Michelin Pro Race 4 problems

road rider

Has anyone had any problems with the Michelin Pro Race 4 tyres?
my girlfriend bought a set of these tyres in white only a few months ago. a short time before that I bought a set of pro race 3's. we have both ridden the same difference, my pro race 3 tyres are still fine, but the pro race 4's on my girlfriends bike are already starting to wear out. you can see the white side wall through the black rubber (the bit that contacts the road) the pro race 4's are supposed to be more durable than the pro race 3's, so how can they wear out so much faster? my girlfriend is also a lot lighter than me so that can't be a factor.
does anyone have any ideas?

Grill

Could be a number of factors including pressure or application. I've had 3 sets of Pro4 and they've always done over 3k miles.

road rider

The pressure was at 100psi instead of the stated 116psi. they have been used for general road riding.

Grill

Is this happening on both? There's always the possibility that it's a dud (no tyre is immune to a bad batch) in which case send it back.

road rider

The problem is only with the pro race 4 tyres, both front and rear.
they were bought from ebay so I don't think they can be sent back.

Calpol

No problems with mine. I reckon I have done 2000 miles on them. Rear starting to crack a little now

Grill

Send Michelin an email with pics, who knows. I find it strange you bought them on ebay considering how heap they are in shops. Factory seconds maybe?

road rider

They were still cheaper on ebay. they could be factory seconds, who knows.
I think its more cracking in the front and rear tyre, as explained by calpol.

RDB66

RR, stick some photos up if you can...lets have a look. How many miles have they done ?

andi1363

What Pro4 tyres are these? They come in 4 different types ie Service Course, Comp ServiceCourse, Endurance and Comp Limited Service Course.

Grill

andi1363 wrote:

What Pro4 tyres are these? They come in 4 different types ie Service Course, Comp ServiceCourse, Endurance and Comp Limited Service Course.

Good point. Those models only started for 2014, I believe the original Pro4 came in 3 flavours: Endurance (220g)Service Course (200g) and Race (180g) with the race being the most fragile. The SC last an easy 3000 miles as do the Endurance.

road rider

The tyres are michelin pro 4 service course. no idea why I called them the race model.
I can't upload any photos right now, but the tyres have been used for about 450 miles. as have the pro race 3 tyres I have and they are still fine.
I think it is more a case of the tyres cracking, but I have no idea what has caused it.

Grill

If the seller stored them improperly then that could have something to do with it.

drlodge

road rider wrote:

The tyres are michelin pro 4 service course. no idea why I called them the race model.
I can't upload any photos right now, but the tyres have been used for about 450 miles. as have the pro race 3 tyres I have and they are still fine.
I think it is more a case of the tyres cracking, but I have no idea what has caused it.

Surprised these are Pro4 SC...I've just started using these tyres and they're faultless (have done 300 miles or so). Since you got them off Ebay, I wonder if they're some chinese fakes?

How Far is too Far

I use Pro 4's and normally get 2250miles rear and 3500 miles front out of them.

Having said that recently I had a pair that developed small cracks either side of where the tyre is in contact with the road after less than 1000 miles. I just binned them and put another pair on which so far have been ok after over 1000 miles.

Grill

Check the GP4000s thread. Sometimes there are manufacturer issues that cause failure (such as GP4k blown sidewalls) so it's always worth reaching out to them to see if they can help.

drlodge

One rider on the club run last Sunday had a sidewall blow out, think that was a GP4000s. May be its just bad luck or a dodgy batch as Grill says.

letap73

drlodge wrote:

road rider wrote:

The tyres are michelin pro 4 service course. no idea why I called them the race model.
I can't upload any photos right now, but the tyres have been used for about 450 miles. as have the pro race 3 tyres I have and they are still fine.
I think it is more a case of the tyres cracking, but I have no idea what has caused it.

Surprised these are Pro4 SC...I've just started using these tyres and they're faultless (have done 300 miles or so). Since you got them off Ebay, I wonder if they're some chinese fakes?

They don't have to be Chinese fakes - there are enough middling reviews here
:http://www.wiggle.co.uk/michelin-pro4-service-course-folding-road-tyre/
to suggest there are issues with some of these tyres. 300 miles is not enough to fully justify the durability of a tyre.

The Conti GPs review much better overall:
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/continental-gra ... road-tyre/

Grill

letap73 wrote:

drlodge wrote:

road rider wrote:

The tyres are michelin pro 4 service course. no idea why I called them the race model.
I can't upload any photos right now, but the tyres have been used for about 450 miles. as have the pro race 3 tyres I have and they are still fine.
I think it is more a case of the tyres cracking, but I have no idea what has caused it.

Surprised these are Pro4 SC...I've just started using these tyres and they're faultless (have done 300 miles or so). Since you got them off Ebay, I wonder if they're some chinese fakes?

They don't have to be Chinese fakes - there are enough middling reviews here
:http://www.wiggle.co.uk/michelin-pro4-service-course-folding-road-tyre/
to suggest there are issues with some of these tyres. 300 miles is not enough to fully justify the durability of a tyre.

