Michelin Comp, killing sidewalls!

Back by popular demand, the general all-things Road forum!

Moderator: robbosmans

PLuKE
Posts: 219
Joined: Sat Aug 16, 2014 5:26 pm
Location: Suffolk, UK

by PLuKE

I have managed to cut/slash two Michelin Comps in the space of 2 weeks! all been sidwall.

I ride 25c on the rears around 105PSI on Zipp 404's. I am very careful where and what I ride over, always been from smaller sharp stones. I was looking at the GP4000S II and I see the sidewall measurement is basically the same thickness, Schwalbe ONE which I have had before back in 2015-2016 seem to have gained some weight for 2017, which slightly puts me off, as the Mich Comps seem light, fast and very supple!

Does anybody have any input int terms of the GP4000S and there sidewall cuts/slashes?

Many thanks
Luke

User avatar
Asteroid
Posts: 222
Joined: Tue Jul 26, 2016 8:43 pm
Location: Los Angeles, California

by Asteroid

Shoot...the GP4000s sidewalls tear like fifty dollar bills. :smartass: Two tires destroyed within 2k miles. After hitting some fairly harmless looking road debris.
I've torn Michelin Pro sidewalls, as well, but over the course of forty times that mileage. And not with the same catastrophic effects - only enough to either replace the tire after ride's end or ride around with a paper boot inserted over the tire's remaining life.
Oldbie

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

www.starbike.com



ArtV
Posts: 173
Joined: Tue Mar 01, 2016 3:23 am

by ArtV

PLuKE wrote:I have managed to cut/slash two Michelin Comps in the space of 2 weeks! all been sidwall.

I ride 25c on the rears around 105PSI on Zipp 404's. I am very careful where and what I ride over, always been from smaller sharp stones. I was looking at the GP4000S II and I see the sidewall measurement is basically the same thickness, Schwalbe ONE which I have had before back in 2015-2016 seem to have gained some weight for 2017, which slightly puts me off, as the Mich Comps seem light, fast and very supple!

Does anybody have any input int terms of the GP4000S and there sidewall cuts/slashes?

Many thanks
Luke

I lost both mine to sidewall failures within 4 weeks of installing them. I switched back to GP4000S II which I have used for thousands of miles without a failure.

Sent from my Lenovo TAB 2 A10-70F using Tapatalk

Marin
Posts: 4035
Joined: Wed Jan 22, 2014 11:48 am
Location: Vienna Austria

by Marin

Running too much pressure maybe? There's a theory that this will lead to more sidewall damage.

Delorre
Posts: 967
Joined: Sat May 24, 2014 12:09 pm

by Delorre

Unless you are a heavy weight, 105psi is a lot of pressure for those 25mm Michelins. At 70kg, I run them at 90 psi at the rear on my Bora's and even 80 on my Roval Clx 32 !

User avatar
MJB
Posts: 173
Joined: Thu Jan 19, 2012 11:17 am
Location: bottom edge of Australia

by MJB

Unless you are a heavy weight, 105psi is a lot of pressure for those 25mm Michelins. At 70kg, I run them at 90 psi at the rear on my Bora's and even 80 on my Roval Clx 32 !


I'd tend to follow this line of advice and keep running the Michelins if you like the ride feel of them.

Marin
Posts: 4035
Joined: Wed Jan 22, 2014 11:48 am
Location: Vienna Austria

by Marin

Oops didn't see the pressure in the OP. Sound like a lot, I'm 77kg and I run my 24s at 5.6-6 bars and my 25s/28s (all real 28mm measured) at 4-4.75 bars. All with latex tubes.

Bdizzle84
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Jul 14, 2017 11:40 am

by Bdizzle84

PLuKE wrote:I have managed to cut/slash two Michelin Comps in the space of 2 weeks! all been sidwall.

I ride 25c on the rears around 105PSI on Zipp 404's. I am very careful where and what I ride over, always been from smaller sharp stones. I was looking at the GP4000S II and I see the sidewall measurement is basically the same thickness, Schwalbe ONE which I have had before back in 2015-2016 seem to have gained some weight for 2017, which slightly puts me off, as the Mich Comps seem light, fast and very supple!

Does anybody have any input int terms of the GP4000S and there sidewall cuts/slashes?

Many thanks
Luke


I've had 3 do exactly the same thing. Switched back to Schwalbe One's now (managed to pick up some 2016 versions cheap). Shame the Michelin's were fast rolling but too fragile. I was also careful about where I ride. 100psi / 90kg rider.
Last edited by Bdizzle84 on Fri Jul 14, 2017 12:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.

mrlobber
Posts: 1928
Joined: Sat Oct 23, 2010 9:36 am
Location: Where the permanent autumn is

by mrlobber

Another case of dramatic rate of sidewall failures for Michelin Pro4 Comp here, 3 tyres, all within several hundred kilometers of usage

A pair of Pro4 Endurance, on the other side, has endured more than 10000km (front) over the same roads, the rear was cut up at 9000.

