Tire Failure
 

Recently had a sidewall failure on a Continental 700 x 28 Gatorskin tire.
Mounted once and only once on a Weiman Concave rim it blew at less than 350
miles. The sidewall suffered an inch and a quarter "cut" right next to the
wire bead. The tire material surrounded the inside of the bead but the bead
could be observed from the tire side.

This was on the rear of our tandem. We are a big team 400+ pounds. Tire was
allways inflated to 120 psi and topped off to 120 psi with a borrowed floor
pump the previous day. Two days before we had done a 7% ten mile long descent.
Stopped half way down and felt the rims. The front was only warm to the
touch, could have continued finger contact indefinately. The rear did not feel
warm at all.

The failure was near the valve thus I had not used tire irons in the damaged
area to mount the tire.

When the tire failed we were coasting down a very smooth newly paved road. I am
not aware of us hitting anything there or anywhere else that would have
damaged the tire.

Didn't fall but we often go MUCH faster so this incident is disconcerting. Was
it the tire, the rim, the pressure, the heat? All insights will be
appreciated.


Thanks in advance, Bob

Tire Failure
 

AGRIBOB wrote:
Recently had a sidewall failure on a Continental 700 x 28 Gatorskin tire.
Mounted once and only once on a Weiman Concave rim it blew at less than 350
miles. The sidewall suffered an inch and a quarter "cut" right next to the
wire bead. The tire material surrounded the inside of the bead but the bead
could be observed from the tire side.

Check for worn brake pads contacting sidewall. If that sounds like a
novice mistake, well, I've been there and done that (long after I should
have known better).

In my case, the pads, either initially or as they wore, reached slightly
above the top of the rim. Wear then caused them to overhang the rim
with a very thin (i.e. knife edge) shape, and two tires went quickly
before I figured it out with much embarassment.

Regards,
Mark Janeba

Tire Failure
 

Check for worn brake pads contacting sidewall.

Thanks Mark, but that wasn't the case.
Bob

Tire Failure
 

AGRIBOB wrote:
Recently had a sidewall failure on a Continental 700 x 28 Gatorskin tire.
Mounted once and only once on a Weiman Concave rim it blew at less than 350
miles. The sidewall suffered an inch and a quarter "cut" right next to the
wire bead. The tire material surrounded the inside of the bead but the bead
could be observed from the tire side.
-snip-
The failure was near the valve thus I had not used tire irons in the damaged
area to mount the tire.
-snip-


I was not there.
But that is consistent with someone pulling the valve down
snugly to the rim before airing the tire. The tire would
have a lump at the valve, which would drag on a brake shoe,
fatally.




--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

Tire Failure
 

On 12 Jan 2004 00:41:14 GMT, (AGRIBOB) may have said:

All insights will be
appreciated.

Just a wild left-field guess, but is there any chance that the rim
tape is doubled in that area, and that it might have kept the tire
bead from seating all the way in at that point? The valve is a common
place for the tape to be overlapped, and if the tape was a bit wider
than strictly necessary...

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail.
Yes, I have a killfile. If I don't respond to something,
it's also possible that I'm busy.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

Tire Failure
 

On Sun, 11 Jan 2004 21:40:14 -0600, A Muzi wrote:

AGRIBOB wrote:
Recently had a sidewall failure on a Continental 700 x 28 Gatorskin tire.
Mounted once and only once on a Weiman Concave rim it blew at less than 350
miles. The sidewall suffered an inch and a quarter "cut" right next to the
wire bead. The tire material surrounded the inside of the bead but the bead
could be observed from the tire side.
-snip-
The failure was near the valve thus I had not used tire irons in the damaged
area to mount the tire.
-snip-


I was not there.
But that is consistent with someone pulling the valve down
snugly to the rim before airing the tire. The tire would
have a lump at the valve, which would drag on a brake shoe,
fatally.

