# People who had GP4000s sidewall blowout



## steel515 (Sep 6, 2004)

If you had sidewall cuts& blowout, what was your:
a) tire pressure,body weight, tire size- 23mm or 25mm?
b) Did you inspect sidewalls 1) before event (can be 1 week before ride) or 2) after event? If so, did you see anything unusual. 
c) Did you contact/show problem with bike shop (even if you didn't purchase from them? If so, what did they say?
Did you/bike shop contact US sales rep, if so, what did they say?

When I used Continental (Grand Prix) in 1990s I had sidewall fraying (was brown color). I haven't had problems with current one yet. Current GP4000s sidewall is black, I cannot see the threads.


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## spdntrxi (Jul 25, 2013)

My wife did.. 

a) 95psi, 98lbs, 25mm
b) maiden ride.. blew on roughly mile 7. I installed same as a million other times.
C) yes contacted online dealer.. they sent me a new one (planet cyclery) .. had to send tire back to them though (my dime) which I was ok with.


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## JSWhaler (Nov 25, 2009)

I used conti 4000s tires for a number of seasons but in the last 2 I've had more issues than ever before. One 2 tires the sidewall started coming apart. Ie threads were coming off like yarn from a spool. Once I had the tire actually blow off the rim. I weigh approx 185 lbs and always check tires and pressure before my ride. Never took it to my lbs though. Since this even I've changed to michelin tires and am trouble free. 
I do still believe that the 4000s are great tires and may go back to them in the future. Maybe there was a bad batch or something.


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## jct78 (Dec 12, 2011)

1) 100psi, 210lbs, 25mm
2) tires were pretty new...less than 500miles on them
3) took them to a LBS and the rec'd contacting continental direct. i took pics of my completely shredded tire and rim. Conti sent out a new tire and tube. 

yes i still ride gp4000s. great riding tire. still looking for a comparable replacement to try out too...Mich SCpro4s maybe...


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## T K (Feb 11, 2009)

185 lbs, 23mm, 110 psi, less than 500 miles. 
This issue has been beat around here. 
If it was a bad batch then they have been making bad batches for years.
This has either happened to you or not. Most of the folks in the not camp seem to blame it on operator error. 
Funny thing is seems like us "operators" only have "errored" with these tires.


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## Jay Strongbow (May 8, 2010)

T K said:


> Funny thing is seems like us "operators" only have "errored" with these tires.


Or coincidence/bad luck. Three blown side walls in a 100 miles on GP4000s and Zero blow side walls in 30,000 miles on other brands for me (something like that for miles). That's one heck of a coincidence.


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## rm -rf (Feb 27, 2006)

I've had no problems on maybe 6 to 8 GP4000S tires. But two years ago, I noticed a bulge on the sidewall where the threads were coming apart, and I could see the tube through the gaps in the threads. I booted it with a dollar bill and rode home. This tire probably had 3000 miles on it, and may have been pinch flatted earlier. 

Last year, some fresh gravel from the shoulder of the road had washed onto the road, and I hit a large pyramid shaped piece with a sharp top edge, just at the edge of the tread. It sliced right through the sidewall. That's just bad luck, not a defect.

I run fairly low pressure, at 170 lbs, 95 psi front, 105-110 rear on 23c.


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## thumper8888 (Apr 7, 2009)

Jay Strongbow said:


> Or coincidence/bad luck. Three blown side walls in a 100 miles on GP4000s and Zero blow side walls in 30,000 miles on other brands for me (something like that for miles). That's one heck of a coincidence.


Oddly zero sidewall blowouts in 20,000 or so miles on 4000s for me doesn't feel like much of coincidence. Weight range of 180 to 190, 23mm for nearly all of it, though one pair of 25mm in there too.
The tires clearly are indeed pretty thin in the sidewalls, which no doubt was required to get RR and weight down to the point that they are competitive for racing as well as fast training. Nature of the beast, but Ive had no issues like the ones described here on 4000s or for that matter, thousands of miles on 4000 models before that.
I want to be able to race on the same tires I train on and was willing to accept some compromise in flatting, but really havent had to.
If it was a serious problem I'd go with gatorksins tho theyre considerably clunkier.
have tried various michelins, which are decent but seemed to flat easier, and couple times Vittoria open evo corsas but they are def more fragile and wear too quickly.


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## upstateSC-rider (Aug 21, 2004)

T K said:


> Most of the folks in the not camp seem to blame it on operator error.
> Funny thing is seems like us "operators" only have "errored" with these tires.


x2.

http://forums.roadbikereview.com/wheels-tires/love-continentals-but-their-sidewalls-suck-313726.html

Conti's have a good feel but for flat resistance, grip, and mileage my money (and ass) is on Michelins.


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## valleycyclist (Nov 1, 2009)

upstateSC-rider said:


> x2.
> 
> http://forums.roadbikereview.com/wheels-tires/love-continentals-but-their-sidewalls-suck-313726.html
> 
> Conti's have a good feel but for flat resistance, grip, and mileage my money (and ass) is on Michelins.