Starting to test the Power Endurance now.
Minimum bike categories required in the stable:
Aero bike | GC bike | GC rim bike | Climbing bike | Climbing rim bike | Classics bike | Gravel bike | TT bike | Indoors bike

Shrike
Posts: 2019
Joined: Fri Jun 03, 2016 5:08 pm

by Shrike

I posted a thread about 5 months ago of the sidewall on a new 4000sII with a deep long sidewall slash on it. Thing is, the slash seemed to be on a contact point where the tyre touches the rim making it look like it could have been a rough piece of carbon from the rim. They were cheaper Gigantex rims though, not posh 404s. And again, that was inconclusive, I'll never know what caused it. Hasn't happened since, hopefully a one off.

Bondurant
Posts: 215
Joined: Tue Mar 01, 2011 12:28 pm

by Bondurant

GP4000s have been the source of sidewall cut woe for me. 3 or 4 times IIRC. Michelin Pro 4 Endurance on the back / Service Course on the front are working out well at the moment. They come up ridiculously big though.

PLuKE
Posts: 219
Joined: Sat Aug 16, 2014 5:26 pm
Location: Suffolk, UK

by PLuKE

Thank you for the reply chaps.

I don't get any cuts in the centre of the tyres at all, they seem to wear great, which I think shows that I ride carefully. Just the slashes are killers. I try and go back to where it happened and I can never see anything, seems like a piece of flint everytime, but never find the offending item.

It is always the rear tyre which is a 25c, usually have 100PSI in (I am 70-75KG)

Last night I had 105-108PSI as it was a quick ride just to experiment. I run these with latex tubes.

I might give the Schwalbe One 2017 version next, GP4000S II seem to have sidewall blow out problems, again all down to luck I guess. I had Ultremo ZX tyres, rode them for 10months, through summer and winter with no flats. Luck of the draw I guess.

Luke

User avatar
mpulsiv
Posts: 1384
Joined: Mon Mar 24, 2014 9:17 pm

by mpulsiv

PLuKE wrote:Thank you for the reply chaps.

I don't get any cuts in the centre of the tyres at all, they seem to wear great, which I think shows that I ride carefully. Just the slashes are killers. I try and go back to where it happened and I can never see anything, seems like a piece of flint everytime, but never find the offending item.

It is always the rear tyre which is a 25c, usually have 100PSI in (I am 70-75KG)

Last night I had 105-108PSI as it was a quick ride just to experiment. I run these with latex tubes.

I might give the Schwalbe One 2017 version next, GP4000S II seem to have sidewall blow out problems, again all down to luck I guess. I had Ultremo ZX tyres, rode them for 10months, through summer and winter with no flats. Luck of the draw I guess.

Luke


Why are you running the pressure so high? I'm your weight and the highest I run is 90 psi on smooth tarmac. When I race on chipseal tarmac, I drop it down to ~ 85 psi. In the grand scheme of things, any catastrophic failures of rim, tire and tube is due to overinflation. Ignore manufacturer tire pressure, that's all.
Racing is a three-dimensional high-speed chess game, involving hundreds of pieces on the board.

:arrow: CBA = Chronic Bike Addiction
:arrow: OCD = Obsessive Cycling Disorder

User avatar
Frankie - B
Admin - In the industry
Posts: 6573
Joined: Mon Jun 02, 2003 8:17 am
Location: Drenthe, Holland

by Frankie - B

It be interesting to know where on the sidewall the slash takes place, with what rims and at which pressure. Having had this issue with Challenge criteriums, which cut right above the bead of the tire. I used the tires on Reynolds Assault wheels and the cut would always be a quarter away from the valve on the drive side of the rear wheel. I blamed Challenge for making shitty tires, but I quickly learned my lesson and found out that the rim was to blame. Since the assault rims are tubeless ready they have a slightly different shaped bead hook then say, alloy rims, the bead hook in this case had quite a sharp angle on it. After contacting the service departement the issue was quickly cured by using waterproof sandpaper going around the bead hooks. This took the edge off the hooks and my tires were as happy as can be.

Now I ride the Pro one tubeless in 25mm. Not thinking of going back to tubed in the near future.
'Tape was made to wrap your GF's gifts, NOT hold a freakin tire on.'
If you want to see 'meh' content of me and my bike you can follow my life in pictures here!

by Weenie


Visit starbike.com Online Retailer for HighEnd cycling components
Great Prices ✓    Broad Selection ✓    Worldwide Delivery ✓

www.starbike.com



orbicek
Posts: 5
Joined: Fri Jul 14, 2017 7:24 pm

by orbicek

Same here I have quite lots of sidewall slashe, however none gone completely through -it just open up the first rubber layer revealing the second one - one was quit ebig so I change the tire, but I have at least 4 or 5 now again, albet mich smaller - I keep riding them since they are almost new. I am 88kg and runing around 6.5 Bar/95PSI

Havent got any puncture, but have one scary bead failure resulting in tire blowout, accordng to the dealer the tire was faulty. They are light and fast rolling, but this lack of durability is not good - havent got any similar problems with Conti GP4000

Post Reply