carrefour

I'm afraid you were sold a counterfeit-copy-made-in-some-jungle version of the tire.

cheval

ditch the bad rubber and lets just be glad they dont have white sidewalls

kenl666

No.

The sidewall pattern (the orange cross-hatch) appears to be an additional layer affixed to the surface of the tire (think of a decal). There were probably air bubbles left when the sidewall was applied and when the tire is brought up to operating pressure; those bubbles are what's popping.

If your tire is holding pressure what are you worried about?

I've noticed creaking & popping when inflating my UGSs for the first time but never really bothered to worry about it as long as the pressure held steady. I've also had a sidewall cut that the tube herniated through and finally popped before I noticed it, but that was an approx. 3-4mm slice, and I could pull the edges apart to see the tube.

snowman40

Well, I'm glad I drove today. Now I will be going home this evening and checking my gatorskin......

Bob Dopolina 

That's not how tires are made.

They are made in a mold. The duraskin is added to the green tire before it is cooked.

The OP stated clearly that it was the tube poking through and that, once he popped one of the bubbles, the tire went flat within a minute.

This issue is in the casing itself.

This is clearly a defective tire.

kenl666

Ooops. I stand corrected. Note to self: read entire post before replying...

GPB

How did you verify that's the TUBE pushing through. Doesn't look like a tube to me...tube walls would be fatter than that...wouldn't they?

DiabloScott

Definitely. But what exactly is the defect? Why has no one ever seen this kind of defect before? Very odd. Be interesting to see what Continental says.

Quijibo187

your tire has the plague!

Shimagnolo

Normally, a tire will go flat when the tube leaks, with the air escaping around the spoke-nipples, and the valve stem. I'm wondering if somehow this rim happens to be airtight, resulting in you effectively having a tubeless tire, with a tire that wasn't intended to be tubeless. Just a crazy guess.

chadteck

That actually makes a lot of sense, but would be odd. Has OP tried another tube yet?

flaco

I had that happen. Combination of an airtight rim (Ksyrium), and a tube with a leak. I would pump up the tire, but due to the leak in the tube, it was actually the tire holding the air, not the tube. I only noticed when bubbles started forming under the tread.

sac02

OOH! Good theory, the Fulcrum Racing 1 wheel rim is solid (i.e. no spoke nipple holes). I'm pretty sure the tube I put in was good (I took it out of the previous worn-out tire), but maybe not? After I popped one of the bubbles and heard the air hissing out, I dismounted it all and found a puncture in the tube in the approximate correct place, but I am going to go downstairs and try with a brand new tube just to see for sure. I will report back.

Mac

ken cummings

I've ridden tires so old and crumbled that I could see the tube inside through cracks and did not have that popping. But I use thick walled tubes. Were you inner tubes very thin walled? Or latex?

bdcheung

read the original post. pay attention to this portion:

sac02

I think we have a winner. Shimagnolo (post #36) gets a cookie. I just went downstairs and put a brand new tube in the tire and it was fine. Aparently I was picking at the tire casing, which was holding the air due to an airtight rim and leaky tube. I never would have guessed that was possible.

The thing that made me so certain that it was the tube is that the hole in the tube (I took a pic for you) was in the same spot that I picked at on the tire - about eight inches to the left of the valve stem, in the orientation I was holding it (I always line up the tire label with the valve stem hole). I guess it was just a freaky coincidence that a pre-existing hole in the tube coincided with the point on the tire that I picked at.

The only unanswered question I have is how the first tube I used (the leaky one) was holding air just fine for the previous 200 or 300 miles?

Mac

brianappleby

It's easy to puncture a tube with a tire lever, or on a sharp edge of a rim when removing or installing it. I've punctured them on the teeth of the cassette of the wheel i was working on, but that requires an extra degree of incompetence.

GPB

Thanks...missed that. Just seems if there's enough pressure to push the tube through...it would just pop on its own. At least, that's been my experience.

So if he pulls that tube back out...it should have a hole in that spot...I guess he probably checked that and if not, that would confirm it. Oh well. I'd love to see that thing first hand and play with it. You should be able to shine light thru that sidewall.

mustang1

I have Conti Gatorskins and I too heard a couple of noises and like you I thought it was the wire bead settling down or the tire adjusting itself with the newly found air pressure that now fills it's belly. But I never looked that closely at the tire and neither have I ever had any problems with it (no flats in 6 months).

Bob Dopolina 

So what we are seeing is actually the result of the pressure escaping from the tube but being trapped by the tire instead?

This is interesting because the 2009 Fulcrum / Campagnolo wheels are two-way fit, meaning that they are designed to accommodate both regular tires and tubeless. Are your R1s 2009 or previous?

Also, why didn't air leak out from the original hole in the tire that was created when the tube was first punctured?

There are still a few more questions to answer with this one.

This really is a new one on me. I'd still suggest an email to Continental. They may ship you some product just for the FYI.