Bridrider

Hello,

I have an interesting issue I have been having. I have been running 25mm Continental GP 4000II on my Roval SLX 64 wheels. The wheels are supper wide (30mm external). I have been doing some agressive crit racing and have noticed my sidewalls looking like garbage. Recently I did a crit with a practically new tire. It was all right hand turns. When I got done the tire looked like this:
There is significant wear on the sidewall of the tire. I haven't had this issue with any other tires. My specialized s-works turbo tires were rock solid and didn't suffer this issue.

Anyone else have similar issues? I'm wondering if it's a Conti thing? Should I be running 28mm?

rubiksoval

I have similar on my 23mm clincher Conti GP 4ks, my tubular Zipp Tangente, and my tubular Vittora Corsa. Not worried about it myself.

rubiksoval

Just me, but I don't want rock solid tires for cornering. A big reason I used the turbos for about two weeks and swore them off completely. Suppleness is good.

redlude97

Contis have thin sidewalls, this is known fact. Not a problem and why they have low rolling resistance and ride nicely. Before you go to 28s, what pressure were you running and what was your weight? That wear pattern to me would indicate too much deflection, not necessarily a problem if you felt they were gripping well at the cost of wear.

Bridrider

When I say rock solid I mean I got a whole season out of them without this issue. I actually feel they are extremely similar to the Conti's in terms of grip and feel.

Bridrider

I actually had to air them down a bit from what I had them at because the crit coarse was so rough. I usually have my rear around 90. I'm betting it was about 85 ish. I weigh 170.

Bridrider

I also have a theory that they are wearing like this because the tires mount up much more square on these really wide rims. I feel the tread needs to extend further down the tire casing on these Conti's. Maybe Specialized realized this and engineered their tires to work with these wider width rims.

TheKillerPenguin

I had that issue on an old frame with not much clearance. Didn't really cause any problems, never had a blowout or anything like that.

redlude97

were you running the 24mm or 26mm version on those wide wheels? Obviously the square/stretched shape of the tire on the really wide rim is the point, better aerodynamic shape and stiffer effective sidewall laterally but not vertically.

Bridrider

I think I was running the 26mm. Interestingly I think they measured less wide than the Conti's.

wktmeow

All my 23mm GP4000s look like that after a while, no issues that I've noticed due to it yet.

Bridrider

My issue is this is an almost brand new tire. I've had others where the sidewalls start splitting due to this long before the center tread is worn.

Ttoc6

Same. I've noticed on more recent versions of the GP, but never got it when I rode in more humid (wet..) environments.