joe@vwvortex

Had a weird oscillation in the rear of the tandem yesterday in the middle the ride. Pulled over and saw a strange bulge in the tire. Removed it today and it appears the casing split. First set of Schwalbe Ones after using Conti 4 seasons for years without an issue and this was about our 4th or 5th ride. However - the Schwalbe's are a much better riding and handling tire. Hopefully won't have a problem getting a return.

Ritterview

Ours failed too, I forget the reason, but it was fairly dramatic. I ordered another pair from Wiggle, but they sent me 25 instead of 28 mm!


The answer is here, hopefully:

Continental Grand Prix 4000S II Clincher Road Tyre - Black 700 x 28 mm
$44.75

I ordered my tires and they were despatched January 13th, but I haven't yet received them in CA.

reburns

When you get them I would be interested in hearing how they ride relative to the Schwalbes, and also what their actual width measures out to be.

twocicle

More data please... PSI, tire width, rim mounted on (width), plus team weight, bike weight.

zonatandem

Amazing . . .
We've had 5 tires fail in 4 weeks on 2 bikes (tandem and single).
One: a Maxxis Re-Fuse wore out (cord was showing) on the tandem rear wheel.
Two Maxxis Detonnators with a big bulge like shown on the Schwalbe. Note: Have quit buying the Detonators (bought a half dozen at once) as they all went the same route and with less than1,000 miles on them. When out on ride and they bulge I take about 10 to 15PSI out of the tire and so far have been able to limp home. Detonnator is appropriat ly named. The Re-Fuse model I've had great luck with, getting between 2,000 and 2,300 miles off a tire without any issues.
One a Serfas Seca also bulged.
All were 700x25. Wheels on tandem are Velocity Aerohead on the tandem and Topolinos on the single bike.
Just bought Vittoria Rubino Slick II 700x25 for single bike and front of tandem inflated to 105PSI and rear of tandem am trying a Michelin Pro 4 Endurance.
We are a light team under 250 lbs, combined; tandem weight sub-30lbs.
Just our input/experience.
Pedal on TWOgether!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem

Dean V

I think the Schwalbe 1 is a bit too light in its construction to use as a general purpose riding/training tyre.

IPassGas

We use Schwalbe marathon 700x28, 95psi, touring 430L lbs people/bike/gear. Go through about a pair/year/3000mi, never a serious problem. However, last couple of pairs noticed threads of tire at bead line ripping off, but doesn't seem to affect performance.

joe@vwvortex

115 psi on KinLin's XC-279, 28mm, 360lbs, 32lb bike weight.

Love the ride of these and hoping this was a fluke. Biketiresdirect.com already sent a replacement.

Id like to hear more from people who've ridden the Schwalbe's that are now on the new Conti II's. Interested to see if they are a livelier ride than the old. Not worried so much about mm of width.

dsmyers

I had the same thing happen with a Schwalbe Ultremo ZX in 28 mm, fwiw. Was very exciting when it blew out on the rear wheel, although it did give us warning and we were trying to limp home...

Edit: I should add it happened within the first 30 miles or so on the tire.

joe@vwvortex

Well I got the replacement this week and put it on for our ride today and 15 miles into the ride - the front does the same as the rear did last weekend. We were 15 miles from home and didn't want to risk limping home all the way so I made it to a local shop and bought a throwaway tire to get us home. While this might have been a bad batch -and we both love how they ride - I can't trust them so I'm asking to see if I can just get credit for both towards a replacement set.

joe@vwvortex

Got a full refund and bought some Conti GP 4000S II's in 28 - I'll have impressions next week.

jnbrown

I could never understand the fascination with Schwalbe's lightweight tires, they have a long history of high failure rates compared to other brands of tires.
We have been using Conti GP4000S for years and have never had a tire fail and very rarely do we get a flat. They are fairly lightweight and smooth riding.
On my single I use Michelin Pro tires because they have a nicer ride but i feel they are not as durable as the Conti GP4000S so I am hesitant to use them on the tandem as i think they would wear very quickly and don't want to chance getting a flat which could be a safety issue when going downhill.

2frmMI

I could never understand not appreciating the great road feel of Schwalbe's lightweight tires. ;^) We have had excellent results with the ZX and more recently the One (always 28's). Long european tour (Corsica) on One's last season with Zero problems - one flat in 1000 miles or so, and continued local (midwest; damned chip seal) use for the entire season (mileage? Must.keep.better.records…). Whenever these debates about tires come up however, we should all remember to state team weight, as that is critical data for analyzing comments. And do it in every post, maybe even put it in the sig (should take my own advice). Take Zonatandem for instance, with a 250 lb team as mentioned in his post above: they could probably ride birthday party balloons and get great durability! We are ca. 320 lb team on 30 lb tandem. Some of you are 400 lbs or more and I can readily understand why lighter tires are failing. That should not mean the tires are faulty, but rather the tires are not suited to that team.

Carbonfiberboy 

287 lb. team on a 43 lb. bike, equipped. ZX were the worst flatting tires we ever rode, bar none. I liked the road feel and wet traction, though. 5 flats in 60 miles on one ride, all different. We threw them away. It's not the team weight so much, it's where you ride. For instance, are the shoulders full of broken glass and fine flints and never swept? Is the pavement smooth or broken? We notice a difference between different local counties and between different countries. Different tires for different roads. I pick our tires clean after every ride and I'm a very attentive rider. I've never worn a tire out, either on one of my singles or the tandem. They always get cut to ribbons. Our state has had bottle deposit initiatives defeated twice and you can get arrested for having an empty beer bottle in the car.

