Fifty Plus (50+) - A " Heads Up" on tires

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Dellphinus
05-19-08, 04:23 AM
My wife and I started out yesterday AM for a 40 mile out and back to a neighboring town. About 15 miles into it, I started bouncing a little. Looked down, and back tire was low, and getting lower. Pulled it off, and while inspecting the tire for the culprit, I noticed that about 30-40 percent of the tread sections were separated from the tire. Looked like petals- they were still attached at the sidewalls, just loose in the center of the tire. Found the puncture, popped in the spare tube, and headed home, nervously. Replaced all four tires, four new tubes too.

Now, what's odd/scary about this- I check the tires during or after every ride for debris- and when the tire is inflated, there's no indication that the tread sections are loose. Can't even seen the casing anywhere. These tires are a little over a (edit - two) years old, with a couple to three (edit 2.4 )thousand miles on them- Specialized Nimbus Armadillos (great tires if you're in a flat prone area like us).

Moral- I will now take the tires off the rims at the beginning/end of each season to inspect thoroughly.
If you haven't had yours off in a while, might be worthwile to take a look.
(edit- shop is sending them back to Specialized for eval- may be a defect. Lots of rubber left)

stapfam
05-19-08, 02:00 PM
Tyres are one of the neglected items on a bike. Till you start having problems and then you realise how important they are and start looking at them on a regular basis. One tip I was passed on by my LBS is to wash off the tread area on my slicks after every ride. With a clean tyre- you can see the nicks in the Rubber and also see the flints- thorns and glass in the tread area. Then you can dig it out before it penetrates into the tube on the next ride. And if it has penetrated- you can then fix the puncture at your leisure.
Ranger63
05-19-08, 07:54 PM
I don't patch tubes. I go with new.
I'll use the tires as backups on century rides (folding naturally)or on the mag trainer during the winter.
Closing in on 100K of cycling in my life I stopped trying to nickle an dime on the important stuff.