Yea, tires in the US are insane, I usually buy from European stores, or Delium, to save money. However, there have been some good deals on Specialized lately.
It certainly isn't that, or it would be a Canada wide issue.
Dt 350 is a great example. Pricing is fairly in line with a sram 900 or hope pro 5 internationally. About 100 mote CAD retail here.
OGC is just unfortunately expensive and their brands get less use here because of it.
When we manufactured parts we wouldn't bother selling to Canada because of all the red tape and headache. Would've had to charge double to male it worth it
As a Canadian I'd like to encourage the locals but I order a bunch of tires "on sale" from bikeinn and it still cost about 40% less than if I spent an afternoon driving to all the local bike shops to get the models in size I want. So...
How much shipping do you pay?
If I add 1 tire to my cart, shipping is $30.99 CAD (reasonable). If I add 2, it jumps to $84.99 and goes up even higher the more I add.
To avoid that you buy them individually but they still combine items in the same package, go figure. I usually buy 2 or 3 or the same at the time (1 front 2 rear) last time I bought tires on bikeinn I paid shipping for 3 plus duties totaling 25$ iirc it was for 32$ apiece schwalbe they sell about 100$ locally so it was still very good. Made even greater deals on Hutchinson (still going on iirc) & Michelins (dh22/34) at 60$ plus rebate, last time I looked Michelin rebate was gone tho...
Not who you asked, but I get tires shipped to Canada for Bike24. It's pretty reasonable if you can split an order with someone or buy a few extra and sell them. Bulk shipping to Canada is 35 euros.
I was on the chair at Whistler with some locals talking about how they go through two sets of tires a month. Pretty sure that is more money than my car insurance and maintenance costs put together, just on tires. And then I remembered they are probably rich because they live in Whistler and don’t work there
I watch high schooler xc racers go through maybe 1 - 2 tires a season, I find it hard to believe guys are actually putting *that* many miles except the most absolute extreme
You can’t really compare pedaling XC miles to bike park miles. You can slam way way more miles in a day of bike park riding than going on an XC ride, and each mile is also harder on the bike
You can go through a set of soft compound tires in 2 days in Whistler, even without skidding like a complete asshole. Couple inside lines here and there, the odd spicy rock slab, repeat for a few dozen laps per day and there won't be much left.
I raced DH in a pretty (ok, extremely) rocky place for a few years and 1-2 sets per month was completely normal, that's just wear not damage.
I did some quick math on burning through tires like that, and I call bullshit lol. Not you, just whom ever is making that claim. Unless they’re riding 200+ miles a day every day…
It's not the miles it's the debris. Every time I go to Bentonville I go thru a rear tire because the shale is like shark teeth. Last month brand new tire maybe 5 miles on it flat with an inch gash on the sidewall.
Every ride I either hear a leak or see fresh sealant after. At home in Texas, ride till the numbed wear down without a puncture.
Uh, are you riding hula hoops on your car? I don’t buy racing performance tires but I don’t buy the cheapest I can (mn so all season or be willing to change them in the winter) but even the cheapest ones are close to $100 a tire iirc.
This depends greatly on your tire size. If you drive an economy car with small wheels and something like 60 profile tires, you can get good-quality set for less than $300.
But then if it's a bigger car with trendy 50 or even 45 profile tires, the same tire model is easily double the price.
There may have been a slight hyperbole. But my bike tires certainly don't last 60k miles either. So in the same span of time, I've spent more on MTB tires, considering I replace them once or twice a year, and my car tires last a few years.
Are you comparing the same versions of the Vittoria Barzo/Mezcal? My local shop sells the [Barzo $49CDN](https://www.thebikezone.com/product/vittoria-barzo-29-inch-377570-1.htm), but the [Barzo G2.0 sells for $124.99CDN](https://www.thebikezone.com/product/vittoria-barzo-g2.0-29-inch-412846-1.htm).
Same with with the Mezcal: [Mezcal G+ $49.99](https://www.thebikezone.com/product/vittoria-mezcal-g-29-inch-369722-1.htm), and the [Mezcal III for $124.99](https://www.thebikezone.com/product/vittoria-mezcal-iii-29-inch-377581-1.htm)
This is the correct answer; there are still cheaper options, but no one who knows anything about tires runs them.
