avatarworf

Any clues on what this is and how long before the tyre collapses completely? Have no idea how this happened but I have discovered 3 on my back tyre and Andrew also has 1 on his back tyre. We have only done about 4000km on them (got 12000km out of the Vredesteins).

Camel

Not sure about fatal, but get in contact with them now, and they might be able to ship out replacements to you.

I had 3 700C SChwalbes fail under/around 4000Km. The problem I had was that the sidewall started to separate from the bead. I superglued the bead back onto one tire just to keep going for a bit. At one point I had put a smaller cheapo chinese tire inside the Schwalbe to keep it from popping off the rim. VERY ANNOYING.

Schwalbe USA was really good about replacing mine, but the shipping took a really long time because they used UPS. FEDEX would have been faster to where I was at the time (Kashgar).

They wanted to know LOT # info from inside the tire, and pictures of the problem if I could. Apparently they had a bad lot (or few) in 700c size anyways.

-The replacements are still excellent condition.

Good luck!

StephenH

Take a good look at it. If that cord is cut or coming apart, watch out for things to fail. If it's just the surface rubber off, revealing the cord, it's probably got a lot of life in it (that's what it looks like from the photo). In that case, maybe replace it but don't feel like you're living life on the edge in the meantime.

cyccommute 

Looks like the tube is starting to peak out. That's not a good thing. I'd say they're toast.

Sorry

Cave

Tyre boot until replacement arrives?

I've only "booted" once, cut a length of tyre away from the bead of a dead one and used it to patch a sidewall tear on a friend's road tyre. Worked fine for a couple of hundred Km then replaced at the end of the tour.

zzzwillzzz

+1 on the boot. i always carry one with me and i don't even tour. i use them all the time on my racing bike or to help friends. use an old tire with the beads cut off and cut into section 3-5" long

looks like the casing is coming apart from hitting potholes or other obstacles

markf

A few layers of duct tape makes an excellent boot. I sliced open my front tire on the first day of my Scotland tour, duct taped it back together, and covered 900+ miles that way. I've also used dollar bills, which made for an interesting story when I got home and tried to spend the money (the merchant took the bills, BTW).

cyccommute 

It sounds like this is more then just a simple slice on the tire...which, as you've pointed out, can be booted nicely. It sounds like the tire is separating from the bead. That probably shouldn't be booted or ridden on.

Tires are cheap...oral surgeons, orthopedists, trauma docs, hospital stays and physical therapy aren't

avatarworf

Well, we made it to Istanbul, some 300km down the road from where we took that photo. No problems so far and the cuts dont seem to have changed at all. Thankfully we can get replacement tyres here and I think we will do that because this is really the last stop for tyres for quite a while without some major hassle. We have exchanged a few emails with Schwalbe but they haven`t been very helpful. They have not replied at all to my question about what they think might have caused the fault so no clues there.

We have also had a crazy amount of flats in the last week or so. We didn`t have any at all for the first 16,500km and then in the last few days we have had six! I guess that is karma for you, although the flats and the cuts are making me wish we could find Vredesteins here.

avatarworf

Well, the final update is that we have bought 2 new Marathon XRs here in Istanbul. We are not going to mount them immediately but keep checking our tyres for any change in the cuts and replace them if we see any further deterioration.

Schwalbe did get back to me today and say they cannot tell what caused the flaw but believe it was damage on our part.

They have also advised that we buy any tyres we need for our travels from here on in and carry them with us as they cannot really ship tyres to far flung places or at least it will be very expensive. Which brings up the next dilema, carry a full set of tyres for replacement in a few months time, pay up for new ones to be shipped (maybe 100 or more euros for shipping alone to a place like India) or buy what we can find on the spot to get us from say India to Japan. Hummmmm............

Camel

Hey avatarworf-sorry to hear of your troubles with schwalbe customer service! They certainly can, and do ship anywhere in the world-they shipped mine to Kashgar western China. It just took a while because they used UPS instead of FEDEX. They did this at there cost as warranty replacement, but I was dealing with Schwalbe USA.

I dunno about India, but you will be able to get vy good tires in Nepal, as well as Thailand. In Laos you could likely get them from one of the outfitters that does MTB tours.

If your route takes you through China, folks at more western shops (ie "Giant" bike shops) can have bits shipped to each other within a few days.

Good luck, and load up on extra tubes in Istanbul. Sounds like those holes are making weak spots in your current tubes.

avatarworf

Thanks for the advice Camel, really appreciate it. It is nice to know that between here and Japan isnt a complete deadzone for half decent tyres. I think we will pick up a couple of extra tubes and then just see how we go en route to India. Maybe I will email Schwalbe USA and see if they are more helpful