Whatever happened to quality control?

[gdw]

I just checked out some inner tubes that were purchased for an upcoming race and found two of the three were defective. One already has a hole in it and another has a valve which won't open fully making it difficult to fill. :crap:

[pdmtong]

the irony...our $10k sleds brought to their knees by a $5 tube. I've had similar experiences...

[William]

http://husaria.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/made-in-china.jpg

+Inner tubes?





William

[WadePatton]

yes, we've been seeing that. never ever pack a tube for a ride w/o checking it out.

there are options. german and french. get 'em at the lbs if possible or buy online.

qc left years ago-before manufacturing did. saw that in the auto parts biz. cheaper to take returns than to do proper qc at the plant.

and what wm said +100.

[Lifelover]

You guys don't really think anybody does any kind of QC on a item that retails around $5 do you?

You really want QC? Tell me exactly what tubes you want and I will buy them, QC them and ship.

$25 each!

[duke]

Sleds?

[Ken Robb]

You guys don't really think anybody does any kind of QC on a item that retails around $5 do you?

You really want QC? Tell me exactly what tubes you want and I will buy them, QC them and ship.

$25 each!

Maybe condoms? -------I'd like to think so.

[false_Aest]

Maybe condoms? -------I'd like to think so.

*****, now I gotta start inflating those with my Joe Blow Pro before I go cruise the Sunset Strip . . . . . . . . . on my fixd gear.

[MarcusPless]

You guys don't really think anybody does any kind of QC on a item that retails around $5 do you?


Thank you for posting this; I've been trying to make this point for years! People wonder why I'd use a patched tube when new tubes are so cheap. As far as I'm concerned a patched tube is a proven performer; there's no guarantee that a new tube will actually work!

--Marcus

[pdmtong]

ok, seriously. it's a $5 tube. I doubt anyone QC's them (random yes, each and everyone no) and that is why I have learned to at least test the valve before I stick it in my seatbag. thats the best I can do...and carry patches and C02

[rwsaunders]

I recently purchased some Continental tubes...made in the Fatherland right?....India, India, India.

[bronk]

I recently purchased some Continental tubes...made in the Fatherland right?....India, India, India.
Don't blame the country. Blame the company for not delivering a quality product regardless of where they chose to manufacture it.

The final quality and price of a product are the result of a series of business decisions.

[Arnabio]

ok, seriously. it's a $5 tube. I doubt anyone QC's them and that is why I have learned to at least test the valve before I stick it in my seatbag. thats the best I can do...and carry patches and C02

Speaking of CO2, I always carry multiple now after finding not one but TWO CO2's in a row that were empty...QC for compressed gasses? I guess not...

Aaron

[rwsaunders]

Don't blame the country. Blame the company for not delivering a quality product regardless of where they chose to manufacture it.

The final quality and price of a product are the result of a series of business decisions.

I'm blaming the company, not the country. It's hard to find a Continental ad which doesn't show the stern German women, posed on the factory floor. I never read the fine print on the box.

[jemoryl]

The Conti tubes I have are made in Taiwan and have been for some time. I've never had good luck with Specialized or Bontrager tubes; one might expect enhanced QA over the generic IRC/CST/Kenda versions. Not that it matters, but the only French tubes that I know of are Hutchisons (the seem OK); the Michelins I have are from Serbia (!).

[gdw]

"You guys don't really think anybody does any kind of QC on a item that retails around $5 do you? "

I do. A manufacturer should be testing random samples of their product as they come off the line. Based upon my experience with a miniscule sample, 2/3rds of this lot were defective. I find that unacceptable especially since this has happened before, thats why I check them before use, with another company's tubes which most likely came from from the same factory in Taiwan.

[BumbleBeeDave]

They ALL come from the same factory in Taiwan!

BBD

[JD Smith]

You guys don't really think anybody does any kind of QC on a item that retails around $5 do you?

You really want QC? Tell me exactly what tubes you want and I will buy them, QC them and ship.

$25 each!

http://www.schwalbetires.com/bike_tires/tubes

These tube do not come from Taiwan or China.
"All tubes are inflated and stored for 24 hours in order to test for air pressure retention. Afterwards each, individual tube undergoes a careful visual inspection. This special quality control helps prevent unpleasant surprises and is why, over many years, Schwalbe tubes have become highly respected for outstanding reliability by bicycle dealers. "

I'm not sure I'd want this job. Cyclists get upset over having to inspect a single tube each month. Do you wanna get paid $1/hr to inspect tubes for eight hours a day?

[RaleighComp]

Michelin Latex inside the Conti GP4000 tires, A tested Bontrager butyl(often with a patch, actually) and two CO2 cartridges in the jersey pocket. Works for me.

[WadePatton]

They ALL come from the same factory in Taiwan!

BBD

even those marked "china"?

yo, and i'm down with patching a proven performer. patch 'em 'till the stem falls off.

[Polyglot]

http://www.schwalbetires.com/bike_tires/tubes

These tube do not come from Taiwan or China.
"All tubes are inflated and stored for 24 hours in order to test for air pressure retention. Afterwards each, individual tube undergoes a careful visual inspection. This special quality control helps prevent unpleasant surprises and is why, over many years, Schwalbe tubes have become highly respected for outstanding reliability by bicycle dealers. "

I'm not sure I'd want this job. Cyclists get upset over having to inspect a single tube each month. Do you wanna get paid $1/hr to inspect tubes for eight hours a day?


Schwalbe is indeed the paragon of quality control (NOT!) After having a huge batch of defective tires, which they did not recall, it now appears that even teh replacements sent by the factory are showing some of the same defects...

[jemoryl]

.....These tube do not come from Taiwan or China......

Last time I looked at a Schwalbe tire it was made in Asia: Thailand, IIRC. If you look around you can find a film/video of an automatic condom testing machine which actually inflates the rubbers. I'm sure a similar device could be used for innertubes!

[Pete Serotta]

The universal denominator is "cost" - - the cheaper the better. (Most buy on cost only....yeah some will buy on what posted weight is)

quality is one of those items that is hard to quantify for most,

:crap: :crap:

[RPS]

A manufacturer should be testing random samples of their product as they come off the line. Based upon my experience with a miniscule sample, 2/3rds of this lot were defective. I find that unacceptable especially since this has happened before, thats why I check them before use, with another company's tubes which most likely came from from the same factory in Taiwan.
I worked on installing and commissioning production lines (for unrelated products) where a failure rate of 1 or 2 packages per 10,000 was the maximum allowed. At those rates it’s hard to find all problems by random sampling, especially in our case because there was a time delay of days before most problems would show up.

Having said that I think tubes should be easy to check for leaks since the results are immediate and it may even be possible to test them non-destructively. And from my experience I feel their failure rate is far greater than a couple per 10,000. Regardless, I’ve had enough issues buying tubes where most I bought at the same time were bad that I stopped buying large numbers from the same lot. I now only buy a couple at a time and if I need more I’ll purchase a few of different brands to lower risk.