FatBottomedGirl

Hey,...

My rear tire looks like this:



It must have been going on for a while as I found a couple of meters of those strings wrapped round my axle... Must have gone loose and got caught by the axle while rolling...

Anyway,... losing these strings has been revealing some carpetty-soft surface under it...

But how dangerous is it? I am not worried about the very strings but can the tire fail? do these threads keep anything together?
Do they keep the clinching part together with the very rest of the tire?

Up North

Replace tire ASAP those threads hold tire together, not safe to ride on. If they are newer tires show them to dealer you nought them from, they may replace.

chaadster

I don't believe it's urgently dangerous at all, both because I've had it happen without issue on my own tires, and because I've never heard of a tire unravelling failure mode.

That said, I don't think I've had multiple meters of thread unravel, so that may be another level of concern, but honestly, I wouldn't be terribly concerned at this point; it may increase susceptibility to sidewall cuts (and that's probably how it started) but I doubt it will be direct cause of failure.

Silvercivic27

Those strings seem to happen a lot with Conti tires. I usually just cut them off and keep riding. Only tires I've ever had a problem with the sidewalls getting cut at the rim bead was with Vittoria Corsa Cx on carbon clinchers from both Enve and Zipp. I actually went to Conti Gp4000s or s2 for that reason. The Contis have a Kevlar/Vectran sidewall that seems to hold up better than the cotton that Vittoria uses.

Doctor Morbius

I have some older Continentals with gumwalls that have done the same thing, although not to that extent. They've held up fine. I suppose they'll hold up until they no longer hold up. Just take a spare along.

StanSeven

That's just from the excess material on the outside of the bead. The material is cut away from the bead and the threads unravel over time. The excess material has nothing to do with the way the tire works which is the bead holding against the time.

Absolutely perfectly safe.

FIVE ONE SIX

+1! but it looks worse on that tire than it ever did on mine. i would say to take it a LBS and get their opinion, but only go to one you trust, otherwise they may say to change it just to get a sale...

steve220

I'm certainly no expert, but I'd change it.

cale

I'll say one thing. The tire got slashed/gashed. When a tire receives a continuous tear or puncture in a single direction, as this tire was, it weakens the area in a way which spreads the damage rather than containing it. Like a zip lock bag being torn open.

If the tred is the only part torn, and not the underlying carcass, it probably isn't a big deal there. Move next to the point where the tear crosses to the carcass and check that. You can see, great pic BTW (really clear), the threads have torn out to a certain extent. You can cut those off and put a drop of super glue on the ends to keep them from getting more unraveled. This is probably the more important inspection because sidewall blow outs can be really nasty.

If it isn't going to tear itself apart under the strains of riding, I'd probably continue for a while with it. But I'd also be scanning for tire sales with the idea of replacing it soon.

hairnet

Common with Continental tires and damned annoying

ThermionicScott 

I would make sure the brake pads aren't rubbing the sidewalls on the rear tire.

FBinNY 

Your tire is fine and safe to ride (at least as far as this is concerned).

The tire has a plain woven strip to protect the body of the tire from chafing at the rim line. Being plain woven and laid out lengthwise on the tire it's prone to unravelling the same way any similar fabric would be.

Trim the excess to slow the process and, if you care, use rubber cement to secure the edges to slow it even more, but it's basically a slow unstoppable process, but won't hurt the tire.

Joe Minton

FBinNY has it right: your tire is safe to ride. Conti tires tend to do this for the reason FB stated and the safety of the tire is not compromised.

I do wish Continental would remove this irritation though; yours is not the first thread started about this problem. It likely won't be the last and I wonder how many customers they've lost because some of their tires shed threads in an alarming manner.

Joe

Shuffleman

I have never ridden Conti tires but if this is common than they have an issue. I do agree that it does not present an immediate danger but it is a tire that is structurally falling apart. The glad baggie comment was pretty accurate. Personally, I would replace the tire with another brand and not think about it again. You could always drop glue on the ends to try to prevent if from further fraying as suggested. I just do not see the point. Time is limited and I do not want to go for a ride and have to deal with what will certainly happen at some point. I am sure that when it does eventually go it will be when I am 40 miles away from home. That would ruin my entire day, not just my ride. It is not worth it for me. Money is relative and I do not mean to diminish its value. However, tires are really not that expensive. I would rather pay for a new tire and have peace of mind than try to squeeze a little more life out of it and possibly have it go bad at a real inopportune time.(Lets be hones, there is no opportune time. They never blow out around the corner from our house. It always happens when we are on some country road with no cell tower. Do you really want to walk around in diapers and stiff shoes for an hour or two?)

FBinNY 

Let's be clear. It is NOT a structural issue in any sense. The strip that is unraveling is an added protection that most tires don't have in the first place. It's there to protect the tire from the rim, but not part of the structure. If it unravels completely the tire will be where a majority of tires are with the rim bearing directly against the runner coating on the sidewall.

Talking about structure here is like comparing two painted frames, one having an added clear topcoat, the other not, then saying that when the topcoat wears thru the paint is shot.

For the record, I don't own or use Contis and have no like or dislike for them, I'm posting to help keep the OP from being worried about the tire or wasting dough replacing something that is perfectly sound.

