Laura Zabo - Upcycled belts and accessories from reused bike tyres (15% discount)

[Sheffield_Tiger]

I've already got a few. Haberdashery and my own old treads.

But to answer the "look new" one, one of mine is - it came on a new bike. But it had a balloon in the sidewall. Work could have thrown it in landfill, or given to me to rivet and buckle.

And it does take time to do a GOOD job on the belt and that's what you're paying for. It isn't a mass produced machine product, person-hours aren't free

 

[Sheffield_Tiger]

Was going to buy a belt made from a marathon + tyre, but it was too tight and couldn't get it on.

 

[Racing roadkill]

Stearic acid is derived from animal fat. It's used in bike tyre manufacturing. The "suitable for vegans" thing may need checking.

 

[steveindenmark]

Stearic acid is derived from animal fat. It's used in bike tyre manufacturing. The "suitable for vegans" thing may need checking.

But it can also be made from cocoa butter and Shea butter. Neither of which involves animals.

 

[Keith Oates]

Binder Twine is very cheap for a belt.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[jonny jeez]

good luck, but that's a lot of money for a used tyre and a buckle.

I Read this and was expecting to find prices up at the £100 mark.

Less than £30 for a handmade product seems pretty fair to me. You'll can pay more than that for a fake leather belt in marks and sparks.

I prefer the guitar straps though, they look very good!

 

[Lee_M]

I Read this and was expecting to find prices up at the £100 mark.

Less than £30 for a handmade product seems pretty fair to me. You'll can pay more than that for a fake leather belt in marks and sparks.

I prefer the guitar straps though, they look very good!

Can you? I think my last fake leather belt cost £9.99.

if you think £30 is a fair price I think I could sell you lots of these!
Second hand tyres provided for free or for pennies, a load of cheap buckles and £10 for a riveting gun and I'm in business.

looks like a new bike for the summer then

 

[jonny jeez]

Can you? I think my last fake leather belt cost £9.99.

if you think £30 is a fair price I think I could sell you lots of these!
Second hand tyres provided for free or for pennies, a load of cheap buckles and £10 for a riveting gun and I'm in business.

looks like a new bike for the summer then

You should give it a go, it sounds easy.

Then in a few years, ask yourself why you didn't...afterall.

 

[nickyboy]

Can you? I think my last fake leather belt cost £9.99.

if you think £30 is a fair price I think I could sell you lots of these!
Second hand tyres provided for free or for pennies, a load of cheap buckles and £10 for a riveting gun and I'm in business.

looks like a new bike for the summer then

OK...you've got a garage full of your handcrafted belts...now what?

With these businesses the nub isn't the cost of materials. It's the design input and the sales & marketing infrastructure. So you need the talent to make the bits look good and the skills to sell them. Not easy

 

[recycling]

Why are some people being so unpleasant ?
This looks to me like a great idea, well executed and with a definite design flair.
How much would these people charge for their skill and time, and if it's so easy and cheap to make these items, why don't they set up in competition at half the price ?

 

[User32269]

Maybe the reason these look expensive is the fact they haven't been mass produced in appalling and dangerous conditions by child labour?

 

[Lee_M]

OK...you've got a garage full of your handcrafted belts...now what?

With these businesses the nub isn't the cost of materials. It's the design input and the sales & marketing infrastructure. So you need the talent to make the bits look good and the skills to sell them. Not easy

It is if you've got a cycling forum advertising it for free to a bunch of easily conned subscribers :-)

As I said in my original post (which may have been missed in the reactions to what you think I wrote), good luck to her, but they aren't cheap.
as for making the bits look good, I think it still needs work because currently they look like a tyre with a buckle on them

But if you like them feel free to buy them, I'm not stopping anyone, I just won't be in the queue

 

[mythste]

I Read this and was expecting to find prices up at the £100 mark.

Less than £30 for a handmade product seems pretty fair to me. You'll can pay more than that for a fake leather belt in marks and sparks.

I prefer the guitar straps though, they look very good!

+1

and you can't compare the prices of these things to be comparable to the mass-machined/questionably laboured stuff in primark either.

 

[jefmcg]

It is if you've got a cycling forum advertising it for free to a bunch of easily conned subscribers :-)

What makes you think this is free? Maybe it is, but if @Shaun is getting a commision, I'm cool with that. He's not making much money off me.

 

[Justinslow]

Yeah nice idea and fair play for giving it a go. Too pricey for the mainstream tight wads like me unfortunately.
For it be taken seriously as recycling surely it does need to go "mass produced" otherwise we're talking minuscule numbers of tyres being used aren't we?
Saw something similar at London Aquarium of all places, bike tyres and chains made into picture frames, covers for note books, key fobs and the like (with similar prices).