Is my rear tire shot????

bertschb

Member
Aug 30, 2020
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35
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I have 675 miles on my rear tire and I'm trying to determine if it needs to be replaced. It's a Specialized Eliminator GRID Trail 29x2.3. What do you guys think? Is this tire going to fail soon or does it have a few more rides in it? I ride exclusively on dry hard pack rocky trails.

Tire.jpg
 

RickBullotta

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
Jun 5, 2019
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USA
I have 675 miles on my rear tire and I'm trying to determine if it needs to be replaced. It's a Specialized Eliminator GRID Trail 29x2.3. What do you guys think? Is this tire going to fail soon or does it have a few more rides in it? I ride exclusively on dry hard pack rocky trails.

I assume you're trollling, right? ;-)

Yes, replace that tire ASAP if you're tubeless. If riding tubes you can probably milk a couple more rides out of it.
 

bertschb

Member
Aug 30, 2020
49
35
Anywhere
Thanks for the feedback guys. I've never seen the knobs pull away from the casing before. I usually just wear the tread down. The terrain here is pretty hard on tires I guess. I was hoping to get more than 50 rides out of my tires. Oh well, I'll swap this factory tire out for the Maxxis Minion DHR II. Hopefully they will last longer.
 

steve_sordy

Wedding Crasher
Nov 5, 2018
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Lincolnshire, UK
That tyre does not look badly worn to me, it looks faulty!
Take it back to the shop! The knobs should not tear off like that.
It might be a batch problem that the maker knows all about.
I have twice successfully claimed for tyres tearing on the bead. All I had to do was to show a photo of the tread and one of the tear (all four fingers were poking through). I had zero difficulty in claiming.
 

bertschb

Member
Aug 30, 2020
49
35
Anywhere
That tyre does not look badly worn to me, it looks faulty! Take it back to the shop! The knobs should not tear off like that.

My local bike shop is horrible. I will avoid going there at all cost. My purchasing dealer (90 miles away) is fantastic but I don't want to drive that far just to see if they warranty the tire. Hopefully the Maxxis Minion DHR II wears better. I'll swap it out this morning. If it lasts longer than two months, I'm golden!
 

Beekeeper

🍯Honey Monster🍯
Aug 6, 2019
1,751
2,197
Surrey hills
I’d continue to use it and eventually all those annoying knobbly bits will have disappeared completely, giving me less rolling resistance and longer range on the roads ?
 

RickBullotta

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
Jun 5, 2019
1,847
1,579
USA
My local bike shop is horrible. I will avoid going there at all cost. My purchasing dealer (90 miles away) is fantastic but I don't want to drive that far just to see if they warranty the tire. Hopefully the Maxxis Minion DHR II wears better. I'll swap it out this morning. If it lasts longer than two months, I'm golden!

DHR II's are good, but will round off on hardpack. There are also a couple of different compounds and sidewall designs - trading off traction for wear on the tread compound and durability for weight on the sidewall. The MaxxTerra compound is the best option if you're concerned about treadwear/life.
 

steve_sordy

Wedding Crasher
Nov 5, 2018
8,981
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Lincolnshire, UK
My local bike shop is horrible. I will avoid going there at all cost. My purchasing dealer (90 miles away) is fantastic but I don't want to drive that far just to see if they warranty the tire. Hopefully the Maxxis Minion DHR II wears better. I'll swap it out this morning. If it lasts longer than two months, I'm golden!
Use email and attach some photos. It's what I had to do when dealing with the company I bought the tyres from. I'm in the UK, they were in Germany. Keep it simple.
 

#lazy

E*POWAH BOSS
Oct 1, 2019
1,407
1,535
Surrey
Use email and attach some photos. It's what I had to do when dealing with the company I bought the tyres from. I'm in the UK, they were in Germany. Keep it simple.
Have you tried eating 3/4 of your meal then send it back to the kitchen claiming you don’t like it ? Answer ..... always !
Ps German company so it’s fine ☺️
 

steve_sordy

Wedding Crasher
Nov 5, 2018
8,981
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Lincolnshire, UK
You can’t ride nearly 700 miles and expect to to have your tyre replaced , you could try ??
This Continental Trail King 27.5x2.2" (BCC) tyre failed at 600 miles, the next one at 400miles. Note the same type of failure and the location near the logo.

The first tyre was claimed under warranty and because they didn't have one to re-issue they gave me a credit. I used the credit to replace the tyre with another one from a different German company. Must have been from the same batch. Second warranty claim went the same way, ie no problems and a refund back to my credit card. I didn't have to return the tyre, just send a photo. The third tyre I bought in the UK and it must have been from a different batch because I had zero problems with it.
TK Failure 1.jpg


TK failure 2.jpg
 

Gary

Old Tartan Bollocks
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Those both look to have been cut through next to the bead from running pressures too low to support the sidewall.
and if that's the case it's user error. Not a manufacturing fault.

