Deformed Gatoskin tyre leading to lumpy ride - anyone else had this?

[IBarrett]

Hi all,

Has anyone else had a Gatorskin tyre which has deformed to make it lumpy to ride?
I searched but can't find anything for "Gatorskin Problem"

The issue I had was riding felt like I was on a corrugated gravel road. 'Lumpy' is what it felt like.
I'd recently changed the inner tube after a puncture so pulled that out and it looked odd when pumped up outside of the tyre so I changed it again for another new tube but it didn't resolve the lumpyness.
When I spin the wheel I could see high spots on the tread area - not the sidewall.
I got a pen and spun the wheel and slowly lowered the pen onto the tread. It has picked up 2 high spot areas of 4-6 inches.

Is this something which happens with cycle tyres?
Its probably done 4k miles at a guess.

If I replace it, I won't be getting Gatorskins.
I still get punctures and they are a b*stard to get on and off so I'd rather look at something nicer to ride and live with punctures I can at least fix quickly.
So any suggestions on tyres for club riding speeds greatly appreciated too.
I'm thinking Conti GP 4000 but that is only based on reviews and write-ups.

 

[Yellow Saddle]

You don't say how high the high spot areas are. Nor do you say where they originate from. They could originate in the casing or they could originate from the bead when not seated properly in the rim. The latter is easy to spot since there is usually a circumferencial ridge of sorts you can use to aim the trueness of the tyre around the rim.

Tubes inflate oddly because they are not perfectly homogeneous. That is not a fault. They are all like that.

Something that sometimes cause tyre "lumps" is a broken cord or two in the casing. This typically happens when you hit something hard and it pinches the tyre between say the rock, and the rim. It cuts the cords internally without any visible external damage.This causes the tyre to look as if it has a broken nose or sometimes, a lump.

 

[IBarrett]

Hi Yellow Saddle and thanks for the response.

A couple of mm for the high spots. Enough to be felt by my backside and easily visible with the eye.
I've had the tyre off the rim a couple of times, and it was my first thought that I'd not got the wire into the clincher groove so I checked it all looked OK on both sides before I searched for a pen to find the high spot.

Interesting about the inner tube. I'll rescue the 'deformed' one from the shed bin then. Thanks.

 

[Fab Foodie]

I have a Shwalbe Marathon plus on my Brommie that's has a high spot, I only notice on super smooth roads (which are rare....). Assumed a manufacturing defect that I didn't notice, but I maybe wrong after reading @Yellow Saddle post.
Looks like I'll have ro check now!

 

[Dave Davenport]

I know you've said you've checked it but it does really sound like the tire is not seating properly, you could try putting a good sprinkling of chalk or talcum powder on the tyre before fitting it and inflating it to the highest pressure you dare (you can reduce the pressure after), might do the trick.

 

[IBarrett]

Well I'll give it a go for nothing so we can at least be sure I've ruled it out.
I have a track pump so getting it to a higher pressure isn't a difficult job.

 

[al-fresco]

Anything like this...

That happened to a Vittoria Zaffiro after 500 miles from new. Cause unknown. Replaced with a Continental Ultra Sport by the Edinburgh Bike Coop - no quibble.

In the 700x23 or 700x25 range Gatorskins are still my tyre of choice.

 

[Shaun]

Wahey - that's a pretty funky tyre wobble al

 

[ColinJ]

Anything like this...

View attachment 358383

That happened to a Vittoria Zaffiro after 500 miles from new. Cause unknown. Replaced with a Continental Ultra Sport by the Edinburgh Bike Coop - no quibble.

In the 700x23 or 700x25 range Gatorskins are still my tyre of choice.

I have had a similar problem with a couple of tyres - EXAMPLE.

 

[andrew_s]

That happened to a Vittoria Zaffiro after 500 miles from new. Cause unknown.

That sort of thing is caused by broken threads in the casing.
Changing the tyre is all you can do.
Quite apart from the chance of the wiggle suddenly getting worse at an inopportune moment, the wiggly section of the tyre wears through in double quick time.

 

[IBarrett]

Hmmm, interesting reading ColinJ. I've got my spare wheel and tyre on the bike at the min so I can play with the one with the issue.
I'll pull the tyre off again tonight and have a good look at it, inside and out.
I couldn't see anything on the outside when I checked it was seating in the clincher correctly, but clearly thats only half the picture.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

Anything like this...

View attachment 358383

That happened to a Vittoria Zaffiro after 500 miles from new. Cause unknown. Replaced with a Continental Ultra Sport by the Edinburgh Bike Coop - no quibble.

In the 700x23 or 700x25 range Gatorskins are still my tyre of choice.

I've had a couple go like that, at the time I suspected pothole damage. I've also had a couple that, after I've dealt with a puncture, wouldn't sit on the rim right and needed a combination of lots of washing up liquid and faffing about to make them sit right on the rim

 

[Globalti]

Don't use dishwash liquid, use talc.

 

[Deleted member 1258]

Don't use dishwash liquid, use talc.

The talc didn't work thats why I used washing up liquid.

 

[Tim Hall]

Don't use dishwash liquid, use talc.

Why? (Serious question)