Grand Prix 4000s

[roadie7]

I've been using Continental Grand Prix 4000's for years. Last week I rounded a turn and heard a loud POP and realized my back tire blew out. I was surprised to see a 1/4 inch tear in the tire because the tire had less than 100 miles on it. I don't know what I ran over or hit but it shocked me. I ultimately replaced the tire with the new Grand Prix II.

I was wondering if anyone else had this experience with the tire?

Thanks.

[BobbyJones]

...............

[BobbyJones]

Do you mean running over stuff and getting a flat?

Yes, I ran something over and ruined an almost new GP4000. But it wasn't your tire so It was similar, but not the same experience.

Oh, I didn't replace it with a Grand Prix II either.



I've been using Continental Grand Prix 4000's for years. Last week I rounded a turn and heard a loud POP and realized my back tire blew out. I was surprised to see a 1/4 inch tear in the tire because the tire had less than 100 miles on it. I don't know what I ran over or hit but it shocked me. I ultimately replaced the tire with the new Grand Prix II.

I was wondering if anyone else had this experience with the tire?

Thanks.

[Black Dog]

Did the side wall blow out? If yes, conti may warrantee the tire.

[Roger M]

I had one blow out on me a few weeks ago. I don't know what I hit/ran over. The tire had about 1000 miles on it.

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/ff169/72tunaboat/IMG_20140426_141741_630.jpg

[TimAZ]

I use the same tires. I have never had one blow out on me without me riding over something large and sharp.

[rustychisel]

I had one blow out on me a few weeks ago. I don't know what I hit/ran over. The tire had about 1000 miles on it.



I use Continental 4000s very often... is it possible to run over something large enough to cause that damage and not see what you hit?

I hope I'm not being overly judgemental, but... :eek:

[Roger M]

I use Continental 4000s very often... is it possible to run over something large enough to cause that damage and not see what you hit?

I hope I'm not being overly judgemental, but... :eek:

I didn't hit anything big, it just popped riding along at about 20mph on a pretty heavily traveled road. I think the tire may have been punctured near that spot from a previous flat/glass.

[jimoots]

I use Continental 4000s very often... is it possible to run over something large enough to cause that damage and not see what you hit?

I hope I'm not being overly judgemental, but... :eek:

Is he insinuating that it was a manufacturing defect? Idk :confused:

[rustychisel]

no, genuinely surprised. And with Roger M's clarification, even more so.

[Mark McM]

I didn't hit anything big, it just popped riding along at about 20mph on a pretty heavily traveled road. I think the tire may have been punctured near that spot from a previous flat/glass.

The photo in your previous post is very obviously a cut, caused by hitting a sharp object, and not a casing failure. The cut runs on a very straight radial line, as would be expected when running over a sharp object that slices open the tire; casing failures follow the angle of the bias plies, which run at a 45 degree angle. Casing failures generally have jagged edges where the casing ripped, and also the casing and the tread don't always tear at exactly the same point; but the photo shows very clean edges, and the tread and the casing edges are well aligned.

I've had both cuts and casing failures, and the photo clearly shows a cut. You may not have noticed running over something, but that doesn't mean you didn't.

[zap]

I rode over a box cutter blade....nice big clean cut.....tufo tubular tire....normally you can't kill them. I never saw the blade when i rode over it but found it when I was looking for the object that caused the big cut.

[Jnnybrns]

I have had the exact same experience with Conti GP4000s 25s. And, same cause no cutter blade and I found the blade right there.

[bobswire]

Just bad luck, I had two Vittoria Pave tires cut much like your, one was cause my angle piece of metal hidden in shadows another from glass within a month of one another. That was over 3 years ago, haven't had a flat since on the Paves ( hope I didn't just curse myself).

[Mark McM]

From the wear pattern on the tire in the photo (slight flattening on the top of the tread) I surmise that this was rear tire. It's not uncommon that a rear tire can be sliced by a piece of metal that is difficult to see as you approach because it is lying flat on the road. Sometimes in these cases, the front tire can easily roll over the flat piece of metal with no damage to the tire - but the piece of metal can get flipped up as the front tire rolls over it, so that a sharp edge is pointing up as the rear tire comes by a split second later, slashing the tire.

[Roger M]

Thanks for all the input on my tire, and apologies to the OP for a slight derailment.

I didn't bother trying to find what I ran over. The road was real busy, and at 75 miles into y ride, I just wanted to call my wife and get ride home. whatever I hit did not jar the bike at all. I just heard the pop, and then instant flat. I've had some bad luck this year regarding tires..