karldub

Hi,

I purchased a set of clincher Specialized Turbo Cotton 28mm 10 months ago and have ridden about 200 kilometres on them. They havent seen much sun at all and during the winter they were "stored" mounted on the bike wheels in the garage (temperature about 10 degrees celcius / 50* Fahrenheit) for about 5 months.

Now, I noticed there are cracks in the rubber pretty much all along on both tyres. Any input on what may be causing this? Is this normal or just a bad set of tyres?

Andrew R Stewart 

10 months is fairly short a time for rubber cracks to show but these tires might have been made a year before (their life didn't start at the time you bought them) and they are a performance product. Racing tires are not made to last a long time, just to offer the best tide while they last.

Have you talked with either Specialized or the place you bought them from? Andy

billridesbikes

Do you have furnace, water heater, water softener, or laundry in the garage? If you’re storing the bike next to something that is generating a lot of ozone, either by design or because it’s malfunctioning, I can see this happening to a race tire or tubular in a few months.

Iride01 

Storage conditions can deteriorate tires quickly. Ozone, chemicals that might have gotten on them during the last ride and sat on them for the months in storage. Or just a slightly not so perfect mix of tire compound on your tire. And if these are the high tier tire, performance is for speed and weight, not longevity.

I've had tires that look like that, I've ridden them for thousands of miles with no issues. Sure, eventually it might wear out or flat sooner.

If you spend time here on the forums, you'll see that this same question gets ask over and over and over and over. So you aren't the first. I'm sure most of us have experienced this at some point if we are the sort of people that pay close attention to stuff. Though I still get a kick out of those people that are so unaware that they take their bike out for a ride on flat tires! <grin>

karldub

Thanks for the input.

There are no chemicals in that room. But I actually had the same thing happen last year to another set of tires (Continental Gatorskins Tubular) which were stored in another part of the garage/cellar. They were also about 1 years and had maybe been ridden for 400 km so nothing crazy.

Im starting to believe something about the temperature/humudity conditions seem to exacerbate the issue. Maybe I should deflate the tires before winter storage to slow down the deterioration process?

If I’m understanding you correctly however, you think I should still get a lot of mileage out of them even with the cracks present?

smd4

Wrenching in Southern California, we were always told that ozone (i.e., smog) caused this to happen...

I also use Armorall on my tires... and brake hoods, and anything else on my bike made of rubber.

pdlamb

I expect you can easily get another summer's worth of riding out of those tires.

Now the 30 seconds' disclaimer in the 45 second ad:

It would be a good idea to check the tires weekly or before each ride to make sure the cracks aren't growing laterally. If part of the tread flakes off or you can see fabric at the bottom of the crack(s), it's time to change the tire.

If you decide to buy a spare tire or two, wrap it up in a black plastic garbage bag and store it somewhere inside your house or apartment. I routinely keep a year (or three) worth of spare tires under my bed, and I've never seen the rubber dry up and crack.

Ask your Bicycle Repairman if a new tire is right for you!

ThermionicScott 

Merely deflating the tires won't help. If anything, I'd think that keeping them in their intended shape (inflated) would be better.

That said, I do store brand-new folding tires in 2-gallon Ziploc bags. Not sure if it helps, but it can't hurt.

KerryIrons

Those tires are showing the effects of age. One possibility is that they sat in a warehouse somewhere for a long time. Another is that they were exposed to heat/ozone in that warehouse, or in your storage area. No way a year-old tire should be doing this. No way.