Tyre failure

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7_lives_left
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Tyre failure

Post by 7_lives_left »

I had a bit of an epic journey home last night. About 15 miles from home as the crow flies, just after lighting up time, I punctured. No worries, I had two spare inner tubes and a puncture repair kit. My fingers were too numb to feel the inside of the tyre carcass by I found a bit of glass embedded in the tyre in the general vicinity of the leak so I picked it out, put my first spare tube in and pumped it up.

A little further down the road I puncture again. I took the tube out and it had punctured in exactly the same place. My fingers were still numb but I did find by torch the bit of flint sticking though that caused both punctures. However just as I was pulling the tube from the tyre, the tube snagged on something and teared. There was a short length of wire sticking out of the tyre bead. That's going to cause trouble I think, so I put several layers of insulation tape over it. I put the last tube in, pump it up, and I am rolling again.

8 miles from home I am on a slip road, about to join a fast descent down a trunk road (Burchets Green to Bisham) when I hear a funny scraping noise from the wheel. I pull on to the verge and I see that the bead has come off the rim of the wheel and is rubbing against the mudgaurd stays. The inner tube is threatening to poke out. I don't have a spare folding tyre. I would call the parents for motorised transport but they have gone away for the weekend.

I drag the bike backwards along the slip road to the roundabout. I have got no choice but to try and ride it home. I let the tyre down then try to stick the bead back on the rim but it wont stay in. I have to run the tyre at reduce pressure so the inner tube doesn't stick out. I nurse the machine along a quiet route home. As I go along, the tyre rubs and the length of bead that has fallen off the rim increases. Then the wire escapes from the tyre and starts flailing around. I have to tie it back with cable ties. I am now about 5 miles from home and the bead on the other side of the tyre starts falling off the rim, threatening to loose the whole tyre. As a last desperate act I take most of my stock of cable ties and lash them around rim and tyre. It works!

I finally got home at about midnight under my own steam. Here are some pictures of the wheel. I haven't checked if the rim is damaged yet.
00001.jpg

00002.jpg
Last edited by 7_lives_left on 21 Feb 2010, 4:28pm, edited 2 times in total.
byegad
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Re: Tyre failure

Post by byegad »

Sounds like a catalogue of disasters. What sort of tyre is it? I ask as there were some (I can't remember which make or type.) recalled due to bead failure a little while ago.
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7_lives_left
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Re: Tyre failure

Post by 7_lives_left »

It's a Schwalbe Marathon slick, non folding obviously. I have two of them on the front, the rear is an ordinary Marathon, again non folding. I also have a spare ordinary Marathon in the house. I have just been looking at it but I can't see any obvious data code to tell when it was made.
UpWrong
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Re: Tyre failure

Post by UpWrong »

That's scary, although I think Schwalbe stopped making the slick 3 or 4 years ago. Makes you wonder whether folding tyres are more reliable than tyres with beads.

Paul
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squeaker
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Re: Tyre failure

Post by squeaker »

7_lives_left wrote:It's a Schwalbe Marathon slick, non folding obviously. I have two of them on the front, the rear is an ordinary Marathon, again non folding. I also have a spare ordinary Marathon in the house. I have just been looking at it but I can't see any obvious data code to tell when it was made.
If the wire bead has failed then might it be worth asking Schwalbe (HQ) to comment (send them a picture of the failure)?
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7_lives_left
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Re: Tyre failure

Post by 7_lives_left »

Thanks for the replies.

I looked on the schwalbe.co.uk website and they had a product recall for an Ultremo R type from May 2009. There was a photo of a batch number for the tyres (06089A25) link here. They describe the nature of the fault and so a picture of a failed tyre. Thats all kind of irrelevant thought because I have a different tyre and it has failed in a different way to how they describe.

I bought the trike second hand from Dtek. The tyres were little used because they still had the flash on them from when the tyres were moulded (indeed they still do, I can't have done much more than about 400K on the trike since I bought it in November). I have punctured on four occasions though on the one tyre in that time, including the two mentioned above. It's the inside (gutter) tyre.

That model tyre is 3 to 4 years old? Then either these tyres were sitting on a shelf for that time or on the trike but sitting idle.

Would a folding tyre have failed the same way? I doubt it, though I read on this forum that folding tyres have a habit of coming off the rim when you puncture. This tyre didn't fail without warning, because I saw that the bead wire was poking through, but I ignored it! (which was stupid).

Ask Swalbe to comment? Yes I think I will. I could do with some reassurance that the right hand tyre is still good!

I put the spare tyre on the trike and used it on Monday because it was threatening to snow. The rim was fine so I got off lightly.
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Wildduck
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Re: Tyre failure

Post by Wildduck »

Lost alot of faith with Schwalbe after a pair of Racers lasted only 600 miles on the front of the trike.

Have bought a pair of Kojaks to try this summer as a tentative step back but if these fail rapidly I won't be trusting Mr.S or their tyres again.
Last edited by Wildduck on 24 Feb 2010, 7:13am, edited 1 time in total.
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UpWrong
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Re: Tyre failure

Post by UpWrong »

7_lives_left wrote:I bought the trike second hand from Dtek. The tyres were little used because they still had the flash on them from when the tyres were moulded (indeed they still do, I can't have done much more than about 400K on the trike since I bought it in November). I have punctured on four occasions though on the one tyre in that time, including the two mentioned above. It's the inside (gutter) tyre.

That model tyre is 3 to 4 years old? Then either these tyres were sitting on a shelf for that time or on the trike but sitting idle.


I assume your are riding far enough away from the kerb to avoid the drain grates? The closer you are to the gutter, the more vulnerable your gutter tyre is.

I bought an ICE T from DTEK in 2007 I think, and Schwalbe had already stopped making Marathon Slicks. They replaced it a few months later with the Marathon Racer. My T came with Marathons which are well know for their longevity, but I had 3 punctures in different places and on two wheels in the first 60 miles. Its worth brushing and checking your tyres after every ride because glass and small flints gradually work their way in.

I had a bead failure at speed whilst riding a Dawes Galaxy many years ago- BANG, and the rear wheel was squirming all over the place.

Paul
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Re: Tyre failure

Post by byegad »

I am using Big Apples on my trikes. They are easy rolling and well protected, and last well. Add to this that they are also easy to get off and put back on. So +1 to Schwalbe.

I had Marathons on my Kettwiesel and the trike rolled like it was axle deep in treacle. I swapped to Kojaks which rolled really well but splits in the 'tread' area in cold weather caused punctures and when I saw the number and size of the splits I scrapped them. They had been fine with no splits during warmer weather but really cut up once the road temperature dropped to freezing. -2 to Schwalbe.
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squeaker
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Marathon Slicks

Post by squeaker »

I've a Marathon Slick on the rear of my '06 Grasshopper with a bit over 6000 miles on it. The front lasted about 5000 miles before I binned it due to several large cuts into the cords (IME, fronts wear out quicker than rears as I can brake harder than I can pedal). I like them! The dual rubber approach (hard central track, softer shoulders) seems to work well.
And I agree with byegad about Kojaks and their tendancy to cut up. I've had similar problems with Kojaks and Marathon Racers, and suspect that Schwalbe's rubber quality control might be a bit variable.
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