Wrong tyre / tube mix???

[Lien Sdrawde]

This year ive done a few thousand miles with Conti GP4000's and had the ultra-light Conti 'race supersonic' as my tube.

I inflate them to 115 - 120psi, and have never had a puncture.

On Sunday I changed to a winter tyre - 'Conti 4 season' and as per tyre spec, inflated them to 90 psi

I had 3 punctures in 3 hours.

Have I just been unlucky or is there a link between the tyre change / reduced psi ?

Thanks, Neil.

 

[ianrauk]

What is the recommended min/max PSI of 4 Seasons?

 

[Lien Sdrawde]

What is the recommended min/max PSI of 4 Seasons?

says recommend inflate to 90. Not above 120

 

[Mile195]

Stop me if I'm telling you to "suck eggs", but there's definitely nothing in the tyre is there? Bit of glass? Sharp piece of grit? And your rim tape is all in good order? I'd be suspicious getting that many punctures in quick succession?

 

[andrew_s]

If the tyre isn't hard enough, you'll get snakebite punctures, but if they were thorns/glass/flint, it's either bad luck or failing to get whatever caused the first one out of the tyre.
To be sure of finding the culprit, you've got to find the hole in the tube, line the tube up against the tyre to limit the area to be checked, and carefully inspect all small cuts. A fragment of glass can lurk at the bottom of what looks like a 1 - 2mm cut, and not be feelable from the inside. Poking with something like the awl/reamer on a swiss army knife may be required.
The other possibility is that your pump isn't up to the job, so the 2nd and 3rd were snakebites due to not inflating hard enough after the first. Most minipumps are poor, and it's very easy to give up too soon.

GP4Seasons are normally good at fending off the fairy. I'd normally run mine at 70-90 psi if I thought grip may be an issue, and 100-105 in the warm

 

[HLaB]

Were they old GP 4 seasons ? I found they were great grip/p'ture/roll wise untill they reached a certain life span and then they'd p'ture every ride.

 

[Lien Sdrawde]

Late getting back to you. Sorry
Thanks for replies. They were brand new tyres. I've tried this last few days with them pumped to near max recommended pressure. I've got them at 115 psi now, & have had no further problems.
I agree that when pumped up again with a mini pump I probably didn't have them at above 50 psi.
I've bought a better mini pump now that is supposed to reach 120 psi without too much trouble.
Thanks to all.

 

[solidthegreat]

Late getting back to you. Sorry
Thanks for replies. They were brand new tyres. I've tried this last few days with them pumped to near max recommended pressure. I've got them at 115 psi now, & have had no further problems.
I agree that when pumped up again with a mini pump I probably didn't have them at above 50 psi.
I've bought a better mini pump now that is supposed to reach 120 psi without too much trouble.
Thanks to all.

Interesting thread and thank you. I was considering conti 4 seasons for next years Paris Roubaix sportive, and taking a small pump. Think I may have to reassess.

 

[mattobrien]

Interesting thread and thank you. I was considering conti 4 seasons for next years Paris Roubaix sportive, and taking a small pump. Think I may have to reassess.

That's where a CO2 canister can come in really handy, it will get you right up to pressure and extremely quickly. I manage to carry two and a regulator in my very small saddle back, along with smaller versions of the other essentials.