GP4000s End of Karma

[sitzmark]

Well, I can talk about it now .... the streak is over.

Had my first puncture yesterday since August 18, 2010. 3 years and 13,478 miles - not a bad run. Ironically happened on one of the smoothest roads around in Dover, MA. A few wayward rocks - dodged one and rear caught another.

Technically this is my first "on-road puncture" since switching tire choice to Conti GP4000s in early 2010. My one other puncture with GP4's on 8/18/10 happened when a sharp sandy curve at the bottom of a hill caused me to bail on the turn and scrub speed. Took a short trip through the brush and into a rock retaining wall, which flatted the front. My fault, not the tire's.

So, off in search of (renewed) Karma... :)

[MattTuck]

That's a good run. :)

[rice rocket]

23s or 25s? And how much do you weigh?

[thwart]

We need the specifics here, so we can try to reproduce this ourselves.

Are you running 23 mm tires, or 25 mm?

And what is your weight, and tire pressure?

[thwart]

23s or 25s? And how much do you weigh?

Great minds think...

[bianchi10]

That is a great streak!

[sitzmark]

23s or 25s? And how much do you weigh?

23s spread over 4 wheelsets (3xZipp Team Issue/1x404 clincher) and 3 bikes. Run at 110psi (if my JoeBlow is accurate). Typical ride weight during the period 190-195. Last weighing 199 in early Aug. Hope I'm sub-195 now, but ... :)

[FlashUNC]

The first rule of flats is you don't talk about them.

Don't jinx yourself man.

[sitzmark]

The first rule of flats is you don't talk about them.

Don't jinx yourself man.

That's why I've just smiled for 3+ years when any mention of flats came up. Figured I got a good run, can't complain ... maybe passed good Karma onto someone else now. ... going back underground.

[br995]

I flatted my very first ride on GP4000s. And then got a cut in the sidewall just a few months later. Would never go back.

My go-to road tires for 7 years now have been Maxxis Re-Fuse in 23. I get maybe one flat every two years.

[oldpotatoe]

We need the specifics here, so we can try to reproduce this ourselves.

Are you running 23 mm tires, or 25 mm?

And what is your weight, and tire pressure?

Be sure to include the info on the rocks....

You could duplicate this exactly and get a flat the next ride....

I get, "the tire and tube are new but lost air, any idea why? Yep, ya got a hole in the tube."

[beeatnik]

Those 13478 miles represent about 276,000 round trips around the new subdivision, right?

[sitzmark]

Those 13478 represent about 276,000 round trips around the new subdivision, right?

Well, sorta. A lot of it is over the same dozen or so 25-50 mile loops that I regularly ride in MA and ME, but surfaces vary quite a bit.

A fair amount of beat up ME country roads in those miles, as well as ruralburban metroWest Boston. Ironically Dover MA has about the best paved roads in the Boston area and that's where it happened.

Sunday shop ride is usually a crap shoot as leader and route rotates weekly. Come to think of it, only twice has any of us punctured on a Sunday ride (usually 50+/- miles) in that time. Probably get a dozen Sundays in a season with them and some Thurs nites (same route always).

[TimD]

Ignoring old* for a moment, what road in Dover? There's a lot of gravel after last weekend's monsoon.

[br995]

Ironically Dover MA has about the best paved roads in the Boston area
Truth. One of the reasons it's a popular loop, I'm sure.

[tlittlefield]

GP 4000S's have been my only tire over the past five years or so. Have had a very similar experience :-)

[sitzmark]

Ignoring old* for a moment, what road in Dover? There's a lot of gravel after last weekend's monsoon.

Pine St. just before Centre. Rolling up a good head of steam downhill on final approach when I noticed a few groupings of 2"-4" crushed stones along the roadway. Kicked some of them off where I ended up when stopped, but didn't walk back uphill to clear the entire section. Happy I took out the back rather than the front.

The whole ride through Franklin, Wrentham, Medfield, Dover, Millis, Norfolk, etc. had sand and gravel in all kinds of new places. Probably was the rains over the holiday w/e.