Road Cycling - Stupid tires are all cracked! Only 350 miles!!

Was checking my bike over this morning and I noticed the sidwalls of both my tires are cracked like crazy. Looks like when a tire gets real old and dry rotted. It's not just a couple of cracks, it's all the way around, both sides, top to bottom. They are just a total mess. They are Hutchinson Carbon Comp tires that came on my bike. Is it normal for this to happen or what's the deal here? I only have like 350-400 miles on these things!! Guess I'll ride these the rest of the fall(if they last that long) and then use them on the trainer this winter. Then get new tires next spring. :(

This pic I took doesn't really show the cracks very well but might give you an idea of what I'm talking about...

Here's another one one....

I don't think it's anything to worry about. They shouldn't fail on you structurally because of the cracks. Unless they meet some unseen pothole or piece of glass.

I like the sticker that says, "premium quality". Irony at its best

Originally posted by Phatman
I like the sticker that says, "premium quality". Irony at its best

LOL....I never even noticed that. :D Too funny!!

Unless the casing is exposed, there should be no problem. Big enough cracks in the rubber can sometimes be annoyingly prone to picking up and retaining bits of gravel and such, but that's the worst problem these otherwise benign cracks usually cause.

RichC

That does not look bad to me, it may just be surface spreading, but if you dee thread coming out stop riding.

I have a feeling that this is common with Hutchinson tyres. I have been using the standard "Excel" model for a while, and they show the same cracks in the sidewall. I have read somewhere about the "Carbon Comp" model showing the same trait.

What has been common fault in my case is failure of the fabric casing of the tyre near the bead. This has happened to me at least 3 times, always on the rear tyre and well before the tyre's tread was seriously worn. When I mentioned this at one of my local bike shops, they claimed to have heard of other instances of this problem. In the last instance, failure was preceded by a slight bulge in the tyre - it is worth watching out for this.

I have now decided to move away from using the Hutchinson brand, despite their excellent puncture resistance. I have just purchased a set of Continental "Duraskin" tyres for winter, at the recommendation of the LBS (and the Bike Forums!). It will be interesting to compare the performance. It is also fun to have a change of equipment now and
again...

Cheers,

Ed

I would try to contact Hutchinson, especially if you can find other users with the same problem. Who knows, it could of been a bad batch of rubber or something wrong with the manufacturing process. Either way, Hutchinson might make things right but you've got to ask first.

You aren't storing your bike near any heavy machinery are you? Supposed the ozone that is produced from many motors can deteriorate the rubber in the tires (rubber in anything actually)...

Jay

my carbon comps on my bike are the same way. I've got 800 miles on them. I say just live w/ it until somin happens.

I have the same tires, and with about 700 miles on them, so far no problems like that... I did have problems like that with some Vittoria Rubino tires on my old bike, only after about 300 miles... I showed one guy, he said it was probably from over-inflation on the tires causing the rubber to stretch and then crack... since then I don't run any more that about 105psi in the front, and 110psi in the back.. so far no problems

Jeff

Take 'em back. 300 miles is a very short distance to have problems with a tire...