Sidewall 'fail' on a Marathon Plus - !

[simongt]

Went to get my bike, shod with the doughty Marathon Plus for the journey home from work on Friday and noticed that the front tyre was distinctly softer then it should have been. Checked the tread for the cause and couldn't see anything obvious. So pumped the tyre up and set off. Stopped a couple of times to top up and on the last occasion, having a bit of trouble with the pump connection, pressed the tyre sidewall and air began escaping rather rapidly - !
Closer inspection revealed a nearly vertical sidewall cut about 1 cm long, exposing the blue guard layer underneath. Fortunately due to the nature of the cut, I was able to apply enough pressure quickly to be able to seal the actual cause of the air escaping so was able to get home reasonably well.
But just goes to show that an unobserved bit of flint or metal can be lethal to even the toughest tyres eh - ? !
New ones on order - !

 

[Shut Up Legs]

But just goes to show that an unobserved bit of flint or metal can be lethal to even the toughest tyres eh - ?

Yes, they can. The photo below is from my post on the fettling thread yesterday, showing what just occurred to one of my Marathon Plus tyres. Amazingly enough, I got no puncture, so it protected me that much, at least.

 

[Debade]

I do not have a picture but I had a nail like metal object that punctured my SMP tire that went through the tire where it meets the rim coming out the other side where it meets the rim. I was surprised that the nail could penetrate both sides of the tire by traveling horizontally through the tire along the rim. Now I am wondering if the nail found a week spot, like the one in your picture.

Like you though, I am staying with these tires as their performance are above my expectations.

 

[simongt]

Like you though, I am staying with these tires as their performance are above my expectations.

Indeed. The only drawback is that they are a pain in the butt to get off & on the rim - ! Well Mavic rims anyway - !