I have known about this for well over six months now and actually, I am surprised it took so long to hit us. What is it? The price of the rubber you roll on is going up.........waaay up!
You probably know all about the oil thing, well it is used to make tires. Yeah, now it's starting to make sense, isn't it. Those tires you have on now will be costing you an estimated 15%-25% more when you replace them. That's a big hike in price!
It isn't a prediction, it has already happened at the wholesale level. WTB just upped their prices yesterday, and most tire companies will have raised their wholesale prices by October, most sooner than that. That means your local bike shop, and the online retailers will be starting to show prices that will make you do a double take when you are checking out some new shoes for your ride. Oh yeah.........did I mention tubes are going up too? Sure are, they are made of rubber too. (Might be a good time to go tubeless?) You also have to assume that some grip prices will bump up as well.
Funny thing about tires, you can't ride without them. We have been selling the heck out of 27 inch tires and replacement tires for all sorts of bikes this year. Folks are dragging out bikes to get them up and ready to ride. Gas prices are forcing folks into considering new ways to get around. Now the price of their car tires will be going up as well, but this bicycle tire price hike might be a bitter pill for some of them to swallow. I figure a set of tires, tubes, and labor for a typical 27 incher rig will be about just shy of $100.00 with tax included. Ouch!
Oh well, maybe if you ride enough for utilitarian purposes, it'll pay off. I suspect a lot of people are starting to figure this out and more will be real soon.
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