Had the misfortune of a rear tyre fail today on my road bike. Fortunately I had suffered a front wheel puncture and was stationery when I noticed an egg appearing in the rear tyre which suddenly exploded ripping a hole in the centre of the tyre. It was a Schwalbe Ultremo with only 750 miles on it!! I am quite a big bloke and run 140psi which is within the recommended pressure upto 145psi for that particular tyre. Has anybody else had this sort of fail with this tyre as I am wondering if it is a manufacturing fault, or could somebody tell me the likely cause. Any advice appreciated
Rear tyre fail
- Thread starter Scousegaz
- Start date
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Alembicbassman
Confused.com
Schwalbe will probably have it back off you to find out if it is a manufacturing defect.
Ultremo max is 10 Bar (145 psi) but adding load to the tyre may have increased the pressure leading to the failure.
I guess the threads in the carcas separated due to the load exceding their ultimate tensile strength.
Or the threads may have already had damage from a foreign object.
Ultremo max is 10 Bar (145 psi) but adding load to the tyre may have increased the pressure leading to the failure.
I guess the threads in the carcas separated due to the load exceding their ultimate tensile strength.
Or the threads may have already had damage from a foreign object.
smokeysmoo
Legendary Member
- Location
- Bolton, not very far from Nob End
Schwalbe, while generally being excellent tyres do seem to suffer with weak side walls on their performance oriented tyres. My mate had a pair of R1's crack on the side walls very quickly and the Durano's that came on my CAAD did not last very long at all.
Their hardened tyres seem to avoid this though. I currently run Durano+ on my commuter which are spot on, and I've used Marathon+ too which are simply bombproof.
Their hardened tyres seem to avoid this though. I currently run Durano+ on my commuter which are spot on, and I've used Marathon+ too which are simply bombproof.
HLaB
Marie Attoinette Fan
Do you really need to run them at 140psi, Gaz? Those high pressures will escalate quickly a defect into a problem. I run circa 100-105psi in the rear and 95-100psi and I'm not too rigorous on maintaining them and touchwood things seem to last longer for me, I'm not the heaviest of riders though 
smokeysmoo
Legendary Member
- Location
- Bolton, not very far from Nob End
FWIW I run 100-110 psi and I'm a big old heffalump 
Thanx for the replies guys. I take on board what you say about the pressures i'm running and realise that I may be just a bit high considering. I'm gonna take the tyre back to my LBS were I purchased the bike and see what they have to say, their a great bunch of lads.......(QUINNS CYCLE CENTRE, LIVERPOOL) and go from there. Can anyone recommend an alternative tyre with good puncture resistence as I went the first 600 miles on my Schwalbe Ultremo R1's without a puncture but have had 5 in the last 150!!!!
I'll be keeping an eye on this post as i was going to buy a pair of these this week for my road bike,the write up on them looks very impressive but obviously theres an underlying problem.
martint235
Dog on a bike
- Location
- Welling
With regards to the punctures rather than the fail, I found my R1s are allergic to rain. They are great in the dry but once the road gets damp, puncture all the time.
I did have a set of Rs that cut up quite badly without actually puncturing. I had a chat to Schwalbe about them and after some initial resistance along the lines of "they are high performance racing tyres" they did replace them FOC for me so it is worth having a chat with them.
smokeysmoo
Legendary Member
- Location
- Bolton, not very far from Nob End
The Durano's that came on my CAAD are a great tyre, really fast and grippy, but very soft and therefore prone to unscheduled deflations IME.
My tyre of choice on my CAAD are Conti GP4000s, and that's purely based on the fantastic service they have given me. I've used them on three bikes, (no the same ones
), deflations have been minimal, they wear well, roll well and have proved to be excellent VFM IME
I use Durano+ on my commuter, again excellent durability, much faster then Marathon+ as they are far lighter, yet they use the same p******* protection system, (all be it slightly thinner)
My tyre of choice on my CAAD are Conti GP4000s, and that's purely based on the fantastic service they have given me. I've used them on three bikes, (no the same ones
), deflations have been minimal, they wear well, roll well and have proved to be excellent VFM IME I use Durano+ on my commuter, again excellent durability, much faster then Marathon+ as they are far lighter, yet they use the same p******* protection system, (all be it slightly thinner)
Yeah I have been told by a friend that the Conti 4000's are a great tyre as an alternative so I might go down that road although I initially chose the
Schwalbe because of the blue match for my bike which i'm led to believe the Conti's dont do. As for the allergy to damp weather I tend to agree somewhat as my initial 600 miles was in nice summer weather without a single puncture and my last 150 miles have been in damp conditions and i've had 5 !!!! I hadn't given that a thought really until it was mentioned so thanx for enlightening me on that one.
Schwalbe because of the blue match for my bike which i'm led to believe the Conti's dont do. As for the allergy to damp weather I tend to agree somewhat as my initial 600 miles was in nice summer weather without a single puncture and my last 150 miles have been in damp conditions and i've had 5 !!!! I hadn't given that a thought really until it was mentioned so thanx for enlightening me on that one.
115 psiEmailed Scwhalbe and I got a nice kind reply from them telling me to return the tyres to the nice kind man and he will replace them with 2 new ultremo zx's and will throw in 2 new tubes to cover the cost of my postage yippee. In the meantime I have bought myself 2 gatorskins for the winter. BC I am 6'4" and 16 stone so no lightweight here matey and my Ultremo's where great for the first 600 miles, its only recently that i've had puncture issues although the tyre fail was lucky that I was stationery as i'd only just completed a fast descent about 15 mins previous 
Cosmicned
Active Member
- Location
- Swindon, Wiltshire
I recommend the Conti 4000s too- done a fair few miles over some truly appalling roads & no probs whatsoever - the wet causes bits of sharp flint & glass to wash out of verges - that's why flats are more common in the wet... If its any consolation I've had two punctures on my newish Hybrid in only 10 miles- but that's down to a el crappola tyres factory fitted to the bike - now replaced with Gatorskins - so now fingers crossed! ;-)
Been on my club run this morning with a new set of Michelin Krylion Carbon tyres purchased on ebay, not a bad tyre at all, roll resis is good and quite grippy, i've also got myself a set of Conti Gators for the more severe weather and waiting for my nice new Schwalbe Ultremo ZX freebies to replace my blown out tyre which I think i'll keep for the summer