Things can happen with Michelin tires too. Here is a Pro4 Service Course tire after 150 miles...


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## rruff (Feb 28, 2006)

Jay Strongbow said:


> Three blown side walls in a 100 miles on GP4000s and Zero blow side walls in 30,000 miles on other brands for me (something like that for miles).


I've got at >30,000 miles on Contis... no "sidewall blowouts" AFAIK.

What are you calling sidewall blowouts anyway? Cut in sidewall from debris? Bead separated from tire? Bead comes off the rim? 

Tires blowing off the rim is caused nearly always by pinching the tube under the bead.


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## bigbill (Feb 15, 2005)

rruff said:


> I've got at >30,000 miles on Contis... no "sidewall blowouts" AFAIK.
> 
> What are you calling sidewall blowouts anyway? Cut in sidewall from debris? Bead separated from tire? Bead comes off the rim?
> 
> Tires blowing off the rim is caused nearly always by pinching the tube under the bead.


My failed 4K's have been cut sidewalls, not failed or blown sidewalls. Usually it had something to do with riding through a patch of gravel or in two situations last year, a small piece of metal caused a flat at 25+mph and I coasted down on a chip and seal road which likely did in the side wall. It doesn't take much of a hole to make a tube pooch through the cut and blow when you inflate it.


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## spdntrxi (Jul 25, 2013)

ours blown going 10mph on a MUP.. total blown sidewall.... gash was like 6 inches


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## rruff (Feb 28, 2006)

In that case something else is going on. Please describe what you experienced. Did the bead come off the rim?


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## Jay Strongbow (May 8, 2010)

rruff said:


> I've got at >30,000 miles on Contis... no "sidewall blowouts" AFAIK.
> 
> What are you calling sidewall blowouts anyway? Cut in sidewall from debris? Bead separated from tire? Bead comes off the rim?
> 
> Tires blowing off the rim is caused nearly always by pinching the tube under the bead.


I'm going to have to decline getting into this any further because there is no way anyone is going to convince me that "Three blown side walls in a 100 miles on GP4000s and Zero blow side walls in 30,000 miles on other brands" is just a concidence, bad luck or user error regardless of how I were to answer your question so there's no point in wasting the time of both of us.


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## rruff (Feb 28, 2006)

When you consider that the GP4000 is more highly regarded by users than any tire in history, and is surely the biggest selling performance tire by a large margin... then it is also wise to consider that your circumstance was somehow odd.


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## cdhbrad (Feb 18, 2003)

I've only had one sidewall failure with a GP 4000S. I was entering a turn and, while the bike was leaned over, I hit a rock at just the right angle that it tore about a 3/8" gash in the sidewall just above the tread. Wasn't the tire manufacturer's fault, just bad luck. Tire had less than 50 miles on it. 
I had a similar thing happen a few years ago when I was using Micheling Pro 4s, I ruined two brand new tires two weekends in a row by hitting rocks with the sidewalls. Again, tires were manufactured properly, just bad luck.


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## T K (Feb 11, 2009)

rruff said:


> When you consider that the GP4000 is more highly regarded by users than any tire in history, and is surely the biggest selling performance tire by a large margin... then it is also wise to consider that your circumstance was somehow odd.


Sorry but you are wrong. There have been many threads on these tires and their sidewall issues and it is more than just a fluke. In fact, in the last thread about it, someone posted where conti admitted to the problem.
Just because someone has not had a problem with something does not mean when others do it is their fault.
Toyota has been around for a long time making great cars,but remember the sticking gas pedal issue?


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## rruff (Feb 28, 2006)

T K said:


> There have been many threads on these tires and their sidewall issues and it is more than just a fluke.


Anecdotal. Any tire can have issues. And the ones that are most popular will have the greatest number of complaints. Most complaints are really caused by user error. 

If Conti's issues were worse than others, then why do they sell so many and so many people love them?

Many people who complain show a ragged long gash in the tire sidewall just above bead. It is impossible for a tire "fault" to cause this. Rather two common causes are:

1) Brake pads improperly adjusted, and the edge of the pad contacts the tire sidewall. It slowly wears it away until the casing gives. Yes, this can be specific to the tire, because they are all shaped a little differently. 

2) Tire blows off the rim due to pinched tube. After the ensuing crash, the rider notices that there is a long gash in the tire sidewall and assumes the tire failed. Most likely the gash (if not caused by #1) is from riding/sliding with the sharp rim edge digging into the sidewall just after the explosion.


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## T K (Feb 11, 2009)

rruff said:


> Anecdotal. Any tire can have issues. And the ones that are most popular will have the greatest number of complaints. Most complaints are really caused by user error.
> 
> If Conti's issues were worse than others, then why do they sell so many and so many people love them?
> 
> ...