I wasn't there, either, but I was riding with a couple on a tandem who had
a similar problem. I think their tire was a Continental 2000, again a
28mm width. Tire failed on the sidewall, very close to the bead. It had
a 1cm long hole, but was frayed for a longer stretch.

The captain is a very experienced cyclist. I checked the brake, and it
was not even close to the edge. The failure was not at the valve, it was
almost exactly opposite from the valve. The rim did not seem to have a
rough edge there, and the tape was fine.

Fortunately I had my spare tire with me, so they could get home.

Personally, I've seen too many people with sidewall problems with
Continental tires.

--

David L. Johnson

__o | Become MicroSoft-free forever. Ask me how.
_`\(,_ |
(_)/ (_) |

Tire Failure
 

agribob- Recently had a sidewall failure on a Continental 700 x 28 Gatorskin
tire.
Mounted once and only once on a Weiman Concave rim it blew at less than 350
miles. BRBR

Warranty-we have seen a few of these, BUT I think this tire is inappropriate
for a 400 pound tandem. A Top Touring or equivalent is a better choice, IMO-

Peter Chisholm
Vecchio's Bicicletteria
1833 Pearl St.
Boulder, CO, 80302
(303)440-3535
http://www.vecchios.com
"Ruote convenzionali costruite eccezionalmente bene"

Tire Failure
 

"AGRIBOB" wrote in message
...
Recently had a sidewall failure on a Continental 700 x 28 Gatorskin tire.
Mounted once and only once on a Weiman Concave rim it blew at less than
350
miles. The sidewall suffered an inch and a quarter "cut" right next to
the
wire bead. The tire material surrounded the inside of the bead but the
bead
could be observed from the tire side.

This was on the rear of our tandem. We are a big team 400+ pounds. Tire
was
allways inflated to 120 psi and topped off to 120 psi with a borrowed
floor
pump the previous day. Two days before we had done a 7% ten mile long
descent.
Stopped half way down and felt the rims. The front was only warm to the
touch, could have continued finger contact indefinately. The rear did not
feel
warm at all.

The failure was near the valve thus I had not used tire irons in the
damaged
area to mount the tire.

When the tire failed we were coasting down a very smooth newly paved road.
I am
not aware of us hitting anything there or anywhere else that would have
damaged the tire.

Didn't fall but we often go MUCH faster so this incident is disconcerting.
Was
it the tire, the rim, the pressure, the heat? All insights will be
appreciated.


Thanks in advance, Bob


I'm just a middleweight roadie, but I do lots of miles and I started out
doing them on contis. I had lots of sidewall blowouts. I just figured it
was normal. Then I started experimenting with other tires. I've never had
a sidewall blowout since. I think it's a flaw in the Conti design. That's
just my opinion, but I've probably ridden 50,000 miles on other tires since
I stopped riding contis and I've not had a single sidewall cut or blowout.

I also got sick of those little threads peeling off the bead area with the
contis. Sometimes I'd find them wrapped all up in my hubs. Don't know if
they still have that aggravating problem.

Bob C.

Tire Failure
 

snip
I'm just a middleweight roadie, but I do lots of miles and I started out
doing them on contis. I had lots of sidewall blowouts. I just figured it
was normal. Then I started experimenting with other tires. I've never had
a sidewall blowout since. I think it's a flaw in the Conti design.
snip

Conti's a reasonably good tire, but I have had a large number of
sidewall cuts on Gatorskins and I agree, the sidewall is the Conti's
achille's heel (and don't buy 700x25 4-Season GP 3000's either - the
tread lasts about 700 miles).

App

Tire Failure
 

agribob-
Recently had a sidewall failure on a Continental 700 x 28 Gatorskin
tire.
Mounted once and only once on a Weiman Concave rim it blew at less than 350
miles.

No one's mentioned it yet, and I'm not sure it's important, but isn't
the Weinmann Concave one of those rims *without* hooks?