GP 4 seasons gone already?

steve_kay

Thanks everyone for the replies. I had the new tyre delivered yesterday. I'll keep the damaged one as an emergency back up but hopefully it won't be needed.

drlodge

If bike tyres were directional, then the front and rear would be mounted differently since you want the rear to be better at traction and the front better for braking. But there's no tread, so it doesn't matter.

davep1

drlodge wrote:

If bike tyres were directional, then the front and rear would be mounted differently since you want the rear to be better at traction and the front better for braking. But there's no tread, so it doesn't matter.

Can you have better braking without better traction?!

drlodge

DaveP1 wrote:

drlodge wrote:

If bike tyres were directional, then the front and rear would be mounted differently since you want the rear to be better at traction and the front better for braking. But there's no tread, so it doesn't matter.

Can you have better braking without better traction?!

OK..should have said rear wheel - traction in one direction where as front wheel - traction in the opposite direction :roll:

tdougan

for what it's worth - i ride 25s and 23s on two differnt bikes.
I run them between 110-115 - I'm 66kg. They last me about 2-3k km before I can see and feel and difference.

vs

No, this is 'gone'
http://instagram.com/p/oss34Jp3JG/

steve_kay

vs wrote:

No, this is 'gone'
http://instagram.com/p/oss34Jp3JG/

Jesus, you've had your money's worth out of them, and then some

vs

Steve_kay wrote:

vs wrote:

No, this is 'gone'
http://instagram.com/p/oss34Jp3JG/

Jesus, you've had your money's worth out of them, and then some

They're not mine, they're Alex Dowsett's, and he probably gets them replaced for free.

I guess most of us are guilty of discarding tyres long before is really necessary.

steve_kay

You're not going to be comfortable riding on tyres that you know may give out at any point. Knowing my luck I'd be 50 miles from home when they went. That would be a very expensive taxi ride

vs

Steve_kay wrote:

You're not going to be comfortable riding on tyres that you know may give out at any point. Knowing my luck I'd be 50 miles from home when they went. That would be a very expensive taxi ride

I agree, but looking at Mr Dowsett's tyre I'd reason that you'd not really have a clue when you would 'know that a tyre may give out at any point' and it would probably be way before the tyre would actually cause any problems at all.

steve_kay

vs wrote:

Steve_kay wrote:

You're not going to be comfortable riding on tyres that you know may give out at any point. Knowing my luck I'd be 50 miles from home when they went. That would be a very expensive taxi ride

I agree, but looking at Mr Dowsett's tyre I'd reason that you'd not really have a clue when you would 'know that a tyre may give out at any point' and it would probably be way before the tyre would actually cause you any problems at all.

Yeah that's more than likely what would happen. I could probably have got another 1000 miles on them but I'd just be worrying about it (possibly unnecessarily) every time I went out on the bike. I've kept it as a spare but hopefully it shouldn't be needed

Old_Timer

Steve_kay wrote:

vs wrote:

Steve_kay wrote:

You're not going to be comfortable riding on tyres that you know may give out at any point. Knowing my luck I'd be 50 miles from home when they went. That would be a very expensive taxi ride

I agree, but looking at Mr Dowsett's tyre I'd reason that you'd not really have a clue when you would 'know that a tyre may give out at any point' and it would probably be way before the tyre would actually cause you any problems at all.

Yeah that's more than likely what would happen. I could probably have got another 1000 miles on them but I'd just be worrying about it (possibly unnecessarily) every time I went out on the bike. I've kept it as a spare but hopefully it shouldn't be needed

And, having the little voice in the back of your mind that reminds you about the questionable tyre's life span :? makes for really crappy riding time, too :shock: .

steve_kay

And, having the little voice in the back of your mind that reminds you about the questionable tyre's life span :? makes for really crappy riding time, too

My thoughts exactly

Omar Little

Just a follow on i previously said mine were fine after 2500 miles and this was the typical life ive had out of them in the past. I eventually had to put a new rear on at end of July, less than 1200 miles later and the rubber is worn down to the carcass in a few places. Wonder if there has been a bad batch because thats pretty unacceptable for something that is considered to be a training tyre rather than a race tyre IMO

Elfed

Steve_kay wrote:

I'm about 90 kgs and I run them at around 115 to 120 psi

Isn't that slightly more than recommended, should they not be run at around 95psi?

mikeeye

Omar Little wrote:

Just a follow on i previously said mine were fine after 2500 miles and this was the typical life ive had out of them in the past. I eventually had to put a new rear on at end of July, less than 1200 miles later and the rubber is worn down to the carcass in a few places. Wonder if there has been a bad batch because thats pretty unacceptable for something that is considered to be a training tyre rather than a race tyre IMO

I noticed this patch on my front tyre with just 700 miles on it:
The DuraSkin fabric is showing through on the shoulder. Looks to me like insufficient rubber applied during manufacture rather than wear. Or maybe the rubber wasn't bonded properly and has come away over time. Not ideal.

maharg22

Steve_kay wrote:

I'm pretty sure they're non directional tyres

Having fitted two recently I did notice a direction arrow on the side wall, only on one side mind.

nickellis

As above, directional arrow only appears on each tire once, and on one side. They are pretty tricky to spot, I had to shine a torch on the sidewall to highlight it.

I remember reading an article (Might have been A Zinn one) where a continental rep stated that none of their road tire range needed tread, but that market research dictated that people felt safer with a tread. Even if it did jack sheeeeeit. The rep again said that even with the arrow, it didn't matter what way round the tread was.

I still mount mine with the arrow pointing forward, otherwise I know it'll get on my OCD nerves. I told my other half to switch hers round and she told me to get stuffed.

andi1363

MikeEye wrote:

Omar Little wrote:

Just a follow on i previously said mine were fine after 2500 miles and this was the typical life ive had out of them in the past. I eventually had to put a new rear on at end of July, less than 1200 miles later and the rubber is worn down to the carcass in a few places. Wonder if there has been a bad batch because thats pretty unacceptable for something that is considered to be a training tyre rather than a race tyre IMO

I noticed this patch on my front tyre with just 700 miles on it:
The DuraSkin fabric is showing through on the shoulder. Looks to me like insufficient rubber applied during manufacture rather than wear. Or maybe the rubber wasn't bonded properly and has come away over time. Not ideal.

Thats a manufacturing defect. Should be able to get that replaced. Continental may even want it back?

ai_1

Steve_kay wrote:

I do it because I'm a heavy rider really. Maybe they were a tad high but they're rated up to that so there should be no reason for them to fail like they have

I'm only a little lighter than you (about 86kg) and I run mine at around 80psi front, 95psi rear. I can and have gone lower.
Nevertheless, if your front tyre is gone before your rear then there's somethign else going on here. The front tyre will always last much longer than the rear under normal circumstances. I usually get about double the distance out of my rear that I do from the front. I've been using GP 4 seasons and my rear lasted 5000km before I replaced it and I could have left it longer. There was still some tread pattern on it and no sign of canvas or splitting. The front is still in good shape after more than 6000kms and I don't expect to change it for a while yet.

mikeeye

andi1363 wrote:

Thats a manufacturing defect. Should be able to get that replaced. Continental may even want it back?

Good suggestion. I'd not done anything about it because I couldn't remember where I'd bought the tyre, but I've now emailed Continental. I'll see what they have to say.

Thanks.

Mike