[NelsonFromLondon]

I wonder if any reader have come across this problem? The ‘gatorskin’ layer has detached from the sidewall on my 28mm Continental tyres!

Will try to load pictures, but not sure how to!

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[matthewn5]

Same thing happened with my

Same thing happened with my friend’s Gatorskins, the ‘mesh’ layer started to disintegrated on one of them. Her bike shop advised her to replace it which she’s done.

[Chris Hayes]

My dethreading has been going

My dethreading has been going on for years.  I guess the thing to do is to take a photo of your tyre every time this happens and send it to Continental whilst adding to this post.  I’ll start with my new 5000TLs… today. Plus the 28mm 4000IIs on bike 2…

[NelsonFromLondon]

I’ve just heard back from
I’ve just heard back from Continental Tyres’ customer relations who I’ve been liaising with about these sidewall issues. This is what they said:

“Fraying bead tape has now been rectified on current production.
Seeing the Duraskin layer come off like that is not something I’ve seen in around 25 years of working with Conti, but have see two recently. I don’t see this as a batch issue though.”

I would not say this is totally satisfactory as this site alone has identified two cases of the duraskin sidewall delaminating, but hopefully Continental will now be more aware of the issue and, like the issue with the bead fraying, revise production to try and ensure it does not recur. Meanwhile I am pleased to say on a personal level that Continental Tyres have accepted that my own tyres were faulty, at least in so far as they have offered to replace them. Really not sure why Cycle Surgery failed to come to a similar conclusion!

[Chris Hayes]

It would certainly be

It would certainly be interesting to hear their response.  I have to say the blow out that I had didn’t stop me replacing the GP4000II with another pair, immediately – I just assumed that I had ridden them to death.  Now I’m begining to wonder whether the dethreading contributed to it… you’d think so at those high pressures, right? 

Interesting the response your iniital post has prompted.  Like I said, I never really gave it a second thought but Conti may have some serious QC issues.. 

[Judge dreadful]

NelsonFromLondon wrote:

Hi Stuart, Yes I did consider the possibility that the brakes were the cause and carefully checked them out, but they were not to blame!  I’m really at a loss as to how this could have happened, but I rather feel it must be a manufacturing fault as both front and rear tyres have the same thing, which is why I’ve been asking for feedback to see if this is a common complaint.

It’s more common than some of the fan boys of Conti would have you believe.

[Judge dreadful]

NelsonFromLondon wrote:

NelsonFromLondon wrote:

Wow! I’m kinda shocked to hear that you’ve had such a bad experience with Continental tyres. I thought maybe my troubles were a one off, but this doesn’t appear to be the case. Out of interest, what width tyre did you have the problems with as my troubles only came when I changed to a 28 mm.

25mm when I had the issues.

[NelsonFromLondon]

Good point. I know that the
Good point. I know that the wider the tyre the lower the pressure. However I run my 28mm on 100psi, somewhat higher than you, but lower than the 115psi that Continental state as a maximum. I have run nearer to 70psi on occasions, but only when I have been lazy about pumping, and quite frankly I find the resulting ride hard work compared to a nice firm 100psi. Maybe my weight is a factor at just under 80kg.

[bikeman01]

Running with too high

Running with too high pressure? I run continental 28s with about 70psi and never had this problem.

[NelsonFromLondon]

Interested to hear that the

Interested to hear that the beading tape is prone to fray.  This seems to be a slightly different problem from what I am experiencing with the ‘duraskin’ sidewall becoming completely detached.  In fact, like you, I have had the bead tape fray on my tyres and just pulled them off the lose threads.  Maybe it’s my own paranoia but I feel more alarmed by the ‘duraskin’ delamination issue, it simply feels like the tyre is kinda unraveling itself and could do something unexpected. I could be completely wrong of course and maybe the frayed beading is more serious.  I am in contact with Continental Tyres and will raise the issue with them.

[NelsonFromLondon]

It certainly sounds like you

It certainly sounds like you have had some bad experiences with Continental tyres, and I am really surprised that fraying bead tape can become such a problem.  I know that I have just pulled off lose threads before, but if this potentially leads to a blow-out, well that’s something quite different.  For my part I have been far more concerned about the delamination of the ‘duraskin’, but maybe I am deluded.  I am in contact with Continental Tyres and will ask for their comments on this issue.

[Yorkiescot]

Same problem on 4 of my

Same problem on 4 of my GP5000 TL’s, I’ve had no safety issues just yet but I’ve only done about 1200km on one set and 200km on the other. I just snip the thread off as close to the rubber as possible. 

I agree though if this is a manufacturing quality issue, it seems like it could be, then Continental should sort it out. At £40 a tyre this shouldn’t be happening.

[ibr17xvii]

I have some GP4000’s that did

I have some GP4000’s that did something similar although not as bad.

The threads around the beads started to come off within a few hundred miles so I just pulled them off.

Ridden them for another 2500 miles or so & they’re still on the bike with no issues.

[Chris Hayes]

So have I, but I’ve also had

So have I, but I’ve also had a tyre split too… luckily only about a mile and a half away from a bike shop because who carries spare tyres these days… 

[Roy07775]

I brought a pair of GP5000 TL

I brought a pair of GP5000 TL from German retailer Bike Discount. Within a couple of hundred miles both tyres started to shed threads from around the side walls. 
I contacted Continental who apologised and sent replacements. These also started to shed at the same mileage. I continued to use them and in the mean time made another order to Bike Discount for cycle consumables and also included an additional GP5000 TL tyre. 
The original replacement rear tyre was disposed of because of rips and tears. The front I left on until it came off the rim and caused an accident. 
Had the wall been weakened? I replaced with the spare new GP5000 tyre which then showed the same shedding at the same mileage. 
So Five x GP5000 TL all shed threads and one threw me off. 
Great tyre but at what cost ? You’re teeth or worse. Continental know this is happening and continue to sell them to YOU. After all the GP5000 TL hype surrounding its launch it turns out that the tyre is poorly constructed with no sight of rectification. 
All tyres were run at around 70/80 psi and pressures maintained before each ride. Tyre leavers were only used to start tyre removal and  mounted by hand. 
Schwalbe tubeless don’t do this. I will now not use Continental tyres as they’re expensive and potentially dangerous. 

[ktache]

I have often had threads come

I have often had threads come off the bead area like that, never caused me any problems.

[Author]

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