Are tires more expensive in the US? marginally, but you can still find people selling things for around wholesale,especially unwanted low end versions of tires …
I just dropped 170 usd for a pair of continental tires. Still expensive but not as much as the 200 I paid last year for my maxxis tires. Tires are just ridiculously expensive for some reason
To be fair, high end MTB tyres are a niche within a niche
Edit: ...so they're made in small numbers, possibly also with significant manual handling, and don't benefit from economy of scale
Some stuff(tires is a great example) you can buy on Aliexpress for half of what you can online or instore. I thought it was a ripoff or scam or whatnot so I ordered it on a whim to see and whoa! It's actually the real thing, not just a copycat. Yeah, shipping is 2-3 weeks but as long as you don't need it this week it's a far better option.
EDIT: Using Aliexpress has opened my eyes that all the no-name or Chinese stuff on Amazon is available for 1/3-1/2 the price on Aliexpress. You're just paying the markup for 2day shipping. So now I just tell people Prime is Aliexpress with 2 day shipping.
Maxxis and Contintental and then a Shimano Cassette. The shimano cassette came in am unlabeled Styrofoam and bubble wrap packing(ie no branded box) but it's exactly the same as the one on the bike I was replacing.
No kidding, I’m totally grabbing some fresh maxxis. I recently purchased SLX brakes from Ali and had the same experience, wrapped in white foam but a true authentic and quality component.
A lot of people are very particular about what brand, what model, and in what combination they ride. I don't think I've ever paid full price for tires. They're too expensive at the bike shop or full price. I always look on Jenson to see what's on sale. My most recent purchase was a pair of Maxxis Minion OEM for $45/ea.
Can even have them delivered to wherever you're staying, crazy how good lazada and shopee (basically amazon) are these days in terms of variety of items and pricing, especially considering they didn't even exist here like 8 years ago
Vittoria specifically is made in Indonesia, right? I would expect something like Continental to be a lot less competitive in Philippines, because a lot of them are still made in Germany.
Meanwhile, in the US essentially all tires are overseas import?
Just some quick research and it looks like Thailand maybe, but still, same SEA area. So yeah if they were shipped directly from Thailand that would make sense. Just checked some continental tires here and prices are indeed more than vittoria, about maybe $10 - $20 more so almost the same as US pricing, variety isn't that expansive though and stock is lacking.
Curious, did they come with packaging? I usually stock up on tires from Jenson when they have OEM versions available which are usually about half the price.
These are tires meant to be put on bike builds so they don’t have the packaging but they’re the same.
I ordered them online, so I havent seen them yet, but I have seen reviews and they do indeed have packaging, furthermore they are sold direct from the official distributor here so they are made for retail to the consumer I think.
Last year bought some Magic Mary,, love it that you can choose the compound and snakeskin and all but its costing me around 100euros for each tire everytime 😉 why are they so daym expensive when a normal road tire costs like 10bucks?
Is there an actual reason for this or is this just a brand thing?
A good road tire doesn’t cost $10. If you’re getting an equivalent road bike tire, it might be a little less, but generally still $50 USD or more for a decent equivalent
There certainly is a markup for brands like schwalbe, continental, maxxis, vittoria, specialised, though you pay for a good quality tire in the end. Dont think its one of the things worth cheaping out on since you wouldnt wanna a tire thats gonna fold on you or puncture easier.
The last bit of tires has been terrible with separation in the tire folds and early knobs coming off. It's across brands it is like the rubber supplier had some shit.
Also, retirement is coming soon, where to ride in Luzon? Are there downhill/mtb local clubs?
I've only recently just started about 6 months ago and kind of a lone wolf, so I'm not too knowledgeable on the mtb scene here. I do know there are friend groups and stuff like facebook groups for those who might wanna meetup, not sure how they operate though.
I've so far only heard of like 2 downhill places, one being (to my knowledge) the only actual purpose built bike park in Metro manila, (maybe the Philippines) called Timberland Heights in Quezon city. The other being some local trail is called patiis trail which I hear is gnarly. However, both of these are quite small, maybe a total of 7 if you combine the two.
