Vittoria Zaffiro V5 advice

[Shearwater Missile]

I`ve notice that these tyres are starting to delaminate, if that is the right terminology ? This is on the crown of the tyre as you can see in the photos. The tyres have done 2000 miles and came with the bike, which although I have had from new for 2 years, the bike is 3 years old. I have had problems with Vittoria in the past with the tread. My question is: Am I worrying needlessly or do I replace them before something untoward happens? I am a worrier when it comes to safety.

 

[Big John]

Going by some of the riders I've ridden with in the past there's absolutely nothing wrong with those tyres. They'd ride on a tyre until the inner tube could be seen lol. One of these riders owned the local bike shop and his tyres were the worst of all of us. Personally I ride a tyre until I get one too many punctures and then it's time to get a new one. I don't ride zaffiros now because I'm old and wrinkly so I ride wider tyres but back in the day I trained on zaffiros with no problems. Zaffiros, if you search long and hard on the web, can be found at very affordable prices (I used to find them for a fiver and buy ten at a time but that was a few years ago now) and ride very well.

 

[Jameshow]

I`ve notice that these tyres are starting to delaminate, if that is the right terminology ? This is on the crown of the tyre as you can see in the photos. The tyres have done 2000 miles and came with the bike, which although I have had from new for 2 years, the bike is 3 years old. I have had problems with Vittoria in the past with the tread. My question is: Am I worrying needlessly or do I replace them before something untoward happens? I am a worrier when it comes to safety.

Maybe they are old stock.

 

[Shearwater Missile]

Maybe they are old stock.

You may be right. I have used Continentals up to 4000 miles and only changed those because of wear. It would be no hardship to replace them as they are a devil to get on and off.

 

[Shearwater Missile]

Going by some of the riders I've ridden with in the past there's absolutely nothing wrong with those tyres. They'd ride on a tyre until the inner tube could be seen lol. One of these riders owned the local bike shop and his tyres were the worst of all of us. Personally I ride a tyre until I get one too many punctures and then it's time to get a new one. I don't ride zaffiros now because I'm old and wrinkly so I ride wider tyres but back in the day I trained on zaffiros with no problems. Zaffiros, if you search long and hard on the web, can be found at very affordable prices (I used to find them for a fiver and buy ten at a time but that was a few years ago now) and ride very well.

I`ve seen plenty who ride right down to the canvas but that is not me. They may be a cheap tyre but fine for winter use.

 

[si_c]

I've used Zaffiro's for years, that's doesn't look even close to worn, certainly doesn't look as though it's delaminating - that would only be the case if the rubber is separating from the carcass.

That just looks like the moulding pattern on Zaffiros - they have that triple inset line all round. I'd say they were worn when that moulding has worn off and it's squared off on the top. You'll likely get quite a bit of miles out of them yet.

As an aside though, if you've lost confidence in them, nothing wrong with replacing them - Zaffiros are cheap - and putting the current ones to the side as an emergency spare. I'd get the Zaffiro Pro's though - they have a flexible bead and roll better as well, so they're a quality of life upgrade and not much more expensive.