Defective Schwalbe
 

I got my first pair of Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires a couple months ago. I've only put a couple hundred miles on this bike.

Today I found it with the front tire blown off the rim. Seams the bead is coming off the rest of the tire. http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z...TireDamage.jpg

I'm glad that it did not happen when I was riding it.

I wrote to Schwalbe. We'll see what they do about it.

Hey, I've got one of those on the front. Let me know what happens.

Same here!

Mine DID blow while riding, but I limped the trike back, using the old Dollar Bill trick.

The tire separating from the bead does seem like a warranty situation. Do keep us "posted".

I got a nice email from them asking me for a photo and details.
They also said that I may have to mail the tire to them.

I responded. When I hear from them again I'll let you know.

What details?
What size tires (dia x width)?
What rims did you have the tires mounted on, and how wide are the rims (inside/outside mm)?
What pressure were the tires last inflated to?

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I saw on a German forum some time ago people found problems with these tires delaminating their treads. The details were not given, and nobody else seems to have been able to replicate the problem.
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That's pretty much what Schwalbe asked me. I filled out their web site form last night. This morning this email was waiting for me.
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"We are sorry to hear about the problem you are experiencing with our
product. Unfortunately, as with all mass produced product, these things
sometimes happen. Not to worry, we always will stand behind our
product.

In order to access the situation we would need to see a couple of
pictures of the damaged area or have the tire returned to us for further
inspection.

If you are able to send some digital photos, please also include the
following information and reply to this e-mail:

Tire model/size/color/folding bead/wire bead:
Date of purchase:
Purchased at:
Miles ridden:
Inflation pressure psi:
Serial No. inside the tire:
Rim model:"
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Here's some of the tire info:
Marathon Plus 25 - 622 | 700 25C HS348 Wire bead
Miles ridden: About 300
Inflation pressure psi: 100
Rim model: Mavic MA3 ( I don't know how wide they are)

I answered them this morning (and sent the picture). This afternoon I got this:
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"Thank you for providing all the information. We will send a replacement tire to you.
Happy Trails,"
- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Response time was less than 24 hours - heck, I'm satisfied!

Has the wire/kevlar bead actually separated from the tire, or is the stuff coming off in the pic just the excess rubber below the wire/kevlar? I don't think that bit of excess rubber actually serves any purpose. I have had it peel off when removing a tire with no ill effects after remounting.

This occurrence does scare me a bit. I have a pair of 26x1.5" Marathons with the new tread on my LHT, and it would be bad news for a tire to suddenly blow out when carrying a load.

we see 'defective' tires at the bike shop ALL THE TIME, and it's usually a case of mounting error on the part of the purchaser, as far as we can determine. the shop still exchanges them for customer goodwill, but ripping the rubber out under the bead and exposing the bead so the tire subsequently fails seems to be a common 'defect' customers come in with.

in the summer its like there's an epidemic of 'defective' tires.

just like with tubless mtn tires, do not mount tires with tire irons unless you are absolutely unable to coax them on with your hands. preferably, a tire jack is friendlier on your tight fitting tires than levers.

The wire bead was still there and I would have thought it was excess rubber except that there was little lip left and the tire did pop off the rim in that spot. And, to answer another post, I don't think that I mounted them badly.

Hello,
I am sure this is a production fault. But even if you were driving with this defect tire I don't think that it would had come to an accident. Nevertheless I would go to the dealer where you bought the tire. But normally tires count to wearing parts .... so I'm not shure wheter the dealer makes a replacement - but you should try to.

Well before this happened I did notice on smooth pavement that the tire was slightly uneven. I could feel the slight bump. I looked at it to see if the wheel was out of true and could tell that it was the tire - not the wheel. I should have taken the tire off then to check it out and remount it. I don't know if that would have helped. 2 days later the tire blew off at the spot where it was bulging slightly. Good thing it did not happen when I was riding. Next time I feel a slight bulge I'll check it right away - and fix it.

Perhaps when you put the tire on initially, it wasn't seated evenly on the rim? That was a common problem I had the first 5 times I put Mara Pluses on bikes.

That's a possability, but I don't think so. It was good for a few hundred miles. Plus the rubber hanging off and below where the rubber used to be there was verry little ridge left - where the bead should be.

I'm afraid to try the tire again for fear that the bead will not hold again but will give when I'm moving.
If I have a spare rim I would mount the tire on it and let is sit for a few weeks.