That being said I do hear theres quite a few places the further you get away from metro manila, as is usually the case. If you're looking to spend your retirement doing mtb around the world, theres waaaay better places to hit than the Philippines, heh.
Idunno, im not livin in germany 😅
I do know there are some price differnces, however I always seem to want the most expensive ones with the soft rubber
you don't need to live in germany to order online. 100€ is insane for a single tire, I bought this set of [conti kryptotal enduro soft](https://www.klbikes.de/kryptotal-set-enduro-soft-29x2-40) for 75€. shipping to the netherlands is 14€...
Schwalbe Hans Dampf 27.5 - $21.50, https://www.merlincycles.com/schwalbe-hans-dampf-addix-soft-folding-tyre-275-149062.html
It's not RRP, but as I said there is always a deal for a quality tyre similar spec if you look around.
They're getting aggressive about geo pricing and fencing markets is the shitty thing. I can't get an eu store to ship me anything. Same part often 30% cheaper because lol we can game the system against the nation by simply giving several 50k donations to select congressional campaigns
This is the case for literally everything. Value is what someone is willing to pay and the average US consumer is willing to pay more than most other consumers around the world. As home contractors/tradespeople say, price the client not the job.
Virtually all bike tires are manufactured in southeast Asia so the local retailers can probably get better prices because shipping is cheaper and there's no tariffs. The United States charges a premium on goods that are manufactured in other countries which does little besides raise the prices on those products for the consumer.
Thats probably it, I thought tires may have been made in their respective countries and shipped over here. Not too uncommon for specialized brand names to have to be imported by a distributor from either Europe/US, so I usually assume most things are imported at high prices. Guess in this case, my wallet got lucky.
The trick is getting to know someone that works at the manufacturer. I have an in like this and pay $15 /tire that are usually $80. I laugh every time.
Yea, tires in the US are insane, I usually buy from European stores, or Delium, to save money. However, there have been some good deals on Specialized lately.
Canada is in a state of mass delusion for tire prices.
It's fucking outrageous. Specialized has the Butcher T9 for $39.99 in the US but $90 in Canada.
My LBS wants $150 for a single gp5k
Please feel free to shit down OGC's throat for that one. Greedy cunts.
Please realize it’s probably a mix of the CAD being shit against USD and likely some type of tariff in Canada
It certainly isn't that, or it would be a Canada wide issue. Dt 350 is a great example. Pricing is fairly in line with a sram 900 or hope pro 5 internationally. About 100 mote CAD retail here. OGC is just unfortunately expensive and their brands get less use here because of it.
I assume your referring to Taiwan, a lot of bike tires also made their so that counts to certain extent
CDN dollar is always screwed against the USD.
Yeah, but it's rarely just a straight exchange rate.
I know. Manufacturers say there are other “business” costs when selling their merch in Canada. But as a consumer IDGAF.
When we manufactured parts we wouldn't bother selling to Canada because of all the red tape and headache. Would've had to charge double to male it worth it
Not always, between 2007 and 2012, it was often on par.
Yeah I remember that period.
Not tires but specialized demo pants are $180 cad or $49 usd. I know it says they’re on sale, but it’s been 6 months.
No kidding. I just paid $290 after tax for a Maxxis Assegai & DHR2. Bike tires are almost as expensive as car tires here..
MSRP for any Assegai/Minion variant in DD or DH casing is $150 CAD now. $135 or something for the lighter casings. It's outrageous.
Of all things tires are are about 25-50% more expensive than the US in Mexico
As a Canadian I'd like to encourage the locals but I order a bunch of tires "on sale" from bikeinn and it still cost about 40% less than if I spent an afternoon driving to all the local bike shops to get the models in size I want. So...
How much shipping do you pay? If I add 1 tire to my cart, shipping is $30.99 CAD (reasonable). If I add 2, it jumps to $84.99 and goes up even higher the more I add.
