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Soft spot on tyre - anyone ever experience this?

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Soft spot on tyre - anyone ever experience this?

Old 07-25-19, 08:35 AM
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NoWhammies
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Soft spot on tyre - anyone ever experience this?

After just over 1,700km on my Pirelli Cinturato Velo tubeless tyres, I noticed a soft sport on the tyre. By soft spot I mean when the tyre was inflated, the tyre was hard all around except for a spot about the size of my thumbnail.


Have any of you seen/experience this before? I felt it was a manufacturing defect so I followed-up with PBK but no luck. I ended up taking the tyre off the bike due to safety concerns, but I'm still a little disappointed in the short lifespan of the tyre. Do you think I'd have any luck following up with Pirelli, or am I outta luck?

If you look at the images below, you can see where the tread pattern changes. This is where the soft spot is when the tyre is inflated.


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Old 07-25-19, 08:46 AM
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That does look odd. Are you sure you didn't lock up the wheel while braking? Since that tire looks to have a lot of wear a slight skidding incident may do that to the rubber but just guessing.
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Old 07-25-19, 09:01 AM
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I see holes or cuts in the middle of the soft spot.



Guessing here - some of the cords have been cut and it has created some kind of deformity in the carcass.

Was there a puncture or flat in this tire's history? What does the inside of the tire look like at that spot?

-Tim-

Last edited by TimothyH; 07-25-19 at 09:04 AM.
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Old 07-25-19, 09:13 AM
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Originally Posted by Crankycrank
That does look odd. Are you sure you didn't lock up the wheel while braking? Since that tire looks to have a lot of wear a slight skidding incident may do that to the rubber but just guessing.
I wouldn't all it normal wear and tear, but after 1,000 miles, it still looks like wear and tear. Looks to me, too, like wear from skidding, and small cuts from road debris. I wouldn't expect a warranty claim to be approved, unfortunately.
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Old 07-25-19, 09:18 AM
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I had a Compass tire that developed a deformation for no obvious reason. I didn't see it until I went hunting for the problem. When riding, it felt like a destabilizing cross-wind was hitting me occasionally on downhills.

For yours, I agree with Tim's guess, unless there was some problem with the tire compound or vulcanization to begin with.

Last edited by Cyclist0108; 07-25-19 at 09:36 AM. Reason: :s/diagnosis/guess/g99
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Old 07-25-19, 09:24 AM
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Originally Posted by wgscott
I agree with Tim's diagnosis
To be clear, my post wasn't a diagnosis but a guess.


-Tim-
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Old 07-25-19, 12:07 PM
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Skid mark.
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Old 07-25-19, 01:03 PM
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Your tire separated from the casing in that spot. Normally it would look like a bubble, but it appears that you have small cuts there which allowed the air to escape and therefore no bubble.

This happened on one of my tires and Mavic warrantied them and sent me two new ones.
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Old 07-25-19, 03:20 PM
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@jadocs I figured it was a bubble and the small cuts allowed the air to escape. And that's what I emailed PBK (where I bought the tyre) about. Turns out I'm past the 1,000k warranty, so I'm out of luck. Oh well. No complaints about PBK. They were responsive with me. Regarding Mavic though, did you go through them directly? Perhaps I'll the same with Pirelli.

@pdlamb I don't recall skidding at any point. I mean it is possible that I grabbed the brake a bit hard on a downhill somwhere, but I don't remember skidding at all and I'm pretty sure I'd remember if I locked up the brakes/rear wheel.]

@TimothyH No recollection of the tyre experiencing a puncture. And per your request...

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Old 07-25-19, 04:17 PM
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You have nothing to lose in initiating a warranty claim through Pirelli. I went through the process with Maxxis three times, and once with Panaracer. The Maxxis process is long and at times frustrating, but always resulted in a new tire.

And yes, I would expect that without those small cuts in the outer carcass, you would have a "blister," where the carcass has separated from the belted layer. This happened to my Maxxis tires on several occasions, and it indicates a failure during the molding process.

Mind you, when my last Maxxis was wearing out I reckoned it was too far worn to bother with a warranty once the blisters started multiplying. I rode that tire for 600-700 more miles without issue-- literally carrying a pin stuck to my saddlebag for popping blisters.

I don't know if I would recommend the same, but do know that it is unlikely the tire will just spontaneously, catastrophically fail. In this case, absolutely talk to Pirelli.
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Old 07-26-19, 06:49 AM
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@NoWhammies yep, I just called Mavic directly. They have a customer in me for life, absolutely great service in my experience.
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Old 07-26-19, 12:15 PM
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Thanks folks. I'll see if I can find a customer service number for Pirelli although I suspect the number I do find for them will be for their car tyres, and they won't know what the heck I'm talking about when I bring up my bike tyre.
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Old 07-26-19, 05:32 PM
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Originally Posted by jadocs
Your tire separated from the casing in that spot. Normally it would look like a bubble, but it appears that you have small cuts there which allowed the air to escape and therefore no bubble.
Thought about this today and @jadocs is likely 100% correct.
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Old 07-27-19, 09:49 AM
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Originally Posted by TimothyH
I see holes or cuts in the middle of the soft spot.



Guessing here - some of the cords have been cut and it has created some kind of deformity in the carcass.

Was there a puncture or flat in this tire's history? What does the inside of the tire look like at that spot?

-Tim-
+1

This will happen on car tires if you nail a pothole or curb hard enough, but not hard enough to blow it out. The nylon cords break and your tire no longer holds shape, like a hernia.

Get new rubber.

Very late to this party. 😨

Last edited by Unca_Sam; 07-27-19 at 10:04 AM.
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Old 07-27-19, 10:10 AM
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It's unlikely that any of the cords are damaged. A section of the carcass has separated from the belting. I put thousands upon thousands of miles on tires that looked exactly like this.
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Old 07-27-19, 02:54 PM
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Thanks for the advice @DrIsotope. I played it safe and replaced the tyre with a Gavia AC1 - thank you for the suggestion! So far, the tyre is working out well and may become my tubeless tyre of choice!

@Unca_Sam I agree with you and @TimothyH. IMHO what we're looking at in the photo is a bubble that formed and then burst open when the cut on the tyre happened, thus releasing the trapped gas/air. Shame, as the tyre only at 1,700+km on it.
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Old 07-27-19, 02:59 PM
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Buy better Tires.
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Old 07-27-19, 03:05 PM
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I'm running the 700x35 Cinturato Velos on my CX bike as "summer tires." The washes and access roads out here are too sandy and blown out to enjoy riding in the summer.

I got a cut in the rear tire and it blew out on me after 6 weeks and just shy of 900 miles. It's a bummer, but it happens. I think of the good times: I've had a Hutchinson Overide go 5,800 miles, and a Gavia AC1 go 4,400 miles.

Replaced it, and now, about 6 weeks later still, the front is att ~1,800, and the new rear ~900. So far so good.

The Pirellis are a little less hardy than the Gavia AC1s, IME. Superb ride quality, on par with Schwalbe One, but they're a whole lot tougher than Ones. Been tempted to try the Velos in 700x26, but I can get the AC1s so damn cheap.

Originally Posted by Wileyone
Buy better Tires.
Oh please, do enlighten us.
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Old 07-30-19, 02:15 PM
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Quick update for you. I called Pirelli and spoke with someone in the warranty group. The suggested I sent the tyre back to the seller, and the seller would send it on to Pirelli to decide whether or not the tyre was covered. I called PBK and spoke with a customer service rep who gave me excellent service and said they would honour the warranty.

So full marks to PBK for standing by their customers and products! And thanks for the advice to look in to a warranty claim. Cheers.
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