So I don't remember which thread it was, but someone once mentioned bontrager hardcases having the skin start to come apart after a few thousand miles or so...SO anyway I have these tires 700 x 28 (about 1400 miles on them) and I actually have my bike on craigslist right now so I was looking real close and I noticed a tread like separation as if my slicks suddenly had a tiny little groove that went all the way around my tire. I looked on the other side and sure enough in the same spot where the black meets the gray tread there is a smaller and less frequent but still there little split. The center contact patch is getting lots of lines in it too like it's cracking as well. I was just blown away at having a similar issue. I bought my bike last spring on sale, (it's a 2009) could they be some pretty old tires on a new bike? It seems with the reviews and good things I've heard about hardcases they'd last a little longer. Thoughts?

Some tires have defects and wear out sooner then others.
Get some new ones if you want.

There are many makes/models of 'flat resistant' cycling tires. After about 3 mos. of reading, investigating, looking through reviews, seeing the manufacturing process on the respective types I ended up selecting Schwalbe Marathon Plus 700x28mm for my primary commuter/utility bike. They were a ***** to mount and I thought I'd made a huge mistake. 16,000+ miles on this one set over the last 3+ years has convinced me they may be the best all-around commuter/touring/utility tire on the market. I've got 700x25mm on my recreational rb and my fg as well. Combined they've given me 20,000+ miles w/one slow leak and 2 flats, one of which was a blowout due to a weak spot in the tube on a real hot day on new asphalt. Nothing to do w/t tire. Haven't noticed any age cracks beginning on the sidewalls and I inspect my tires frequently.

The only negative is the rolling resistance, but as I'm not a speed guy anyway they suit me just fine. Under load what's the diff? Even on my rb I do centuries, 50s, etc. I'm not a social cyclist, so there's no pressure to 'keep up or get dropped'. While I've got no experience w/other brands/models I would recommend these to anyone interested in as flat resistant a ride as one could want short of Nu-Teck airless.

That may of been my post. The tread separated from the carcass of the tire for me in several places, after less than 500 miles, on three tires. I did ride a bit on gravel trails, but two other types of tires have thousands of miles on the same and are have held up fine.

I have one hard-case I keep as an emergency spare, there's some cracking between the softer grey and stupidly hard black middle layer, it has maybe 100 miles on it.