Sidewall wear GP400S ??

wishitwasallflat

Hi,

Just gave my bike a long overdue clean and noticed this pattern on the sidewalls of my GP4000s. I cannot recall seeing this on them before and wondered is this wear, is this normal, are they on the way out, have they been scraped against something like a curb to reveal some carcass ... ???

Any advice wisdom gratefully received.

They've done about 2.5k all weather miles, tread is ok and tread wear indicators are still clearly visible and sidewalls look fine apart from this (i.e. no bulging or any signs of other damage/problems).

cycleclinic

2.5k is pretty good for a tyre. Retire them for peace of mind or use them but check every ride. I had to retire one of mine after less miles due to sidewall failure. Still I like them and the rear is still going after more miles.

robbo2011

Look OK to me. Just keep checking regularly for bulges and further damage.

I have 7,500km on my current set of GP4000 and they are still going strong. Reckon I'll get them to 10,000km before they'll need replacing.

wishitwasallflat

Thanks both - gotta love the forum two replies two opinion s.

May I ask does anyone else running GP 4000s have this pattern on their tyres, or has anyone seen this and if so did you keep running them? If you did run them with this pattern visible how long did they last and was it a mistake!

PS - Anyone who ran tyres like this and then died in a catastrophic sidewall failure based crash please contact me through a medium so I can avoid joining you on the other side (and I don't mean on an MTB!).

slowbike

Not that I can see on mine ... not sure of their mileage - I've only put 900 miles on them so far but they were second hand ...

wishitwasallflat

Thanks Slowbike - bugger I can feel the niggling doubts kicking in I'm gonna have to get a new set aren't I?

keef66

I usually keep going till the tread starts to disappear! I was brought up in Yorkshire though.

slowbike

here's mine after this mornings ride ... so it's a bit dirty ...

binkybike

wishitwasallflat wrote:

Thanks both - gotta love the forum two replies two opinion s.

May I ask does anyone else running GP 4000s have this pattern on their tyres, or has anyone seen this and if so did you keep running them? If you did run them with this pattern visible how long did they last and was it a mistake!

PS - Anyone who ran tyres like this and then died in a catastrophic sidewall failure based crash please contact me through a medium so I can avoid joining you on the other side (and I don't mean on an MTB!).

I ride gp4000s, they look the same as mine to be honest and i am not a ghost.

desweller

If you decide to dispose of them I am happy to pay for P+P if you send them to me!

That pretty much tells you what I think!

wishitwasallflat

Ahh lovely a message of re-assurance from a non ghost and a cheeky bid - gotta love this forum - thanks to all I think I shall persevere with them. My last tyres were Open Paves and I got near 3k out of them so was hoping for at least the same from these.

binsted

They were obviously sub standard being 400s and not 4000s

It seems this is a common forum topic. You either love them or hate them. Mine did 1500 miles, cut up badly and suffered 11 punctures, would not buy another set.

wishitwasallflat

Thought I should update this in case anyone retrieves it on a search. Since the photos in the first post were taken I have only done another 145miles or so. This morning I noticed several very scary sidewall bulges on the rear tyre. The worst one was bulging out a good 1cm at its peak and was about 5-6 cm long, there was another very bad bulge at a different place on the tyre (on the other sidewall in fact) of about peak 0.75cm bulge and 2-3 cm long. On taking the tyre of to check the bead fibres were stripped out of the rubber coating and the sidewall above it was frayed and actually holed.

I can't be sure if it was related to that pattern or not of course (as per photo the pattern was a series of diagonal lines on the sidewall, while the bulges were parallel to the rim) but these tyres are now in the bin :!: Must confess the only reason I checked the sidewalls this morning was cause the tyre was rubbing a little on the Cruds - I nearly didn't bother checking!

I would buy GP4000s again as this set did 2645 all weather miles for me with only two punctures before today so I reckon they didn't owe me anything. My last set of Open Pave's did 2900 miles. I ordered a set of GP4000s from bikediscount.de today (good price I reckon at £54 (sih) with postage and the Wiggle offer for a pair at £54 odd is out of stock for 25s) but bought some Michelin Pro4 Endurance 25s today from lbs to keep me rolling until they arrive. May keep the Pro4s on over the winter though and save the GP4000s for a Spring treat as reading reviews suggests Pro4s are decent enough and more durable and better suited to the next few months of rough roads and well lubricated road debris.

Moral of the story - IMO - is if you see that pattern take your GP4000s off and check the sidewalls carefully (I know there is no clear causal link or evidence here that the two are directly related to each other but that's what I would I do anyway).

slowbike

thanks for the update ...