Schwalbe Ultremo ZX HD - Useless

carrock

Secteur wrote:

Currently in email conflab with Dave the man at Schwalbe - very helpfu - have sent him photos but beforte he received them he sent me this, which is interesting so I thought I'd share (I didnt realise that the ultremo ZX HD were essentially race tyres with minimal armour - d'oh - I thought they were actually meant to be heavily armoured)


"The HD SpeedGuard is our very lightweight puncture guard protection
for competition tyres. Although effective against small shards and
thorns, anything larger will of course penetrate the puncture guard
layer. Something like the Durano Plus will have faired better but the
weight compromise is substantial.

If what you can see are loose threads that you can pull away from the
sidewall then this is part of the chafer. It's made up of woven cotton
material, which prevents the carcass chafing on the rim. Some of these
cotton yarns are not clamped in between the rim and tyre bead and
become loose, because of insufficient rubber coating. You can simply
cut the yarn and go on riding

It is not dangerous because the chafer is a separate part of the tyre
and doesn´t belong to the carcass. Some tyres don´t even need a
chafer. Even if you completely remove the chafer (and this is only
possible if the tyre is off the rim), the bead is still completely
hidden by the carcass."

I too had the issue with loose threads, Dave at Schwalbe said more or less the same as above but if I wanted them replaced he would replace them FOC, but it is not dangerous and only cosmetic. So I haven't bothered as yet.

deffler

I have these http://www.wiggle.co.uk/schwalbe-ultrem ... tyre/#more which i think are the same as the OP. ive had no punctures as of yet however the tyres are wrecked already & tbh ive not done many miles in them (less than 200). They seem to be splitting in areas & generally look shoddy, they are not inspiring confidence at all. I defo would not buy these again and think theyre very poor value for money for a normal rider or a commutor

Secteur

dennisn wrote:

As stated, this is in the beginners forum, the OP didn't know what kind of tires he had bought(racing vs heavy duty), doesn't seem sure what he's looking at as far as "damage" goes, and possibly doesn't understand mounting procedures, I'm still casting my vote for operator error of some sort.

Well you're half right and half wrong!

You're right in that I'm new enough not to have realised that I bought racing tyres when I thought I was buying heavy-duty tyres - Dave from Schwalbe politely educated me on that front.

However, after he saw the photos he feels they are faulty (not operator error) and is replacing them FOC for some Durano Plus tyres, which is probably what I should have bought in the first place!

Excellent customer service.

Their web message system isnt working and they aren't reeceiving messaged from there, but if you email them directly (email address on their website), Dave will reply and sort you out.

Secteur

PS, Dave also said;

Don't worry, we have lots of people contacting us thinking that the
Ultremo ZX is a robust puncture protected tyre when in actual fact
it's a competition tyre with a lightweight puncture guard. I think
that some shops do mis-sell them but we're trying to rectify that by
employing Sales Promoters that go out on the road visiting shops
giving the relevant tech advice

deffler

Secteur wrote:

dennisn wrote:

As stated, this is in the beginners forum, the OP didn't know what kind of tires he had bought(racing vs heavy duty), doesn't seem sure what he's looking at as far as "damage" goes, and possibly doesn't understand mounting procedures, I'm still casting my vote for operator error of some sort.

Well you're half right and half wrong!

You're right in that I'm new enough not to have realised that I bought racing tyres when I thought I was buying heavy-duty tyres - Dave from Schwalbe politely educated me on that front.

However, after he saw the photos he feels they are faulty (not operator error) and is replacing them FOC for some Durano Plus tyres, which is probably what I should have bought in the first place!

Excellent customer service.

Their web message system isnt working and they aren't reeceiving messaged from there, but if you email them directly (email address on their website), Dave will reply and sort you out.

any chance you can upload the pics onto here so i can see whether its the same damage as on my tyres before i contact schwalbe

Secteur

Deffler - YHM

merak

Well if this is some sort of cosmetic only problem, I certainly would not want cosmetics like that on my £30+ tyres. And even if they are a race tyre they should last more than 140 miles. Fair play to Schwalbe though for replacing them.

There seems to be a trend to very fragile and expensive cinchers at the moment. I rode and was happy with Vittorias and Contis for years, but my recent purchase of a pair of Open Corsa Evo KS (320 tpi) was a disaster - they rode beautifully and were fast, but were almost impossible to fit, punctured constantly (they were full of flints after every ride - I'd dig three or four out of each tyre) and cut up in 250 miles. They are in the bin, and I'm riding Conti 4000S which are not quite as silky a ride and not quite as fast but they are more robust and inspire confidence.

deffler

Secteur wrote:

Deffler - YHM

After googling YHM :oops: , Ive now responded, lol

griffsters

Secteur

I've checked my own ultremo tyres and wondered what kind of sidewall damage you had? I've taken some pictures of what i think is unusual on mine and wondered if this is early signs of failure? Only done about 200 miles on the bike! The worst tyre is the rear which I suspect takes the most punishment

Could you take a look and see if the damage compares?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tastyb/set ... 332163181/

nferrar

That just looks like the edge of the tread to me and nothing to be concerned about

1_reaper

I've had 2 pairs on and covered just over 3000 miles on them of heavy use and in all that time only had two punctures (one rim tape failure and other small nail) . maybe a faulty batch or just unlucky with the posters? happy with them and shall using with them. Mine have been the black versions with no pretty stripes or colours

Lookyhere

I got a set from Merlin for my GF to use at the Maratona, she had no probs with them at all.

Its obvious that they are race tires (i ve never seen tread sooooo thin on a road tyre) and as such she has her Durano's back on her bike for Devon roads.

in terms of clinchers i have found the GP4000S or the Vittoria Pave 24 to be bomb proof in racing/sportifs and training

griffsters

nferrar wrote:

That just looks like the edge of the tread to me and nothing to be concerned about

Cheers, I'm not paranoid honest

vorsprung

I have now done 1500km on a pair of 28mm Ultremo ZX, including the 1200km of PBP

During PBP I had no punctures and the tyres performed brilliantly. Because I was looking for long distance comfort I was running them at the minimum pressure, 6 bar at the front and 6.5 at the rear. I weigh 80kg and I was carrying full luggage.

At the end of PBP there was no wear or nicks on the central tread of the tyres but the front has two nasty gashes in the sidewall. The rear will do fine for many more miles but I'm dubious about the front

jazzboymontreal

I just bought a pair of these tires for 100$ each canadian.

That's the most I've ever paid for tires because I was told by the dealer Cycle Pop that they pratically never get flats.

Well I'm very disapointed as after 150KM I got a flat and at least 5 cuts...

NOT WORTH IT !

MattC59

^^
I'm assuming that this is an attempt at humour ?

MattC59

I was out yesterday on some particularly sh!te roads, at one point I'd have been better off on my MTB! The road, usually a country lane, was mud, grit and gravel from verge to verge. I got home without a visit from the puncture fairy and my tyres aren't cut up any more that I'd expect from any tyre.

gary sa70

Just packing my bike away for Majorca and noticed the, side wall coming a part no brake rub only put them on 100miles ago peed off because wont get replacement before Saturday phone call to ribble in the morning