Conti's are shit though.
 

steve_sordy

Wedding Crasher
Nov 5, 2018
8,981
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Lincolnshire, UK
Those both look to have been cut through next to the bead from running pressures too low to support the sidewall.
and if that's the case it's user error. Not a manufacturing fault.

Conti's are shit though.
I confess to considering that it might have been low pressure (24psi on the rear 27.5x2.2, rider all up weight 92kg), and I was just chancing my arm with the first claim, I admit. But when the next one failed in the same place and same side of the tyre, I decided that it was definitely a manufacturing fault. Conti must have thought the same because both claims were settled without a quibble. In addition, I had been riding those tyres at those pressures before and after those two failures without any problems. Quite by chance I was on a course at UK Bike Skills and the guy there (Tony Doyle, aka "Jedi") commented on my Contis and said that he didn't trust them because one had failed on him at about the same time as mine. Given that he does massive jumps, I'm not surprised he didn't want to take any chances.

Apart from those two tyres (same batch?) I have had zero problems with Conti tyres and I've been riding them since 2010, starting with the Rubber Queen, which became the Trail King after they got sensitive to the American market. I'd have TKs now if they had made the size I wanted.
 

Gary

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But when the next one failed in the same place and same side of the tyre, I decided that it was definitely a manufacturing fault
do you realise every rider has a weight bias towards one side?
ie. every rider can and does corner harder to one side, every rider also has a preferred side to fall (but that's another thing for a different discussion)

I know Tony. Have ridden with him a few times up here and at his place.

I don't trust contis either. but my mistrust comes from GP4Seasons and 4000s delaminating before they wore out and various other scaryAF failures. If you think a tyre failing is a big deal off road it's a whole other level on road. ;)
Hence my comment above.
 

steve_sordy

Wedding Crasher
Nov 5, 2018
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do you realise every rider has a weight bias towards one side?
ie. every rider can and does corner harder to one side, every rider also has a preferred side to fall (but that's another thing for a different discussion)

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

I did not know that. I started to have some unpleasant falls where I injured my right shoulder, needing physio and so forth. Later on when I was recovered, probably as a reaction to the previous pain and inconvenience, I started to fall off to the left! Maybe as a consequence I am now unbiased? :) I sure have equal aches in both shoulders now!

I can't say that I have noticed that I corner harder to one side than the other, maybe I'm not cornering hard enough for it to make a difference? I have seen videos of riders hurtling into bends and neither braking nor slowing down; they just lean left and instantly lean right and they are through in a flash! I don't do that, I have never been able to do that! What I do is to go as fast as I can, it's just not that fast and I doubt it ever will be.
 

Gary

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maybe I'm not cornering hard enough for it to make a difference?
From the fact you say you actually like Trail Kings, and don't like falling off, No. you don't corner all that hard at all. :cool:
But look at your worn rear tyres edge knobs and you'll probably still see greater wear on one side from the other
 

steve_sordy

Wedding Crasher
Nov 5, 2018
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Lincolnshire, UK
From the fact you say you actually like Trail Kings, and don't like falling off, No. you don't corner all that hard at all. :cool:
But look at your worn rear tyres edge knobs and you'll probably still see greater wear on one side from the other
Who likes falling off?
I certainly don't but I'm not paranoid about it. It is the price you pay. Let's just say that I have a slightly higher sense of self-preservation than I used to do when I went parachuting and windsurfing in high winds, (30+ years ago!) :unsure:
 

Zimmerframe

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Jun 12, 2019
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and not something I've ever heard of a skills coach even doing courses on.
Hey Guys ... so today we're doing falling ...

I want you to do this ... (demonstrates on rubber mat) ..

Ok .. so it's not boring for ya'll.. We've chosen the trail "Widow maker" .. I want you all to ride committed and at some random point 'Brian' here will jam a broom through your front wheel ..

Everyone ready ? .....
 

Binhill1

🍊 Tango Man 🍊
Mar 7, 2019
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Hey Guys ... so today we're doing falling ...

I want you to do this ... (demonstrates on rubber mat) ..

Ok .. so it's not boring for ya'll.. We've chosen the trail "Widow maker" .. I want you all to ride committed and at some random point 'Brian' here will jam a broom through your front wheel ..

Everyone ready ? .....
I've fell off alot more times since I got Ebike better now . Doing sillier things though and definitely was a lot to do with motor acceleration. Went over a edge when i first got it and rolled 10 feet in to whins .
 

Zimmerframe

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Jun 12, 2019
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Brittany, France
I've fell off alot more times since I got Ebike better now . Doing sillier things though and definitely was a lot to do with motor acceleration. Went over a edge when i first got it and rolled 10 feet in to whins .
I seem to remember you had a running on problem at the time ? Or hadn't adjusted to it.
 

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