I just recently posted about inner tube problems flatting which after some investigation it seemed like the flats where coming from the inside , maybe the spoke holes and I purchased new cloth tape. But yesterday as I was adding the new rim tape and inner tubes( I have brand new tires ) I found this rather large rubber slice thing. I added white out around the "cut " to make it easier to see .



Well I was just installing my new tape and inner tube when I found this on my brand new tire .
Let me know what you think . I can't seem to get a break . Is my brand new tire ( couple hundred miles ) still usable for long distance. The white stuff you see is just powder residue from powdering the inner tubes.

What does it look like on the *inside* of the tire?

If the threads of the tire are still intact, that crack shouldn't be an immediate problem (although a 'new' tire shouldn't have that). You can easily tell...when you pump the tire up to pressure...if the tube blisters out of the crack...that's a problem. I.e. unusable tire. Well..."unusable"...but you could put some kind of 'boot' on the inside of the tire to prevent the tube from blistering through the crack.

Dan

It is seemingly smooth on inside . What if that cut becomes bigger and starts to separate . Though it feels like a thin skin like not much between it and the outside. Im pretty sure it has some special anti puncture material but it is soooo thin .

No there is no rupture and all my tires are high pressure I would never. I guess I will contact Competitive Cyclist where I purchased them online .

Some tires simply seem prone to that kind of cracking. I’ll generally keep using them until they either get lumpy or retired for other reasons.

I replace tires when they get cracks like that.

Now that I look at it closer, it appears to be a separation at the rubber compound . Its brand new tire .

I do not worry about superficial cracks like that, the strength of a tire comes from the fabric cords inside. As long as the cords are not damaged the tire should hold up fine.

This.

the rubber is separating from the chords. Just like a firestone 500 tire.

Rubber protects the cords from punctures. That is why most people replace them when the chords start to show. You are going to get debris in there. Send it back and demand a replacement.

Where are the holes in your inner tub es relative to your tire? If the inner tube holes are on the inner diameter, I don'ts how they could be caused by the tire.

Did you used to have those stretchy plastic rim bands? The trick with those is to make sure that every tiny little arc of exposed spoke hole is covered.

Yes I had those cheap plastic things in there , just recently. I had good cotton ones in for the longest time , for whatever reason I thought I should replace them . And I just sent the plastic ones back for a refund as well , they are crap, actually Amazon just refunded me without sending them back. In another Thread I created a week or so ago I posted photos of the plastic being sucked thru the spoke holes. Idk the innertube hole appeared to be from the inside though nothing I found sharp. I do run very high pressure apparently 115 or so.

This - in response to your original question. With every flat, it's important to look at the location of the failure, not just wrt. the circumference of the tube itself, but wrt. the cross section. That is, was it where the tube contacts the rim tape, the sides of the rim, the sidewalls of the tire, or the tread?

As for that tire, that's unacceptable for a new tire. I'll sometimes use up an old tire in such a condition, but no one should have to pay for a new tire and receive something like that.

I tried to match it up with the innertube valve and the valve wheel hole. It looked like the inner tube flat-hole was facing in. Though I did not find any sharp area only that the rim tape was sucked in the spoke holes. Yes I have sent the tire pics in for warranty replacement.

A "brand new" tire might mean that tire has sat in a warehouse or two for several years. It would be nice if there was a date of manufacture code you could read on the tire somewhere to see when it was made. Sometimes there is, sometimes there is not.

Plus, I've been seeing some bad batches of rubber and plastic parts coming in from Asia in the last couple of years. Where the rubber or plastic breaks down within months to a year of being here in the USA. Not sure how long those parts sat in warehouses in Asia before being shipped over.

When I see cracks in tires, that means to me that traction is compromised due to the rubber drying out.

A while back I hit a large crack on a sidestreet and damaged my rear tire. THe tire looked deformed but didn't have any visible cracks or breaks.




However the situation was a lot different on the inside of the tire.
Inside the tire I saw these.


Needless to say that tire was toast.

OP, I'd get a new tire just to be safe. Good luck.

Cheers

Looks maybe similar to what I experienced back on some Michelin Pro4Es, also with a 2-tone tire (gray+black). The red stripe is a color band in the tire, right? What brand tire is yours?