Planning ahead, saving money
Republished from my original post on HobokenMoms
Phil & Teds Vibe tires: DO NOT wait until they wear out
I love my Vibe (and more to the point, my 3.5 & 2 year olds do too), but I have to admit the tires are the weak point of the design, especially the rear tires. Slow leaks, punctures requiring inner tube replacement & the outer treads wearing through.
I have made several emergency trips to the bike shop to replace the inner tubes, but my last visit there, they told me I needed to replace the outer treads. Went to El Bambi in Hoboken and the guy there told me you cannot buy only the tread; only the entire wheel is sold by Phil & Teds (including the hard plastic support that snaps onto the stroller). He happened to have some in stock, which he sold me for $70 each plus tax.
I went home and got online, and immediately found the replacement outer tread for $14.99. I bought 6 for $103 ($13.37 shipping). And I returned the entire wheels to El Bambi the next day.
If you have a Vibe, you might want to stock up on treads to take to the bike shop. They will replace the inner tube for $16 and put the treads on at the same time. Otherwise you might find yourself forking over $150 to El Bambi for two tires, like what happened to my friend. Twice.
