At this time of year there are a lot of tire and summer clothing sales that can save you a bundle, but how to you keep those tires and shorts fresh & new? The short answer is to keep them sealed off from unlimited free oxygen they'll be exposed to unless sealed in an airtight wrapping, bag, or container - or better yet - all of the above.
I stocked up on a bunch of tires in 2020, not wanting to run out due to COVID shortages, and usually just wrap each Conti GP5KTL in two layers of grocery bags, tape them shut with shipping tape, put them in a big plastic garbage bag, and stick them in the back of the closet where it's dark and cool.
However, I was in the process of moving early this year and wanted a airtight box to store dog food, as it goes rancid fast if left exposed to all the free oxygen in ambient air. Not able to find what I was looking for, I found Husky airtight storage boxes at Home Depot instead, and thought the 5 lb box was going to be a lot more flexible than the RX I got from a friend.
Turns out putting the 37 lb bag in the bottom of my refrigerator worked even better at keeping my dog's food fresh and affordable (about 60% per pound as the price of a 6lb bag), so the Husky storage box got repurposed as my tire vault, and does a GREAT job. The gasket keeps air from getting into the box all day long, everyday, and that keeps new tires pristine. Yes, I still wrap them in double plastic bags too, because those tires are tough and it may take 2-3yrs before I use the last of them.
I learned this trick by accidentally storing my SCUBA first stage regulator in a plastic bag inside a pretty airtight suitcase whose empty space was taken up by down sleeping bags packed in tight by sitting on the suitcase so I could get it to latch. 10yrs later I took the regulator to a SCUBA shop and had it rebuilt as I was taking up the sport again. The technician asked me how I had stored it, as he had never seen so little oxidation of the seals in a regulator before. By law, he was required to replace the parts anyway, but pointed out how pristine they were when I picked up my gear.
Lesson learned, I have been packing my rubber bits in airtight containers ever since. While jerseys are pretty robust against oxidation, chamios are NOT, and neither is the latex-based Spandex that provides the compression that gives them support and keeps the chamios between you and the seat. High tech rain-gear is also sensitive to oxidation, so it should get packed in an airtight container as well.
The Husky box has lots of uses, and if you decide to get more, they stack, and stack with other Husky boxes in a way that really locks them together. Here's a nice review of the product, now go snag yourself a nice bit of rain gear and store it in one of these when summer comes around so it will be fresh and new next winter.
Cheers!
