Bike tire cost is a key factor when evaluating the upkeep of your bike. In our opinion you should buy the cheapest bike tires you need from a reputable brand. Quality tires for road and mountain bikes can be obtained for less than $40 USD each. More expensive tires generally last longer but honestly, this isn’t a hard and fast rule. If you have a specialized use case (ie indoor or competitive racing), you will need to spend more of course. Lets discuss some of the options we’ve seen on our latest bike tire cost evaluation. In the US we recommend purchasing with REI. In the UK we recommend buying from Evans Cycles.
Road Bikes
One major factor in all bike types is whether one is purchasing tubed or tubeless tires. In the road bike sphere, we’ve seen quality tubeless options usually range from $60-$70 USD. This is more expensive than tubed tires but in theory should also be more durable. Tubeless also allows one to skip purchasing an inner tube. We’ll talk about this more in a future post, but there are some frustrating parts about tubeless setups as well that you should be mindful of.
Tubed road bike tires run the gamut in price, but quality options start at about $25/ £20. For that price you can purchase the Continental Ride Tour 24×1.75. Lightweight, durable, and competitive options like Michelin’s Power Competition Tubular Tyre exist at the higher end of the scale. These cost $125/£99 at the time of publishing.
Mountain Bikes
Mountain bikes can utilize tubeless systems as well. In truth, tubeless setups seem more ideal for mountain biking in our view given the easier general install and likelihood of punctures. Vittoria makes several tubeless mountain biking options for less than $60/£50 that are high quality. As with road bike tubeless setups, remember the additional cost of the tubeless fluid and potentially bike shop costs if you don’t feel up to installing them yourself.
Tubed mountain bike tires are generally available in the same ranges as with road bikes. We observe quality options starting at roughly $23 for a Specialized Crossroads MTB Tyre. Premium options like the Teravail Kessel MTB Tyre provide enhanced durability for around $120/ £90, a pretty steep premium.
Hybrid and Special Bikes
Quality hybrid tubed bike tires we’ve noticed start at the $25 USD price range (ex. Continental RIDE Tour 700c Tyre) and can range beyond $70 for Continental’s more premium offerings. Special bikes like eBikes tend to require more specialized tires, but we’ve seen affordable replacements at about $55 USD.
Conclusion
In conclusion, there are a lot of quality bike tire options that are affordable. Choose the use case and bike type that best suits you. Our recommendation is to buy from premium brands like the ones we discussed. Even the cheapest options from these brands are usually high quality.
