyre somewhere that I could have another go with and see if I can get the technique right without risking the ones I want to sell.

[531colin]

As you were, its 3....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uxjvBAHAWg

[Bicycler]

If you are bagging them rather than putting them in a box I've found that non-folded tyres can often just squeeze inside Hermes' maximum dimensions (add the two shortest dimensions and multiply them by two, add the length, the total calculation needs to be under 225cm). As long as your package fits the size then Hermes are definitely the cheapest at £2.78 for <1kg and £3.78 for 1-2kg https://www.myhermes.co.uk/our-services/our-prices.html

I'm not overly sure of the wisdom of sending tyres in bags rather than boxes and I don't think I'd risk it for very expensive tyres but those I've received or sent have been fine.

[hondated]

Bicycler that's my experience also.

[nirakaro]

They use the same technique for folding bandsaw blades. Hurts a lot more when they bite back though.

[Bikefayre]

Fold them in a figure of eight and then in half holding them with cable ties or tape. and that way they will 'ping' into shape, a strong rubble sack bag should do the trick. All my Bronx wire bead tyres are folded in a figure of eight and in half with no problems from woollyhatshop.com Use broad parcel tape to hold them in place. Have ordered dozens of tyres and most come this way with only few needing a wee of bit thumb straightening to sort the bead, nearly all have 'pinged' back into shape with no running problems. A wheel box is of course best. Practise with a scrap tyre first!

[reohn2]

They use the same technique for folding bandsaw blades. Hurts a lot more when they bite back though.

Been there done that OUCH!

[JohnW]

I have a pair of 27 1/4 tyres I want to sell. They are light but because of the size all the postage options I have found so far are expensive. ie £8 upwards. I don't want to fold them.

Does anyone know of a reasonably priced courier option for bike tyres?

thanks

I totally and fully support your stance. The brand of tyres that I used almost exclusively until recently, and changed my brand choice because of persistent sidewall blow-outs seem to have been delivered in twisted/folded/turned form. I contacted the importer and he sent a pair of tyres to me, free, and direct (i.e. not via my usual retailer). When I unpacked them the sidewalls were terribly creased and really did look like weaknesses.

After over a year storage in cool, dry conditions the creases and apparent (to me) weaknesses hadn't come out and I was afraid that if I used them I'd have more blow-outs. I'd had a total of five sidewall blow-outs on that particular brand, and several others had also - but all on the rear........on the front there could have been a tragedy.

In times past, before folding tyres, when we went on extended tour, we'd always take a spare tyre, dangling from the side straps of our saddlebags, and rolled/folded/twisted (or however you like to describe it) and occasionally, just occasionally, a sidewall would eventually crack.

Until recently, when I've collected tyres from my LBS I've asked him to fold them and I've carried them home in that condition. Now I don't know whether this folding has caused the sidewall problems - in fact, looking at it logically, it shouldn't cause blow-outs because, even if the rubber cracks, the threads should be intact............but from my own experience, I'd not fold tyres anymore. I've change my brand-loyalty now, but I still don't fold them to carry them home.

Why not put them up for sale on the sales section of the Forum, and see if someone local to you wants them?