choddo

Not hard to find GP5000s and they’re 110tpi. Think 4Seasons are the same.

RCMoeur 

Older + low thread count might be a key factor. Young rubber adheres well to fewer threads, but not as well as the years and ozone affect the adhesion and elasticity.

It does seem to be the case that high thread count isn't seen at 'popular' price points these days, as the cheaper-to-make tire is "good enough" for the expected service load & duration. And it's usual for a higher cord count to have other advantages such as lower rolling resistance and greater efficiency & performance. But for many people (and some of us), the price jump in going to the finer-cord tires can be off-putting, especially if the 30 tpi tires are doing "good enough" in general, other than the wiggles and kablooeys.

SpedFast

I purchased 2 low end Kenda tires and within 6 months both of them did the same thing OP's did and I didn't hit anything hard or jump off curbs. They just broke threads and failed. I've never had this problem with other low end tires.

HelpSingularity 

Dear OP
You are not having "bad luck" with bicycle tires and tubes. You are purchasing the absolute cheapest products possible. And then you are wondering why they don't last, luck has absolutely nothing to do with it. And yes, things cost, that is just how our world is set up. And you don't need to know about TPI, or other esoteric tire casing facts (unless you want to) to get a reliable tire and tube. Just like I don't need to know how to figure out the stoichiometry for fuel/air combustion to drive a car, I just need the keys.
Folks have mentioned many good tires, all of those will serve you well. I happen to be a Schwalbe fan boi for the last decade or so. On my touring/around town bikes I use the "Marathon" and the Marathon Plus" models. They are long wearing, UV resistant, puncture resistant and a good deal when prorated by the mile. I'll be the first to acknowledge they are not high performance racing tires. But if your goal is to have a low maintenance experience, and an almost flat free future then these tires will fit the bill. But they do cost about $60 a copy (for the "Marathon Plus", less for the "Marathon"). That is a little spendy, but how much does it cost to have tires constantly disintegrate, get punctures and valves ripping out of the inner tube, aka "bad luck".
I usually purchase inner tubes that are made in Taiwan, both presta and schrader valves. They seem to have good quality control since over the decades I have not had any issues.

tl;dr get Schwalbe Marathon or Marathon Plus tires.

mpetry912 

it doesn't take many tire failures for you to spend more on several cheap tires than buying one quality item.

any tire can get a flat but those cheapies will just disappoint you

especially if you have a flat at night, or in the rain, and the casing is split, meaning you can't ride it home

/markp

ScottCommutes

I am delighted to see so many posting my exact feelings. There are many instances in life where the money you put into something far exceeds the initial cost. By me, tear downs and fixer-upper houses would be a great example. i once bought a pair of dress shoes for $6 at the secondhand store and immediately put over $100 worth of soles and heels on them. There is simply no equality in the relationship between the initial cost of something and the money you spend to keep it going.

You can find $15 garage sale bikes. You can find free bikes and swap parts. Been there and done that. However, tires are one of those things that you pretty much have to pony up full price for.

I've also purchased brand name car tires as well as cheapies. The brand name tires work. The cheapies are the ones that get bulges and failures. Just because something looks like a decent tire from 20 feet away doesn't mean that it will perform like one.

HelpSingularity 

Preach, brother!

cyccommute 

I’ve had snake bellies develop on tires that are less than a year old. They were low thread count tires. These were about a year old. They are from my daughters bike and, granted, they were used and stored in Tucson which is harder on rubber but I’ve had similar tire problems here in cold Colorado on tires that were less than a year old.

SpedFast

I've had and still have other inexpensive tires and have gotten flats on them, but usually from glass, rocks, other sharp objects. Only the cheap Kenda's did the threads actually break which makes them totally unusable no matter how much tread they still have left. Of course, I haven't tried ALL inexpensive tires, this is just my experience with Kenda's, Vittorio's, CorsaFlex, Bell, Warden's.

Duragrouch

Generally, yes. I used to buy used tires at my LBS that has a huge selection of used parts, if the tires are normally expensive and priced cheap, but now I look much more closely, make a tight squeeze, see if any microcracks, and if any, and especially since rubber ages, I usually don't now.

I've had good luck with budget-priced 20"/406 tires, the problem is finding cheap ones with a smooth rolling tread and not BMX.

I used to have VERY good luck buying new tires over the winter on Nashbar, such as specialized kevlar belted 700x26 for like $7 each (that was over 20 years ago, but even then that was a sensational price; nashbar didn't like to keep rubber more than a season).

Car tires, I've had decent luck, not spending premium price for goodyear or michelin, but finding some foreign brands that are still large companies (especially if they are an OEM supplier, that matters greatly for test specs), and most importantly, I read deep into the reviews on tirerack.com and judge accordingly; I've usually been able to buy locally for only $50 more for 4, once I show the tirerack price (usually lopping $100 off the local list price). However in recent years, a friend had a costco card, and good michelins there where a great price for 4, so bought those.

On shock absorbers and struts, Monroe has huge marketing so people are fooled, but once I worked in automotive, I discovered they were the *worst* quality in the industry, Ford de-sourced them due to that. A guy at an OEM also told me that Goodyear had great high-performance tires (like for Corvette), but their other tires had inconsistent quality, which is why they were not an approved source. Same for Firestone. But this was 30 years ago, I don't know now.

pdlamb

I'm wondering the same thing. Granted, as the choir is singing, cheap tires fail this way. But even expensive tires fail on hitting a pothole, rock, etc. if the pressure is too low. As O.P. no doubt has bought another one, I'd recommend pumping to the maximum on the sidewall before every ride.

Renzo404

I always pump my 23mm tires up to 80 Psi in the back and 70~65 in the front. I weight 62 Kg.

rm -rf

For a 23mm tire, at bike+rider weight of 74 kg, an online tire pressure calculator says:
87 psi front,
90 psi rear.
You might want to raise the pressure a bit, and avoiding potholes would help, of course.

rm -rf

The famous Discworld quote on cheap vs expensive boots:~~~
Of course, tires don't last 10 years!

I've done that calculation on home project tools, and I didn't always know in advance if the choice was correct. Some of the expensive Makita ones were extremely worth the extra cost. Other Harbor Freight cheap tools worked great for my uses.

ScottCommutes

Here's a modern example. Look at what poor mom pays for individual servings of Tide at the laundromat vs. what rich mom pays for the same serving from her giant container of Tide from Costco. Poor mom likely knows the big Tide is a better deal, but she doesn't have the money to tie up in laundry detergent, or a Costco membership. Even if she did, she's not lugging a giant Tide to the laundromat.

Duragrouch

Some urban areas with no large supermarket, the poor, who can least afford to pay for food, pay much higher prices than those in the suburbs, with more money and also large supermarkets competing for business.

When you are an executive or engineer at a company, sales reps from suppliers are always taking you to lunch, on their bill. Same for lobbyists courting lawmakers, all well-paid.

stevel610 

Good tires: Buy once, cry once.