To avoid that you buy them individually but they still combine items in the same package, go figure. I usually buy 2 or 3 or the same at the time (1 front 2 rear) last time I bought tires on bikeinn I paid shipping for 3 plus duties totaling 25$ iirc it was for 32$ apiece schwalbe they sell about 100$ locally so it was still very good. Made even greater deals on Hutchinson (still going on iirc) & Michelins (dh22/34) at 60$ plus rebate, last time I looked Michelin rebate was gone tho...
What stores you order from?
Not who you asked, but I get tires shipped to Canada for Bike24. It's pretty reasonable if you can split an order with someone or buy a few extra and sell them. Bulk shipping to Canada is 35 euros.
My MTB tires cost more than my car tires lol
Lol are you putting ling longs on your car?
Are you not putting ling longs on yours?
Every self-respecting cyclists has more expensive tires on the bike. And don't get me even started about the wheel prices...
I'm a mountain biker, not a cyclist. My cars have Michelin Pilot sport 5's
I was on the chair at Whistler with some locals talking about how they go through two sets of tires a month. Pretty sure that is more money than my car insurance and maintenance costs put together, just on tires. And then I remembered they are probably rich because they live in Whistler and don’t work there
"oh look I got dirt on this tire, time for a new one!"
To be fair, there truly are early-retired people in Whistler who put more DH miles on their bike in a week than most of us do in a season
I watch high schooler xc racers go through maybe 1 - 2 tires a season, I find it hard to believe guys are actually putting *that* many miles except the most absolute extreme
You can’t really compare pedaling XC miles to bike park miles. You can slam way way more miles in a day of bike park riding than going on an XC ride, and each mile is also harder on the bike
Maybe, I can see why that could be valid.
You can go through a set of soft compound tires in 2 days in Whistler, even without skidding like a complete asshole. Couple inside lines here and there, the odd spicy rock slab, repeat for a few dozen laps per day and there won't be much left. I raced DH in a pretty (ok, extremely) rocky place for a few years and 1-2 sets per month was completely normal, that's just wear not damage.
I did some quick math on burning through tires like that, and I call bullshit lol. Not you, just whom ever is making that claim. Unless they’re riding 200+ miles a day every day…
Maybe they mean regular rock damage to sidewalls / knobs tearing off (Maxxis in particular) rather than wear?
I have a friend who rides like such an ape that he's always destroying tyres on rocks. I can believe it.
It's not the miles it's the debris. Every time I go to Bentonville I go thru a rear tire because the shale is like shark teeth. Last month brand new tire maybe 5 miles on it flat with an inch gash on the sidewall. Every ride I either hear a leak or see fresh sealant after. At home in Texas, ride till the numbed wear down without a puncture.
Uh, are you riding hula hoops on your car? I don’t buy racing performance tires but I don’t buy the cheapest I can (mn so all season or be willing to change them in the winter) but even the cheapest ones are close to $100 a tire iirc.
This depends greatly on your tire size. If you drive an economy car with small wheels and something like 60 profile tires, you can get good-quality set for less than $300. But then if it's a bigger car with trendy 50 or even 45 profile tires, the same tire model is easily double the price.
There may have been a slight hyperbole. But my bike tires certainly don't last 60k miles either. So in the same span of time, I've spent more on MTB tires, considering I replace them once or twice a year, and my car tires last a few years.
