NoWhammies

My front tyre is a tubeless Pirelli Cinturato. While cleaning my bike this afternoon I noticed that a thread/cord is pealing off at the bead on the tyre. I left it there, although the thread is approx 7cm long.

Do I need to concern myself? Is the tyre starting to fall apart? Should it be replaced?

Thank you.

DrIsotope

I have the same on my Cinturatos, have had the same on my Continental Gatorskins, have had the same on my Panaracer Paselas. Seems to be purely cosmetic, though the Conti shed a lot more thread than any of the others.

From what I understand, it's from something called a chafer strip, which is an extra layer of rubber over thread applied to the sidewall, to prevent damage to the sidewall during mounting. So once a tire is mounted, it's not doing anything.

andrewclaus

I've had some Gatorskins shed quite a bit too, no problem.

easyupbug 

I always pull and/or trim them off as I just don't like threads flopping around my wheels, brakes, fenders, etc., Continentals are the worse.

NoWhammies

Thank you for the replies. Much appreciated.

Wilfred Laurier

You can tell a tire is damaged if it has a noticeable wobble when you spin the wheel. You can usually feel the wobble while riding. If you can't see it or feel it, it's not a problem, so cut the loose thread off close to the tire with scissors and forget about it.

pdlamb

Those Gatorskin meshes drive me up the wall if I leave them on. If nothing else, they introduce a periodic "whap - whap - whap" against the brakes and/or fenders. Fingernail clippers let me get them as short as possible without yanking what's still glued on.