Shuffleman

Your logic may be sound. With that being said, I would still be a little suspect. Also, speaking from an aesthetic perspective, it is unreasonable for a manufacture to assume that a consumer would want to purchase a product to have it look like that. I am quite certain that very few people would purchase any tire that would do that if they knew ahead of time. Would you purchase a new car and drive it around looking like that?
Again, your logic is probably correct. However, if a manufacturer produced a product that did that on a regular basis, why would I assume that the rest of the tire is produced with any better quality or attention to quality control? I do not purchase products to have to compromise or justify them.
I have always ridden Vittoria road tires and unless something major changes, I see no reason to switch. I am simply loyal and do not like switching brands when I have something that works. However, if I ever do switch, Conti will not be on my short list if this is their level of construction quality. My wife's 20 yr old Panaracer mtb tires that have not been ridden in 15 years look better than that, even with the dry rot from sitting in a Florida Garage all that time.

Athens80

Keep applying that logic. Yes, very few people would pay a premium to buy a tire they know is defective. Also, many knowledgeable cyclists buy Continental tires. So logic suggests this isn't the big problem you've written about a couple of times. Unless you assume those cyclists are all just poor at reason, you don't need to worry about this.

FBinNY 

I agree that Conti is shooting themselves in the foot a bit using a strip that's prone to this issue. They could easily reduce the likelihood by using a ribbon with finished edges vs a plain strip cut from a sheet, but that's not the point here.

The question is whether the OP, or anyone, having this cosmetic issue needs to worry and/or replace the tire. And the answer to that is a resounding NO. As to whether they want to buy a similar tire and face this anew next time around is up to them. Some people will focus on performance and consider this a minor quirk on tires they're otherwise happy with, and others will say no, and try another brand. For my part, I choose tires based on a number of performance considerations depending on the application and truly don't care about cosmetics. Hell, I don't even mount them with the labels aligned.

Shuffleman

A "Couple of times". Interesting. This is the first thread about this that I have ever read or participated in so lets not get carried away. As I stated, I ride Vittoria so I have never witnessed it or seen it before. Why do you respond as if you have been personally attacked? Nobody attacked you personally. I was simply stating my personal opinion that I would not purchase a product that routinely ended up with that result. As a business owner, I would not sell a product if that was the end result either. That is my personal standard though. Others can do as they wish.
If "X" car company makes a great running car but its pain job peels after 3 years in 25% of its cars, I would hardly want to sell that car until they correct the issue. I would not want to stake my name and reputation like that. In this day and age, there is no reason for it. Simply fix the problem if there is one, regardless of whether or not it impacts performance. Who wants customers or potential ones having this debate. There are too many other options for that.

MikeyBoyAz

1+ on your tire is fine. The conti tires I have ridden do this now and again. The fabric section is wrapped around the tire casing, I would suspect it helps with installation and minimizes frictional subtraction of material while installing or removing the tire from the rim. I think they just don't close the end of the fabric with any kind of stitch, so it unravels. After a few thousand miles the edges always look frayed.

EDIT: well, apparently I didn't read FBinNY's post

FBinNY 

FWIW - I have no objection to any criteria that you use in choosing tires or anything else. But the OP asked a fairly simple set of interrelated questions about safety and clearly expressed that she was OK other than that concern. (see the OP).

You characterized this as a tire that is "structurally falling apart" which is simply untrue, which is the issue to which I've responded. Use whatever products you want, but try to restrain yourself from unwarranted fearmongering or exaggerated claims of structural failures, impending or otherwise.

Had you simply said, "that looks like crap, and I wouldn't buy tires that unraveled that way" you wouldn't have drawn my response.

FBinNY 

A bit of positive reinforcement is always a good thing, especially when allaying people's fears.

Shuffleman

Did you read my first post? Where is the fear mongering? The 2nd line in my post states "I do agree that it does not present an immediate danger but it is a tire that is structurally falling apart"

I was clearthat it was not an immediate danger. I also was clear that the structure is falling apart. How else do you explain what is occuring? The tire as it was constructed is coming apart.Is the tire in danger of blowing? Probably not. That does not mean that it is not falling apart. The OP asked for opinions and mine was that it is probably not an immediate danger but that I would not take the risk of it blowing on a ride.That is hardly fear mongering. I have always despised fear mondering and do my best to state things are my opinion or subjective.My other point is that if a company makes a product that will fray like that why are we as the consumers supposed to believe that the rest of the tire is stable? Just because somebody on a forum states it does not mean that it is true. As I said, a good case was made that the tire is stable. You probably know what you are talking about. I have no experience with that brand. I can say that if my tire did that, I would believe it to be ok to ride but there is enough doubt to make me change it out. The cost of a new tire is simply not enough to make me take a chance on ruining my day or costing me a few hours. If all it buys me is piece of mind, than I am ok with that as well.
I am not attacking your credibility. I would more question the credibility of the manufacture if they put out a product that did that on a consistent basis. If they cut corners for that part, how can I be sure that they did not cut corners elsewhere?

Nachoman

I use continental tyres on most my bikes. Almost all the tyres end up looking like that.

FBinNY 

I guess it's semantics. You say no immediate danger, then you say it is structurally falling apart. This implies that it will fail structurally soon, though not immediately. You keep reinforcing the notion that it is falling apart.

So what is a reader supposed to glean -- that it's not a danger.

Had you not said structurally or implied future failure through tone, it might be different. So if you're not outright fear mongering, you're doing so by implication.

Step back from it if you want, but the words spoke for themselves at the time.

If you think, I read too much into your statement, so be it. I don't. And every other reader is free to read your posts and draw his own conclusion.