Since 2016 we’ve been working with our local bike shop to upcycle discarded inner tubes into a packaging solution for our belts. Problem is, they give us WAY more than we need. And this is just one bike shop. Customers that come in to the bike shop with a flat tire are typically sold a new tube. The old tube is usually discarded instead of patched to save time. New bicycles ship with inner tubes. And if you are converting that bike to tubeless, the tubes are typically discarded. What a waste! Not to mention they do not decompose in a landfill (at least not for hundreds of years). So we view this as an opportunity. Your flat tire is our gain – thus the name Flat Out Rubber™.
Fix Manufacturing Tube Terminal™Frame Strap
Why Use Discarded Inner Tubes
Butyl rubber stretches and has a grippy surface texture. This is why it’s great for products like our Tube Terminal™ Frame Strap. Nothing is more annoying then having something strapped to your bike that moves or rotates when the terrain gets rough. Having just a small amount of stretch coupled with grip makes this material ideal for many use cases. Not to mention it’s readily available (more than we need, honestly).
Fix Manufacturing’s Flat Out Hat
Other Uses
We’ve played with some decorative uses – like with our Flat Out Hat. There’s nothing functional here – just using a rubber patch instead of leather or the like. Like we said – we have more of this material than we need and want to find a use for it. But don’t think this hat is going to be some kind of EMF blocker just because it has rubber on it. How do we know? Because we had at least one customer who tried to buy a “rubber hat” from us for this very purpose. We’re sorry! Fortunately, we have a no hassle return policy.
Challenges
The tear strength of butyl rubber is very low. We’ve all seen the classic pinch flat “snake bite” when removing a flat tire. This happens when tire pressure is too low and the tire makes contact with the rim usually when you hit a bump in the terrain. The tube gets “pinched” and often times the puncture can be an inch long, not to mention there are two for each side of the rim. Anywhere we use this material in tension we typically back it with another material that has good tear strength. In the case of our Tube Terminal™ Frame Strap the strap itself is sewn to a high quality nylon hook and loop fastener.
There is also the challenge of supply chain. We source our tubes from our local bike shop but some of the products we make are not made locally. So in some ways we are solving one problem but creating another with shipping material, carbon footprint, etc. We are mindful of this and looking for discarded inner tubes closer to our product assembly. Luckily, people are riding bikes everywhere.
Be sure to sign up for our newsletter to hear about new uses for Flat Out Rubber™ as we continue to use this material across our product line.
