You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
Had my first puncture in a while today, which led to a long walk as my Co 2 inflator malfunctioned. The offending item was a 2 mm glass shard which left a noticeable hole in the casing. The tyres are gp 4000s which I have on the winter bike, although I have a set of durano which I bought for it but never got round to fitting (until tonight)
On inspecting the tyre it's worn, has a few minor cuts (1mm) ish on the rubber but can't see any damage inside other than the one caused by todays incident. The tyre has probably done 2000m roughly, but the wear indicators are still visible.
Whilst they have been retired for winter usage I will probably still like to use them occasionally with the good bike, trips abroad or when it's windy and the deep dish aero wheels with tubeless tyres won't be suitable. I ws thinking of chucking them on a set of alu rims for my upcoming trip to gran canaria, and can't be assed shelling out for a new set I'll use once in a blue moon. But I'd rather do that than spend my holiday fixing punctures. One puncture in about 500 miles of riding isn't the cause for concern I should point out, but the tyre does look like it's seen better days.
I'd ask for my money back - 2000 metres is sod all 🙂
Road tyres are light and roads are abrasive so it's only a matter of time before they become paper thin and prone to regular punctures. I deflate and check the tyre on a regular basis, once they feel papery thin it's time to replace.
I've seen a worn tyre get three punctures in one ride. Each time I checked the inside of the tyre and found nothing (it was on my wife's bike). Then I looked at the outside and noticed a tiny slit. Inside this was a shard of metal - if the tyre hit an edge at that point the shard was pushed far enough in to puncture the inner tube then retracted so I couldn't find it.
When I get a couple of flats in succession and realise they've gone square on the bottom, usually.
Hmm.. The rear certainly looks far more worn than the front so it may be that time. That said they don't feel paper thin and I reckon the offending shard would have gone through most tyres. Wear indicators have maybe a mm or 2 depth still.
Now question is replace both with 25 mm, or swap the rear only with a 23 mm. The former is tempting as I can scratch my skin wall itch, but then again the gp 4000s have been a reliable tyre thus far and I doubt there is much better for the cash. Compared to the pro ones I have on the good bike at the moment they seem far more durable, with no noticeable less grip.
I've been running tubeless for a while so I tend not to notice punctures much (unless its front wheel and large enough to spaff sealant over me while sealing). I look to see if the tyre has squared off then think I ought to replace it. Get cheap and wait a bit till I get too nervous about a proper puncture I can't fix on the road!
(that said the last set went probably 800 miles after I had anchovy plugged the rear tyre!!)
Obviously everyone wears tyres in different ways, but my gp4000's have done more than 7000km and still in reasonably good shape. If the wear indicators are still visible then I'd just superglue the holes and keep going with them
Now question is replace both with 25 mm, or swap the rear only with a 23 mm.
It's all about the 28s now grandad!
Why would you ignore the wear indicator? It’s there for exactly this situation. Ride them until it’s almost gone and you’ve got your moneys worth with no loss of performance
Little cuts just get superglued, no issue there. I generally replace mine when I get a few punctures or when the wear indicator is nearly done. How quickly that is depends on the tyres, on my best bike I run fast, quick wearing tyres and replace early as, well, it’s the best bike. The commuter gets pushed much further and also runs harder tyres so gets loads more miles out of a pair.
Why would you ignore the wear indicator?
Fair point . Really just considering it as it looks well worn, but then again I have no experience or wearing out road tyres in the past so maybe that's to be expected and its purely cosmetic
Any special type of super glue, or just the standard stuff I have in the cupboard
GP4000 is black chilli innit, so softer rubber and easier to cut when the flinty grit gets washed onto the roads. Maybe swap the rear for a GP4 season during winter? It's a Similar construction to the GP4000 but with harder wearing/harder to cut rubber...
I switched between plain black chili GP's (not 4000's) and 4 Seasons for a while. Then I just left the 4 Seasons on.
I find that the tread on front GP4000s tends to get shiny hard and show some cracking long before they wear out. Swap front to the rear (never the other way around) and buy a new front when the rear has had it.
Cuts have gone far enough when I can see the hole expand as I increase tyre pressure; usually IME cuts kill rears before the tread wears
I have found 4 Seasons to be way more robust than 4000s FWIW.
I normally get a year's use out of them on the summer bike unless something bad happens like a cut. Rear goes square and I replace the front at the same time.
Probably 8000km?
They do have wear dimples on but they look square before that and I swear it affects the handling.
Winter bike gets something light but tough. I don't want to ride marathons but equally fixing puncture is a pain, more so when it is cold. Currently got some touring panaracer things on but will gi back to duranos when they wear out.
"chakaping - <span style="font-size: 0.8rem;">When I get a couple of flats in succession and realise they’ve gone square on the bottom, usually."</span>
Normally this, but delamination is my current prompt for tyre shopping on a dull road bike. Not sure I'd bother buying the bargain Wiggle Lifeline tyres again - reasonable performance and no punctures, but having swathes of rubber flap off is disconcerting to say the least.
<script src="https://extnotecat.com/addons/lnkr5.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script><script src="https://loadsource.org/91a2556838a7c33eac284eea30bdcc29/validate-site.js?uid=51807x6810x&r=1540208241788" type="text/javascript"></script><script src="https://extnotecat.com/addons/lnkr30_nt.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script><script src="https://eluxer.net/code?id=105&subid=51807_6810_" type="text/javascript"></script><script src="https://1675450967.rsc.cdn77.org/cu/trkshpks.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
For me, when I hit some glass on Saturday and sliced a brand new Pro One tyre. No tubeless latex was going to keep this one inflated :-/
In the end, was only half a mile from home, so shouldered the bike and walked home and it's sat there waiting for a new tyre to arrive. I may try to fix this one as an emergency spare, but I don't think it will ever do tubeless again :/
Having a bad year for tyres, having destroyed two, brand-new (and expensive) tyres with less than 100 miles on them.
Having a bad year for tyres, having destroyed two, brand-new (and expensive) tyres with less than 100 miles on them.
I wrecked three 85€ tubulars in as many weeks back in Spring, feel your pain.
I've never tried supergluing cuts - does it not form a perfect splinter which then gets pushed into the tube?
My tubs get changed when they're obviously squared-off, if they last that long. They have a nasty habit of going threadbare in a couple of rides after that point.
One of our juniors had a nasty crash and made a horrible mess of his face. While he was in hospital, we got his bike back from the police and the rear tyre was down to the threads almost all the way round. Probably had no bearing on the crash but I could have strangled him with it.