The Conti GPs review much better overall:
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/continental-gra ... road-tyre/

And yet the forum threads show the opposite...
Fact is that as long as they're not defective they're both great tyres.

letap73

Grill wrote:

letap73 wrote:

drlodge wrote:

road rider wrote:

The tyres are michelin pro 4 service course. no idea why I called them the race model.
I can't upload any photos right now, but the tyres have been used for about 450 miles. as have the pro race 3 tyres I have and they are still fine.
I think it is more a case of the tyres cracking, but I have no idea what has caused it.

Surprised these are Pro4 SC...I've just started using these tyres and they're faultless (have done 300 miles or so). Since you got them off Ebay, I wonder if they're some chinese fakes?

They don't have to be Chinese fakes - there are enough middling reviews here
:http://www.wiggle.co.uk/michelin-pro4-service-course-folding-road-tyre/
to suggest there are issues with some of these tyres. 300 miles is not enough to fully justify the durability of a tyre.

The Conti GPs review much better overall:
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/continental-gra ... road-tyre/

And yet the forum threads show the opposite...
Fact is that as long as they're not defective they're both great tyres.

Forums are dominated by serial posters who have their favourites and they are not always objective or have experience of other tyres. The non defective Michelin pro tyres review very well - however there are a sizeable number of reviews which have rated the pros as 1,2 or 3 - mainly due to durability issues.

Grill

Considering how most people who review products on Wiggle have no idea how to change a tyre, much less inflate one correctly, I'm happy to ignore their opinions.

letap73

Grill wrote:

Considering how most people who review products on Wiggle have no idea how to change a tyre, much less inflate one correctly, I'm happy to ignore their opinions.

What a constructive argument ( what evidence do you have to back this up). Plenty of people on this forum shop at wiggle and probably leave reviews and by your judgement their opinions are not to be respected. Anyway if I was having to take advice - the choice between 300+ opinions and one from some serial poster enamoured with his own opinion - I know whose advice I would tend to side with.

Grill

letap73 wrote:

Grill wrote:

Considering how most people who review products on Wiggle have no idea how to change a tyre, much less inflate one correctly, I'm happy to ignore their opinions.

What a constructive argument ( what evidence do you have to back this up). Plenty of people on this forum shop at wiggle and probably leave reviews and by your judgement their opinions are not to be respected. Anyway if I was having to take advice - the choice between 300+ opinions and one from some serial poster enamoured with his own opinion - I know whose advice I would tend to side with.

What you talking bro? I use both Pro4 and GP4000s (have 20,000+ miles on both). They're pretty much the same tyre, from a longevity and grip perspective. The reason I favour the Pro4 is that they can be found much cheaper and I like saving those 20 grams. Has premature wear ever affected me with Pro4's? Nope, but I know of one club member who had said issue. Have I blown a sidewall on the 4000s? Nope but I have half a dozen buddies who have. Does that put me off the 4000s? No, as the sample size is larger. So yes, my opinion is based upon first hand experience instead of chopper conjecture.

Telling the OP 'they're rubbish, get X instead' based upon no tangible evidence is hardly a constructive contention.

letap73

Grill wrote:

letap73 wrote:

Grill wrote:

Considering how most people who review products on Wiggle have no idea how to change a tyre, much less inflate one correctly, I'm happy to ignore their opinions.

What a constructive argument ( what evidence do you have to back this up). Plenty of people on this forum shop at wiggle and probably leave reviews and by your judgement their opinions are not to be respected. Anyway if I was having to take advice - the choice between 300+ opinions and one from some serial poster enamoured with his own opinion - I know whose advice I would tend to side with.

What you talking bro? I use both Pro4 and GP4000s (have 20,000+ miles on both). They're pretty much the same tyre, from a longevity and grip perspective. The reason I favour the Pro4 is that they can be found much cheaper and I like saving those 20 grams. Has premature wear ever affected me with Pro4's? Nope, but I know of one club member who had said issue. Have I blown a sidewall on the 4000s? Nope but I have half a dozen buddies who have. Does that put me off the 4000s? No, as the sample size is larger. So yes, my opinion is based upon first hand experience instead of chopper conjecture.

Telling the OP 'they're rubbish, get X instead' based upon no tangible evidence is hardly a constructive contention.

If you bothered to read any of my posts properly rather then try to score points you would note that I mentioned certain reviews supported the Ops assertion that some of these tyres are not durable possibly faulty -you will note that I mentioned that there were good reviews for the pros. I put in the review for the conti gps as context to compare the reviews, I could of easily used the reviews for the Vittoria Corsa's. Your last sentence in your post quoted above is nonsense I have made no such comparison in this thread. You are the one who has attempted to discredit the wiggle reviewers with no tangible evidence. I have no wish to get into a pedantic and tiresome discussion with you - you have your opinion and I have mine - we can agree to disagree.

Grill

Except my opinion is better. :P

road rider

I didn't think such a subject would kick up such a fuss.
the tyres were replaced over the weekend with a pair of pro race 3's.
I have had several pairs of these tyres in the past and all have lasted well. which is surprising when you consider that the pro 4's are supposed to be a lot more durable with slightly less grip than the pro race 3's.
not to worry. it was worth testing them.

Thanks to everyone for your help and advice.