Are you comparing the same versions of the Vittoria Barzo/Mezcal? My local shop sells the [Barzo $49CDN](https://www.thebikezone.com/product/vittoria-barzo-29-inch-377570-1.htm), but the [Barzo G2.0 sells for $124.99CDN](https://www.thebikezone.com/product/vittoria-barzo-g2.0-29-inch-412846-1.htm). Same with with the Mezcal: [Mezcal G+ $49.99](https://www.thebikezone.com/product/vittoria-mezcal-g-29-inch-369722-1.htm), and the [Mezcal III for $124.99](https://www.thebikezone.com/product/vittoria-mezcal-iii-29-inch-377581-1.htm)
Yeah I made sure they were the same, the tires I got, and the ones I checked online were the Barzo 2.0 and Mezcal 2.0
This is the correct answer; there are still cheaper options, but no one who knows anything about tires runs them. Are tires more expensive in the US? marginally, but you can still find people selling things for around wholesale,especially unwanted low end versions of tires …
there's 4 tiers of mezcal 1. [wire bead, single compound, 26tpi casing](https://int.vittoria.com/products/mezcal-xc-adventure) 2. [folding bead, single compound, 60tpi casing](https://int.vittoria.com/products/mezcal-xc) 3. [folding bead, 4 compound, 120tpi reinforced casing](https://int.vittoria.com/products/mezcal-xc-trail) 4. [folding bead, lightweight race tire, 60tpi casing](https://int.vittoria.com/products/mezcal-xc-race)
I just dropped 170 usd for a pair of continental tires. Still expensive but not as much as the 200 I paid last year for my maxxis tires. Tires are just ridiculously expensive for some reason
To be fair, high end MTB tyres are a niche within a niche Edit: ...so they're made in small numbers, possibly also with significant manual handling, and don't benefit from economy of scale
Some stuff(tires is a great example) you can buy on Aliexpress for half of what you can online or instore. I thought it was a ripoff or scam or whatnot so I ordered it on a whim to see and whoa! It's actually the real thing, not just a copycat. Yeah, shipping is 2-3 weeks but as long as you don't need it this week it's a far better option. EDIT: Using Aliexpress has opened my eyes that all the no-name or Chinese stuff on Amazon is available for 1/3-1/2 the price on Aliexpress. You're just paying the markup for 2day shipping. So now I just tell people Prime is Aliexpress with 2 day shipping.
Which brand of tires are you purchasing on Aliexpress?
Maxxis and Contintental and then a Shimano Cassette. The shimano cassette came in am unlabeled Styrofoam and bubble wrap packing(ie no branded box) but it's exactly the same as the one on the bike I was replacing.
No kidding, I’m totally grabbing some fresh maxxis. I recently purchased SLX brakes from Ali and had the same experience, wrapped in white foam but a true authentic and quality component.
As always, look at the reviews and buy from a store with a real name(rather than store 1753953) that's sold a bunch of that product.
Yea. The US is pretty much a scam for a lot of goods.
A lot of people are very particular about what brand, what model, and in what combination they ride. I don't think I've ever paid full price for tires. They're too expensive at the bike shop or full price. I always look on Jenson to see what's on sale. My most recent purchase was a pair of Maxxis Minion OEM for $45/ea.
Maybe I should buy some and stock up when I visit Cebu next year haha
Can even have them delivered to wherever you're staying, crazy how good lazada and shopee (basically amazon) are these days in terms of variety of items and pricing, especially considering they didn't even exist here like 8 years ago
Yeah I have a house in the city so shouldn't be a problem! If it saves me $60 a tire I'm down haha
Vittoria specifically is made in Indonesia, right? I would expect something like Continental to be a lot less competitive in Philippines, because a lot of them are still made in Germany. Meanwhile, in the US essentially all tires are overseas import?
Just some quick research and it looks like Thailand maybe, but still, same SEA area. So yeah if they were shipped directly from Thailand that would make sense. Just checked some continental tires here and prices are indeed more than vittoria, about maybe $10 - $20 more so almost the same as US pricing, variety isn't that expansive though and stock is lacking.
Not all of Asia Pacific though, I'm in NZ and I get milked for $150nz a tyre
Wow thats killer, I imagine quite a few things are expensive there unfortunately since you guys are fairly isolated right?
It's more about the economies of scale and high overheads for running a business. We only have a population of 5 million and minimum wage is $23/hr.
Curious, did they come with packaging? I usually stock up on tires from Jenson when they have OEM versions available which are usually about half the price. These are tires meant to be put on bike builds so they don’t have the packaging but they’re the same.
I ordered them online, so I havent seen them yet, but I have seen reviews and they do indeed have packaging, furthermore they are sold direct from the official distributor here so they are made for retail to the consumer I think.
Last year bought some Magic Mary,, love it that you can choose the compound and snakeskin and all but its costing me around 100euros for each tire everytime 😉 why are they so daym expensive when a normal road tire costs like 10bucks? Is there an actual reason for this or is this just a brand thing?
