Barely made it home from my ride

[wavinwayne]

I was on the last 5 miles of a 25 mile ride this morning, when I noticed something felt off with the rear wheel. I stopped and looked and yikes, the rear tire is disintegrating. I decided to also inspect the front tire and found it deformed as well. I got this 2014 Trek Madone bike in new condition from an estate sale in summer 2023, and these are the original tires. Honestly I had no idea how long they would last. The answer is approx 600 miles. Got some new Continental Gatorskins on order.

 

[supton]

Well you got the last bits of life out of them! I think I've ridden on older tires, and I want to say, they tend to do similar, give up in short order.

I used to do 4000's but they seemed to stop selling those so now I have 5000's (?). Shorter life but generally speaking I flat when I don't keep the tires pumped up, then hit a rock or pothole. I've taken to carrying 3 tubes on rides... wonder how easy those Gatorskins will come on and off for you when you get them?

Edit: recently I started having wonky ride issues, felt like a wobble. Half the spokes had pulled out a bit due to numerous cracks around the nipples. Like most of the spokes on the drive side decided to simultaneously give up. Weird. Scrapped that wheel, onto the next one--which unfortunately is just a hair harder to put tires onto.

 

[wavinwayne]

Well you got the last bits of life out of them! I think I've ridden on older tires, and I want to say, they tend to do similar, give up in short order.

I sure did. I started to replace them when I got the bike but figured "what the heck" I might as well use them if they don't fall apart on the first ride.

... wonder how easy those Gatorskins will come on and off for you when you get them?

They're easy on/off, at least the folding bead ones. I've used several of them in the past with very good results.

 

[Cruisin'n5thgear]

My 2018 Emonda tires are starting to show cracking, so your timeline seems about right for these "high-performance" tires. Durability, grip, price ... pick two. If ten years is the max on passenger car tires, seems reasonable for a few grams of rubber that keep you upright on two wheels at high speeds.

Still shockingly expensive to replace.

 

[wavinwayne]

My 2018 Emonda tires are starting to show cracking, so your timeline seems about right for these "high-performance" tires. Durability, grip, price ... pick two. If ten years is the max on passenger car tires, seems reasonable for a few grams of rubber that keep you upright on two wheels at high speeds.

Still shockingly expensive to replace.

MTB tires are ridiculously expensive these days, too!

 

[ecotourist]

You got maximum life out of those tires.

A friend told me about a buddy who did something similar with his Volvo. He ran them until those tires were bald. When he finally went to a tire shop there was a little bump to get in the door. He blew out 2 tires. That's another example of maximum life. I wouldn't recommend it though.

 

[mrsilv04]

I've been using Gatorskins for several years now. Usually one front tire will outlast two rear tires. They mount up easy enough for me, and I'm no expert. No plans to use any other tire anytime soon.

Bike has 16,000+ miles on it (a Specialized Allez Elite - 18 speed).

 

[MRC01]

That looks like a flat spot from locking the rear brake that scrubbed away the rubber down to the cord. For a city bike Gatorskins are great. They aren't the fastest or lightest tires, but they roll well and are very robust. For racing (max speed & efficiency) the Conti GP5000 cannot be beat.

 

[wavinwayne]

That looks like a flat spot from locking the rear brake that scrubbed away the rubber down to the cord...

That's definitely what it looks like but this is 100% the old tire disintegrating. It was never flat spotted. Notice also how the tire is warped around the torn spot. The front one was doing the same thing but hadn't separated just yet. These things were just waaaaaaaay past their freshness date.

Also, agree with your take on the Gatorskins. I've used them before, and they are perfect for my riding style. No racing for this guy.

 

[supton]

I think I've seen some thin spots on my Conti's; about the same size. But no carcass damage.

I should order a Gatorskin. I only get about 4k out of a rear tire before it's time? To be fair, my riding includes a stretch of pavement that someone went and ran a cheese grater over--and a fair amount of dirt road riding (I might get 1k out of a chain). The sidewalls on my 28mm rear tire tends to get chewed up too. But I recall reading (and this was years ago) that people had issues mounting/dismounting? maybe I'm confusing them with a different tire altogether, I did a fair amount of reading before settling on the 4000's. And unless if Gatorskins shrug off pinch flats, the 4000's have been good enough for me.

Way nicer than the Bontrager Race Lites that I used to have--they were good at not taking damage and not being easy to mount.

 

[wavinwayne]

Finally installed the new Gatorskins and went for a quarter century ride. Ride was uneventful in a good way.