Bicycle tubes.
Is it me? I've been riding a bicycle now for at least 57 years and all of a sudden, I can't seem to keep air in my tire tubes. What gives?
Starting about two years ago, I started having weird flats. In the last two years I have had four “separations,” at the valve stem and today I had a flat when I went to get my bike for a ride. Today's flat was different, the tube was coming apart at the seam. There was no “puncture,” the air was leaking out from where the tube is bonded together. This is an obvious manufacturing defect, one of many I have been seeing lately.
It doesn't seem to matter who the manufacturer is, they're all failing regularly. There is only one common denominator through all of these tubes: China. At first, it appeared to be a fluke, an anomaly. I thought perhaps it was something I was doing. I've only been changing bicycle tire tubes all of my life, maybe something has changed that makes them more delicate to change? I hunted around the Internet, I didn't find anything that seemed to indicate that was the case.
I have carefully checked the valve hole in the rim, all looks fine, no burrs, or sharp protrusions. The front and rear tubes have both been dying. This is on a bicycle that I have been riding for many, many years and miles. It is a Cannondale T-800 touring bike.
This appears to be a “China” problem. It's been a long time since tubes were made in the US and the Japanese did finally learn how to make a good quality tube (there were some growing pains many years ago!) The Chinese make a great looking product, the packaging is eye-catching, but the product is hopelessly inadequate and low quality.
In all my years of riding I have never had a single valve separation-ever. Now I have one every few months. I don't shop at big-box stores, especially the most popular one. I get my gear at reputable, local, bike shops. However, all of their tubes seem to be made in China today, and their tubes leave much to be desired. There must be millions of people repairing flats all over that country everyday.
I'd gladly pay more for a tube that I can rely on for more than a few months. Hopefully, one of these days, someone will once again make that product.