WillFam-Reno

A suggestion - I had a simular looking failure with one of my non-schwalbe tires and found that my bike pump gauge was reading about 15 pounds low, so I was over-inflating them by 15 psi. Just something to check.

Chris_W

To add some more anecdotal evidence to yours, then last year I saw more failures on Conti GP4000S tires than Schwalbes - three Conti's split open between the bead and the sidewall, not due to damage, but simple failure. All were 25mm wide, there seemed to be a bad batch - two were bought together by a friend and failed within a month of each other, and the 3rd was on a different person's bike. Conti replaced the pair for the first person, it seemed that they knew about the issue. Therefore, IME Schwalbes are no more prone to failure than Conti's.

Michelin Pro 3 tires had a very short lifespan, but this has increased significantly with the Pro 4 model, I've only used the Pro 4 Endurance (which replaced the old mile-eating Krylion), and have been more than happy with their longevity on my single bike, getting up to 4000 km from a rear tire.

I'm currently riding Schwalbes for the first time - The One Tubeless 25mm on my single bike, with a bit of liquid sealant inside. Only about 1 month, 1000 km on them so far and they have been no problem. They were also easy to mount and inflate, two things that can be an issue with tubeless. Our front tandem rim can take a tubeless tire, plus 2 or 3 other wheels on our single bikes, so if they perform as they should then i may be using this tire on a lot of bikes soon. I believe that the tubeless version of The One has a slightly different structure than the tubed version, so hopefully it is not susceptible to the failure shown at the top of this thread.

joe@vwvortex

Honestly - I just wanted to try something new. Also my buddy has been riding them on their Calfee Tandem for many years with no real issues. I've been of similar mindset - rather have something a bit sturdier to handle the rigors of the tandem and the Conti's have been fine up until this point. Then I rode the Schwalbes and when your stoker comments on the better ride quality and handling as well as you - it's hard to not want to continue to use them. I've run many different brands and models of tires over the 43+ years I've been riding - I tend to stick with what works until it's either no longer available or I've tried something else that works better.

jnbrown

I guess I shouldn't make judgments about others tire selections.
Use what works for you. I wouldn't be surprised that the Schwalbe One rides smoother than a GP4000S and would try them myself if I had not had so many trouble free miles with the Contis.
Another interesting tire I have heard about is Michelin Pro Optimum, supposed to be a high mileage tire.

Chris_W

I think that one is no longer made, see Michelin's road tyre selection here. I think the closest current tire of theirs would be the Pro 4 Endurance.

Ritterview

My Conti GP4000s ii 28 mm (discussed above) were finally delivered from PBK, it took over 5 weeks. Possibly this was the result of the port strike, I'm not sure.

We replaced our Grand Prix 4-Seasons 28 mm, which had measured about 26 mm. The GP4000s's are noticeably plumper. We took them on a ride today, and both of us thought they were great. Much smoother ride, nice grip, seemed to have low resistance. Glided over irregularities, rather than sinking in and out of them. Really reduced harshness for the stoker.

So, what's the width? Drumroll....






28.73 mm. Was essentially the same on both tires.

joe@vwvortex

We did two rides on the new II's this weekend and agree with your assessment. Much better than the previous Conti's Grand Prix 4 Seasons in terms of ride quality etc. Definitely bigger too. I would put them very close to the Schwalbes in terms of overall livelyness and size as well. I also ran these with 110psi - vs 115 and they were fine at that psi.

I don't have a digital caliper - and I'm running the Kinlin XC279's but mine measured in a near 30mm. My old GP 4 seasons measured in at just about 27mm.

robmitchell

Hi,

Always good to read tiire reviews from people that use them on their tandem.

We tried the Schwalbe Ones (25mm on new Rolf tandem wheels)last Fall on a week long tandem ride. We had no flat tires (300 lbs team) on medium roads on the coast of Croatia with Santana Cyles tour group. It was spectacular.

The tires wore down fast and I was not impressed enough to use them on the tandem again.
For a one day or week long event where speed and comfort are favored over durability I would rate them below the 28mm Ultremo ZX we had used before.
I do endorse the Schwalbe Durano Plus as a nice tandem tire despite the weight, it rides ok and is durable.
I had some bad experiences with some Continental 4 season tires bulging badly about 7-8 years ago so have not used them since. It could have been a bad batch.
I have used the newer Michelin (pro race 4)on my single road bike and somehow had the thin side wall develope small slits that would pop the inner tube. These were hard to spot and one left me with no option but to call for a ride since it split about 1/2 inch as the tube blew. They did ride nice but I have no idea how the side developed the small cuts on seperate tires in good condition.
I will try the new Continental soon and have the Durano Plus on hand as a reliable back up.

Rob

Dean V

Tyre reviews seem to be like wheel reviews. Different people seem to get widely varying results for the same thing.

joe@vwvortex

Just like brake pads and motor oil on car forums. The biggest variables the affect tires on tandems are team weight and air pressure. Which is why I am pretty cautious about trying different stuff once I've found something that works.

Dean V

On a 23mm rim my 28mm Ultremo ZX measures 30.5mm and a 25mm Michelin ProRace4 is 28.5mm.