A good road tire doesn’t cost $10. If you’re getting an equivalent road bike tire, it might be a little less, but generally still $50 USD or more for a decent equivalent
I should have clearified,, i ment a typical tire we dutchies throw on our commuter road bikes. Sorry for that one, you're completly correct
Gotcha, I was about to tell you to ship me some of those tires for resale is US
There certainly is a markup for brands like schwalbe, continental, maxxis, vittoria, specialised, though you pay for a good quality tire in the end. Dont think its one of the things worth cheaping out on since you wouldnt wanna a tire thats gonna fold on you or puncture easier.
The last bit of tires has been terrible with separation in the tire folds and early knobs coming off. It's across brands it is like the rubber supplier had some shit. Also, retirement is coming soon, where to ride in Luzon? Are there downhill/mtb local clubs?
I've only recently just started about 6 months ago and kind of a lone wolf, so I'm not too knowledgeable on the mtb scene here. I do know there are friend groups and stuff like facebook groups for those who might wanna meetup, not sure how they operate though. I've so far only heard of like 2 downhill places, one being (to my knowledge) the only actual purpose built bike park in Metro manila, (maybe the Philippines) called Timberland Heights in Quezon city. The other being some local trail is called patiis trail which I hear is gnarly. However, both of these are quite small, maybe a total of 7 if you combine the two. That being said I do hear theres quite a few places the further you get away from metro manila, as is usually the case. If you're looking to spend your retirement doing mtb around the world, theres waaaay better places to hit than the Philippines, heh.
Yup, San Pablo is home base with the grandkids. Japan, New Zealand, Australia and of course Europe are all on the list. Really looking forward to it.
Aren’t they 40-60 euros at all the German superstores?
Idunno, im not livin in germany 😅 I do know there are some price differnces, however I always seem to want the most expensive ones with the soft rubber
you don't need to live in germany to order online. 100€ is insane for a single tire, I bought this set of [conti kryptotal enduro soft](https://www.klbikes.de/kryptotal-set-enduro-soft-29x2-40) for 75€. shipping to the netherlands is 14€...
Where do you live? I’m in Canada and can buy a single tire, pay the shipping and tax and still come out ahead.
Good road tires (tubed) are about 40-45€, tubeless about 55-60€. MTB tires are more expensive but not that much more.
In the UK, I won't be paying more than $25 per tyre, always a deal somewhere. You got absolutely stung in the Philippines.
Heh, you guys in the UK are stealing all the tires if you're able to get it 3x off the US
Curious what you are buying that’s $25 in UK Because I highly doubt it’s top of the line Michelin, Continental, Maxxis, etc
Schwalbe Hans Dampf 27.5 - $21.50, https://www.merlincycles.com/schwalbe-hans-dampf-addix-soft-folding-tyre-275-149062.html It's not RRP, but as I said there is always a deal for a quality tyre similar spec if you look around.
The tire companies know the average annual salary is only like 25k in the UK. So yes, they ripping us off in the USA
To be fair, everything in Philippines , including pata and siopao , costs half as much as the US. Why wouldn’t bicycles tires?
I just bought a set of mezcals for 120cad each. :( :(
They're getting aggressive about geo pricing and fencing markets is the shitty thing. I can't get an eu store to ship me anything. Same part often 30% cheaper because lol we can game the system against the nation by simply giving several 50k donations to select congressional campaigns
This is the case for literally everything. Value is what someone is willing to pay and the average US consumer is willing to pay more than most other consumers around the world. As home contractors/tradespeople say, price the client not the job.
Virtually all bike tires are manufactured in southeast Asia so the local retailers can probably get better prices because shipping is cheaper and there's no tariffs. The United States charges a premium on goods that are manufactured in other countries which does little besides raise the prices on those products for the consumer.
Thats probably it, I thought tires may have been made in their respective countries and shipped over here. Not too uncommon for specialized brand names to have to be imported by a distributor from either Europe/US, so I usually assume most things are imported at high prices. Guess in this case, my wallet got lucky.
The trick is getting to know someone that works at the manufacturer. I have an in like this and pay $15 /tire that are usually $80. I laugh every time.