Tire Availability in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador
 

Wondering how easy or hard it is currently to procure new tires in Mexico, Guatemala, or El Salvador. I’ll be open to a wide variety of tread patterns/types: 50/50, 80/20, 20/80, would all be fine. Any brand is fine.

Rear size is 140/80-17
Front is either 90/90-21 or 100/90-19 depending on which front wheel I use on this trip. Probably the 19. Could also use a 110/80-19 I imagine.

Thanks for any input. Trying to decide whether to carry an extra set of tires with me.

Hauling tires to Mexico and Central America is not necessary, there are enough large-bike dealers and importers around in the big cities that you should be able to locate new tires . .
Start with fresh tires and you may be able to do the entire trip without need for a replacement . Carry your own tire pump and plugging kit and know how to use them ; practice the skill beforehand . There will also be plenty of Vulkanizadora shops that can patch a tire .

The large cities are the most likely to have a community of riders of the larger bikes . There will be riders of those bigger bikes you will encounter in your travel so ask them where they obtain their tires .
Over the years I have bought tires in Guatemala a number of times . GT City is the central import point servicing the other Central American countries also for the European , Japanese , Chinese and Indian bikes .
In Zona 4 there is a street filled with almost nothing but bike dealers, repair places and importers of bike stuff for other CA countries too. The major bike makers have modern sales showrooms in other corners of the city .You can google search the various brands .
I have also bought tires in Guadalajara , ,DF Mexico, Tuxtla Gutierrez .
In Guadalajara I am a repeat customer at REACMOBI , a repair shop which stocks Pirelli and a number of other brands. If they do not have what I need they can locate it at another dealership and send a pizzabike rider to fetch it. They can pretty well get any brand of tire you want. They have two locations and I go to the one a number of blocks east of the Centro Historico in the Oblatos district . Somos amigos .Click the link below and it should get you all their location details

https://www.pirelli.com/tyres/es-mx/...a/mxc003818581

Prices are variable but come out to be competitive with state-side. I like cheap but in the end any expensive tire will be better than walking .

Thanks Sjoerd,

That’s exactly the info I needed.

If you’re not picky about brands or tread patterns (as you attest), finding tires is no more than a minor inconvenience. You don’t say where you’re from, but basically it’s approximately the same as in the States except that as Sjoerd says providers will generally search out tires among their competitors or elsewhere in the country.

My favorite bike maintenance strategy has been to hang out in Antigua while a local mechanic sources whatever is needed from Guatemala City and has it delivered locally. The same is generally possible anywhere in Mexico or Central America.

Hope that’s helpful.

Mark

Thanks Markharf,

I recall from my previous trips, now decades ago, that Guatemala City was always the place where one could find anything. Back then, pre-internet, it involved a lot of driving back and forth across the city, chasing down leads and hints from locals, but I never failed to find what I needed there.