Sidewall blow out - Conti GP4000S II

supermurph09

Had a rear blow out on some very new Contis last week. Quite a bang tbh, thought it was just a puncture but on inspection the sidewall was blown out.

Have others had any issues and would this be covered by manufacturers warranty? I'll of course phone the LBS I got them from just keen to know if I'm alone or not.

londoncommuter

I had something similar on some brand new Gatorskins (ride 1: puncture, ride 2: puncture, ride 3: sidewall split). Continental didn't want to know about it so (possibly cutting my nose off to spite my face) I haven't bought one of their tyres since.

Philby

I had a similar sidewall blowout on the first ride with a rear Conti GP4000S (original version) earlier this year. Going down a hill at 40mph when it went - if it had been 100 metres further on it could have been nasty as the road has a sharp bend. Same as you thought it was just a puncture which I replaced with a new tube and didn't notice the new tube sticking through the cut sidewall until I got home. I had bought the tyre from Wiggle earlier in the year and they refunded the money without any problems - I suggest you return it to the retailer.

northpole

I think mine occurred on a 23mm version 1 GP4000s during the summer. It was quite a warm day and I was doing repeats of Box Hill which is billiard table smooth. I drove there, so nothing from the surrounding lanes. I stopped for the obligatory cake and tea at the top of the hill. Came back to the bike and thought my bike must have been looking extra special because of the attention it was getting. Turned out that the rear tyre exploded as the bike sat there! It was the side wall. I didn't send it back, only grateful that it popped when stationary rather than when I was going down the hill at speed which could have been curtains for me. I was affected by a less dramatic failure this year also hence some comments I have made this year about lack of trust in the sidewall construction of these tyres. I typically run tyres at 100-110psi if that has any bearing on matters.

Peter

northpole

This may be irregular quality control as I have not experienced the problem since changing to and have kept running with GP4000s version 2. Not good to hear it's also happened with the second version. Perhaps should also say that my problem occurred on basically new tyres which had suffered no impact to eg pot holes and therefore there shouldn't have been any physical damage imposed on the side walls.

Peter

jordan_217

After several years of using Conti GP4000S' I've stopped using them. The last pair I bought lasted 2-3 weeks before being ripped to shreds and looking like they'd had thousands of miles in them. This wasn't caused by bad roads or Winter riding. After a few conversations with cycling mates it appears that they too had similar experiences with recently bought GP4000S'. I've since heard of several issues with the Mk 2; now this thread….

I still use other Conti tyres (GP 4 Seasons and Competition tubs) on two bikes and haven't had any problems with those.

I'm now using Michelin Pro4 SC's instead of GP4000S' and TBH they're a better tyre in every respect….

cougie

Weird. I've put 1000s of miles in on mine and no dramas.

Anonymous

Same.

That said, I did receive a pair and one had a sidewall 'defect' for want of a better word. I didn't even take it out the packaging and returned it. Got a new one back and it's worked absolutely fine.

cycleclinic

All tyres no matter the brand will have stange issue like this. Never had a problem with any conti tyre. Had punctures and side wall cuts on first rides but that is bad luck not the tyres fault as those were pretty shitty conditions on the roads.

thegreatdivide

I reckon Conti have a production issue because I was out for a ride with my mate on Monday and noticed he was on Vittoria Corsa 25's. He's been a die hard fan of GP4000S hosepipes for years but after two sidewall failures inc one on an almost new tyre he's binned them and moved on.

derosa

Had a sidewall blowout on a rear Gatorskin last week after 10 miles use. LBS replaced straight away.

davoj

I had the exact same thing happen to me yesterday but lucky for me it happened after my cycle, heard a large bang and went to investigate and side wall had a large whole. Had about 1000miles on them. In fairness this is the 1st time this happened but I must admit I don't have as much confidence in them as I used too.

londoncommuter

I agree the odd quality issue will affect any tyre, I'd ridden Gatorskins for 1,000's of miles before and this could happen to any tyre but it's the way Continental wouldn't give the benefit of the doubt on what was clearly a new tyre (I'd sent in photos) that narked me. The pain was I hadn't kept the receipt and couldn't remember where I'd got them from (I do buy too much bike stuff...) so couldn't go back to the retailer. Fine in the end as I then tried Schwalbe and Vredestien and have had great tyres ever since!