MePoocho

I don't ride on Saturday and my bike stays in my bench maintenance stand all weekend. Went out today only to discover that my rear tire was flat.

Inspection of the outer center tread area shows quite a few small 'slices' or 'splits' down to the cords if several areas. None appear to have cut any of the cords, but I can't really be sure. I also do not know if any of these caused the flat. I'll pull the tube out tomorrow and locate the injury spot. Which I'll match to it's location inside the tire.

My questions to all of you that have lots of milage on these bicycle 'thin' tires are..... Can I get some more milage out of this tire with these slices?? Also, what kind of milage can I expect riding on paved streets, baring any injuries?

The tire is a Continental Gatorskin 32mm 700c and has 1,590 miles......

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DrIsotope

Those are glass cuts. And every tire I own is absolutely riddled with them.

How long a tire will last is affected by so many variables any number anyone gives you would just be a blind guess.

dedhed

normal urban road debris cuts. Glass, sharp edge pebbles, etc.

FBinNY 

Par for the course here in the metro NY area. Tires look like that after a week or so.

I ignore them completely, but if I get a flat, I take the opportunity to inspect the tire from the inside while it's off anyway. If I see cuts all the way through, I'll either glue in a regular patch or a cloth boot depending on the size of the cut.

The regular patches are simply to protect the tube but the boots are to reinforce the tire and delay or prevent the body plies from spreading apart over time.

CliffordK

Probe the bottom of all the cuts for embedded glass with something like the Swiss Army Knife leather punch.

If tire not deformed, keep riding until you can't keep the tires inflated anymore.

woodcraft

Rocks lodge in the cuts (as in pic),

and can be forced in over time to cause a puncture.

I dig the bits out & seal the cuts with a bit of shoe goo.

MePoocho

Hey everybody... Thanks for the advise. I'm used to fat knobby mcy tires. These road bike tires are sure dainty in comparison. All the posts give me confidence and understanding.

I do watch the wear dimples and after about 1,590 miles I'm still good. I'll check the slices for debris and inspect the inside of the tire when I replace the tube.

Again thanks for the input... I'm still learning.

MePoocho

Pulled the tire off the rim this morning. Found a crescent shaped sliver of metal protruding into the inside of the tire. Inspection of the injury on the outside of the tire the metal was not visible. Also the puncture is different than the 'slices' caused by shards of broken glass on the roads. I should have caught this yesterday when I was freaking out over the glass cuts. Oh well.

Gee,, these bike tires are thinner than most of the men's protection devises I've worn......

Again, thank y'all for the input.......

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Obviously a 'puncture'.

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Only visible from the inside of the time.

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SquidPuppet

tmi

Iride01 

How old are those Gatorskins? Looking at all the little cuts and shards embedded in the tread reminds me of the old Conti Ultra Sports that I used to ride on. Before almost every ride, I'd inspect the tread and flick the shards out with my fingernail or some tool if it didn't want to come out. I was afraid the shards would eventually work their way in and puncture my tube.

I feel that I got good life out of them otherwise and still have the last set hanging up for a supposed emergency or just my tendency to hoard. You might look into some other newer tires in the Continental line up. Or some other mfr. I switched to some Vittoria's that have their newer tread technology and I get a much more comfortable ride even at higher PSI's and to date, no shards embedded in my tread like my old tires. I seldom bother to inspect them as fastidiously as I did my previous tires.

I think Conti has similar tread tech in their new tire lineups. Gatorskins are still old tech though just like some of Vittoria's are still old tech.

MePoocho

Iride01,

I put these tires on last June. This was the first puncture I've experienced. I'll look at the Vittoria line.

Thanks.....