wroomwroomoops

Hello all. This is the situation on a relatively new (only 7 months of light usage) 26x1.75" Continental Contact Extra Light (presumably a puncture resistant tire) - see photos:






What I noticed is that there is some sort of fabric, like sink, just above the bead, and it has now detached from the carcass/rubber of the side of the tire, and it is losing threads. I pulled out a few myself, as they were loose.

Is this fabric holding the beat in place? May I end up with the carcass detaching from the bead and hence a blow out inner tube?

JohnDThompson 

IME, that's an impending blowout. The fabric is indeed what holds the bead onto the tire, and if it gives out the inner tube will extrude through the gap and burst. I'd replace the tire, and try to determine why this happened. It may be that your brake pads are set too high and abrading the tire when you apply the brakes.

cyccommute 

I don't think it's an impending blowout. More likely poor quality control in which the fabric that overlays the bead didn't get sealed down with rubber properly. When the polymer was injected into the mold, it didn't spread out properly but I doubt that it will separate.

I agree that the brake pads may also be too high.

FBinNY 

I'm with Cycommute here, but the OP has to look at his tire and know what's happening.

Some tires are made with an added protective cloth strip wrapped around the bead to prevent chafing against the edge of the rim. If that's detaching from the tire, it's not an issue since the air pressure will keep it home.

OTOH - if an overhanging brake show is rubbing on the tire, it will quickly wear through the surface and cut into the tire. When that happens it's only a matter of (short) time before the cord is weakened enough for the tire to blow apart.

So the question is, are the tire's body ply cords cut. or only an exterior protective strip.

BTW- looking at the wear pattern of the rim which shows wear right up to the edge, I'll venture 3 beers to one, that there's some shoe overhang cutting into the tire. It looks like it was caught in time, but only just.

wroomwroomoops

Thank you all. Great stuff, as usual in this subforum.

In spite of the consensus, however, I think the brake pads aren't actually touching the tire. I will double-check tomorrow and, as usual, report back. Possibly with photos..

dsbrantjr

It looks like brake pad damage to me, too. Check the pads' position when the brakes are firmly applied, perhaps also exerting a forward force on the bike in case the brakes shift position under load.

wroomwroomoops

I checked today in the morning, and as I suspected, the brakepads are not rubbing against the tire. The nearest points between tire and pad are about 3 mm apart when the lever is depressed.

You might be more willing to abandon the rubbing hypothesis if I tell you that the fabric you see in the photos is not nearly as far removed from the carcass - it is somewhat flush though detached. It was me who moved it apart to make it more visible in the pictures.
And the other thing I need to say is that the rim was previously used by someone else (it came with the bike I bought 2nd hand) so the scratches near the top of the rim were not caused by the brakepads I replaced.

Welp.... Continental lost a customer. I want to believe that these are some of the tires they make in Russia and not in Germany.

Joe Minton

There's nothing functionally wrong with what you see, its just ugly.

The cloth Conti uses to overwrap the bead tends to fray a bit, just like a piece of any cloth may. This fraying is normal and is the reason for pinking shears.

It is ugly and I wish they'd fix it, but --- it does not affect the function of the tire. I just pick it off when a strand of the cloth unravels. This minor fraying alarms many folks and has to be causing Continental some business.

Joe

rmfnla

So hard to tell from a picture.

If you do decide to continue to ride on it at least make sure it's on the rear...

wroomwroomoops

Thanks Joe - I learned a new term today: pinking shears

I bloody well hope it does! This is helluva shoddy.

Joe Minton

Yep, Shoddy. I have great respect of Continental and use nothing else but they need to address this irritation.

Joe

clydeosaur

I third Commute's words. I had this happen to 3 Conti 4000's in the past. I rode all tires to the wear marks. No bulges, bubbles or blowouts. Just the occasional annoying black thread finding it's way wrapped around my axle nuts.

wroomwroomoops

Aright, thanks.

Really, there is no need to buy Continental in a world where Schwalbe exists. I was suckered into the purchase by an attractively low price for a puncture resistant tire. Never again. Also, as they say: a satisfied customer will tell some people. An unsatisfied customer will tell everyone.

fietsbob

Take the tire off apply some rubber (contact) cement to bind the fibers together let it dry thoroughly talc the tire to slip over the rim easier and put it back On.

djb

Last year one of my ultra gator skins 28mm did this exact thing. No brake rub, just increasing defraying . I was going to contact continental but never did, partly because I had put a reasonable number of kms on the tire and part just putting it off. I was going to replace the tire for a two day trip last september medium loaded, but still wanted a new tire anyway.
I may still have the tire, and now that it wasn't an isolated case, may contact them so that they know.
I like the gatorskins but they should be told of the issue.

a77impala

This has happened on different brands of tires for me, I think if they served a purpose the tire would bulge when the thread frayed. I just trim the loose threads and ride on.

mpe104

The tires look to be drying out, you can see the bead starting to show through the sidewall. I have seen this happen on many tires, and I would suggest spending the money to replace them. just my .02

rmfnla

I don't see any bead showing...

mpe104

meant the threads on the sidewall not the beads. my b

When you start seeing the casings and threads on sidewalls its time to change a tire.

FBinNY 

Like Mark twain, rumors of this tire's death are greatly exaggerated. Like many lighter ties, the wall fabric shows through even when new. Seeing the body plies is not the same as having them cut. The former barely matters, the latter is a sign of the end being near.

mpe104

Well said, with that tire showing signs of wear in other ways I would rather be safe then sorry.
Love the sig btw

"WARNING, I'm from New York. Thin skinned people should maintain safe distance."

I'm from NJ so I can realate

djb

my gatorskins were about 2 years old tops, and I did ride that tire all summer and put on a good 3000km or soafter noticing this before replacing it. I basically just kept an eye on it and over time, more threads came loose. I thought of putting some stuff on it to glue the areas down, but never did. I'm not sure but the tire must have had at least 5000km on it, maybe more, but I cant recall.

wroomwroomoops

I replaced the Continental Contact with a Schwalbe Marathon. Suggest fun and creative ways to get rid of the Continental tire.