In my 8 years of riding, every one of my tires has met it's death via a giant nail. Unrepairable. This is the first set of tires that have made it down to or near the wear holes. This is also my first set of "nice" tires.
These set of tires are about 1 years old, with almost 6000 miles. The rear tires no longer have wear holes, and the fronts are getting near the bottom. I'll probably finish the season with them and swap them for some new tires.
However, I've noticed these tires seem to be tearing or cracking on the contact patch. Is this normal? Due to age? Or something else? I come from an automotive background so this looks like a tire that is tearing due to temperature but I don't see how that's possible because it's a bicycle.
by RacecarWRX
9 Comments
It’s not tearing, it’s rotting. Dry rot specifically. It’s accelerated by UV exposure, dry air, and heat, but also just prolonged use. I’m actually impressed that you got 6000 miles without wearing down the indicators, my GP5000s usually last 2500 or so.
Regardless, these should be replaced sooner rather than later. You can ride them until they leak if you want, but I wouldn’t risk it myself.
They’re not dead yet, but they’ll wear faster than usual.
I’d start looking for a deal on a new pair.
The most likely problem is that since the rubber has lost its resilience against sharp objects, it’s quite susceptible for any random piece of glass or grit to puncture it.
Fresh rubber is quite resilient to sharp objects. This isn’t.
Those tires are dead, unfortunately. I’m shocked they’re only 1 year old. I have a pair of 3 year old GP5000s that look almost new (although mine are only exposed to direct sunlight when riding, and I don’t ride that bike very much).
My Conti GP4000/5000 look similar to that pretty quickly (<2 years, <5Mm).
Keep riding, as long as the fabric (carcass) is not coming through it’s fine.
The tires are fine for quite some distance, there is enough thread for safe riding.
BUT! If you change the tires now increased grip and cornering will be very noticeable.
I would know, I have done exactly that, although I’m a cheapskate.
Time for new tires. The front isn’t completely worn out, (the rear is) but they’re not going to have nearly as much grip as when new. Safety isn’t where we save a few bucks.
That’s a crazy amount of TWI left for 6k miles, but i guess not everyone’s a 110+ kg Clydesdale like me.
Bruh, this should have been replaced years ago it looks like.