Bill_Bright

Hi folks! New to this forum, but not new to forums.

I used to ride a lot in my youth until I turned ~27, got married, had kids and the military and life in general got in the way. Fast-forward 30 years and about 10 years ago, I picked up riding again.

I live in the Omaha Metro area which straddles and is in the flood basin of the Missouri River. There are several 100 miles of flood control levees throughout the area and we are fortunate in that they have built (mostly poured concrete) bike trails on top of many of them.

I have a Trek Emonda S4 and being retired I try to get out and put ~30 on it every day. 4237 miles last season - sadly the weather has not been as cooperative this year.

I have a pair of Continental Gator Hardshell 700 x 25 tires on this bike (love them, BTW). This year, I noticed some "shredding" (can't think of a better word right now) of the sidewalls. That is, long threads are peeling off. When I first noticed it, I heard some ticking from my cassette area, then realized this black, carbon fiber looking string/thread had wrapped around the axle. Not sure why it was ticking but unwinding and removing the thread stopped the ticking.

Then I noticed several more threads were peeling off the sides of both tires, by and just above the wheel rim lip. I trimmed them up and all seems to be fine, though it looks like the sidewalls have dry-rot. Note the bike is parked indoors when not riding so the only weather and sun exposure is during rides.

Checking my records (and I'm a bit anal about keeping them), I found I had bought these tires 7/20/2017 when I had 5,960 miles on the bike. Checking my odometer (calibrated using the roll-out method) now, I have 13,510 miles on the bike. So that's 7,550 miles on these tires! More than twice the mileage I got out of my previous tires which were Bontrager OEMs 700 x 23 and then Bontrager 700 x 25.

I expected better mileage out of the Gator Hardshells but 7,550 seems incredible! Is it? Or is that typical?

Also, I notice the wear indicators (another reason to love those Continentals) are still clearly visible, suggesting I still have some decent life left in the tread area. But I am wondering/worried if, with this dry-rot/shredding issue, if I am pressing my luck and I should just go ahead and replace them?

If it matters, I weight about 170lbs. I check the tire pressure every 2-3 days and keep it at 120psi. Although I'm equipped to repair (or replace) a tube when out on the trail, I am not prepared to walk 15 miles (especially in cleats) should the entire sidewall of the tire itself blow out (if that is even possible).

And insight/advice/comment would be appreciated.

DrIsotope

Yeah, they last forever. Even at around 225lbs, I replaced a 700x28 Gator Hardshell at about 6,600 miles and it still had life in it. I couldn't handle riding on those bricks anymore. The sidewalls were also getting flaky.

Sapperc

Yes, with the side wall dry rot issue you need to replace your tires. Nothing you can really do about ozone and time causing rubber dry rot. Riding with very low tire pressures can possibly hasten the problem along sometimes by increased sidewall deflection, but with your reported mileage I wouldn’t be concerned. Sounds like you got high mileage and a couple of years out of them as it is. Tire wear is dependent on so many factors it is not really worth trying to compare one cyclists experiences with another. Just be happy with your mileage and your luck at not having a sidewall failure blowout. Up to you, but I wouldn’t continue to ride a tire that shows the threads through the sidewalls or when the sidewalls actually shred.

Good luck! Happy cycling!

CliffordK

I've had good luck with wear on my Conti Gator Hardshells.

I'm not sure where the thread you're finding is coming from Perhaps near the bead.

I had one sidewall blow on a Conti Gator Hardshell, almost new tire. Since then I've worried about the sidewalls some. However, over time the crossed threads on the sidewalls get awfully fuzzy, and I've concluded that they are merely cosmetic, and not structural.

KEEP Riding. Rear tires usually wear faster than the front, unless you rotate. Or, you can ride the rear into the ground, then do a front to back rotation, and new tire on the front.

Bill_Bright

Thanks for all the replies!
Yeah, that's my concern.
I am!
Thanks. You too.
It is near or just under the bead. But one thread was almost cartoonish. It was right at the bead (though I guess it could have come from under it). I kept pulling and after it went all the way around the tire twice, I decided to cut it rather than see my entire side wall unravel. I've probably put another 300 miles on them since.

I already have the replacements. I bought them about 2000 miles ago, telling myself I will mount them after my next flat. Still waiting for that to happen - knock on forehead/wood.

In an extremely rare occurrence, all 5 of my local weather services agree next Saturday will be a rain day. So I'm thinking I will take my chances until then.

starchase

I just changed out my Kenda K841C, 26x1.95 rubber that came with my bike bought in 2012, had 4737 miles on them. I wouldn't have thought of changing them had I not just recently started reading biking articles about tires and such as well as finding a couple gashes in a sidewall. They had still been performing just grand, my 15 mile circuit being only on residential streets and sidewalks and asphalt. So I changed out the K841C's for Kenda's K838, both found only in their 2011 catalog! But I thought I'd better change them now before some unseen hazard makes me fall and break more bones.

Bill_Bright

"More" bones? Oh oh!

When I bought my first Gator Hardshells, I had heard I could expect 5K so getting over 7500 is what prompted me to join and write here.

Your tires just being 7 years old seems pretty good.

base2 

I run almost exclusivly hardshells. The sidewalls do get flaky, but I've never known it to be an issue. Same thing with the threads at the bead. I'd call your experience pretty typical.

Bill_Bright

Good to know. Thanks.