But many of the failures that people are talking about, like mine, were do to a bulge in the sidewall. I think some people may have not noticed and went for a ride and experienced the failure on the road. Brake caliper hitting the bulge or it finally giving way while on a ride. Glad I noticed mine pre ride. And, for most of us this is the only tire we have ever had the issue with. And, like I said, Conti themselves acknowledged there *WAS* an issue.
If people have had good times with those tires, then great. I'm happy for you. But I, and others are just getting sick of people telling us it was any other reason possible than the tire being faulty.
I did not hit a rock. Did not over inflate. Did not have my brakes improperly adjusted. Did not get hit by a meteor. Did not let Edward Scissor hands install my tires, ect. Both tires failed within a few hundred miles. Had tires on that bike for thousands of miles before and after with ZERO problems riding the same roads.


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## spdntrxi (Jul 25, 2013)

rruff said:


> In that case something else is going on. Please describe what you experienced. Did the bead come off the rim?


bead did not come off the rim.. wife was probably not going fast enough and it was the rear tire that blew. The sidewall just exploded ... don't know how else to describe in.. no gravel.. no hard cornering.. just 6 or so gentle miles on the tire.

we both still run GP4ks on our bikes.. her V1 and me V2.


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## dracula (Mar 9, 2010)

Had one on my GP 24mm tyre. The thing is it did not happen during a ride: popped into a public loo when I walked out the tyre made a loud bang whilst the bike was leaning against a concrete. No way to boot it but a bike shop was luckily just around the corner in the middle of nowhere in a small village. 

But I must say the rear tyre was already quite worn out (> 5000 km).

Believe it or not the GP Gatorskin in size 25mm in rigid (non-folding as this was the only tyre the bike shop was stocking) is way more comfortable to ride than the GP 24mm (which is basically a GP Force).


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## dracula (Mar 9, 2010)

T K said:


> But many of the failures that people are talking about, like mine, were do to a bulge in the sidewall. I think some people may have not noticed and went for a ride and experienced the failure on the road. Brake caliper hitting the bulge or it finally giving way while on a ride. Glad I noticed mine pre ride. And, for most of us this is the only tire we have ever had the issue with. And, like I said, Conti themselves acknowledged there *WAS* an issue.
> If people have had good times with those tires, then great. I'm happy for you. But I, and others are just getting sick of people telling us it was any other reason possible than the tire being faulty.
> I did not hit a rock. Did not over inflate. Did not have my brakes improperly adjusted. Did not get hit by a meteor. Did not let Edward Scissor hands install my tires, ect. Both tires failed within a few hundred miles. Had tires on that bike for thousands of miles before and after with ZERO problems riding the same roads.


Conti road tyres have quite a good reputation on German online forums. 

What I have gathered: the most dangerous (literally) road tyres are Schwalbes. No way I would ever ride a Schwalbe.


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## OldChipper (May 15, 2011)

I've had a number of sidewall cuts (not failures) over the years, but 100% have been attributable to road debris of some kind, about half the time when I'm rocking the bike side-to-side on a climb and I "skin" the sidewall of a rock or something. I inspect my tires before and after each ride and often before fast/technical descents, especially if I've recently ridden through a patch of debris. I've never has an idiopathic (no obvious cause) bulge.


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## Wookiebiker (Sep 5, 2005)

Blew out a Gatorskin sidewall today after about 2000 miles.

The blow out appears to be the result of road grime and sidewall flex. Over time the road grime acted like sand paper and wore down the sidewall near the bead. The front tire looked good but the back tire almost all the way around showed wear ... and they get cleaned pretty regularly.

I was considering some 4000s tires for my TT bike since they have shown to be very good in the wind tunnel compared to other tires, but ride Bontrager R3's instead.


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## Kid Canada (Aug 17, 2012)

I picked up a new wheelset last year and bought into the Conti hype. Picked up a set fairly cheap at Planet Cyclery and slapped them on the new wheels. After 3 flats and 1 blown sidewall they are no longer on the bike.

Maybe it was just bad luck or something else. I don't really care. All I know is that the set I had were not reliable so I replaced them with some Michelin Pro's. Never had a single problem with my cheap ass Vittoria's. But that is just the way my luck runs.

The way I figure it, there are so many types and brands out there that if one gives me a problem then on to the next.


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## rooksmith (Jul 4, 2005)

T K said:


> But many of the failures that people are talking about, like mine, were do to a bulge in the sidewall. I think some people may have not noticed and went for a ride and experienced the failure on the road. Brake caliper hitting the bulge or it finally giving way while on a ride. Glad I noticed mine pre ride. And, for most of us this is the only tire we have ever had the issue with. And, like I said, Conti themselves acknowledged there _WAS_ an issue.
> If people have had good times with those tires, then great. I'm happy for you. But I, and others are just getting sick of people telling us it was any other reason possible than the tire being faulty.
> I did not hit a rock. Did not over inflate. Did not have my brakes improperly adjusted. Did not get hit by a meteor. Did not let Edward Scissor hands install my tires, ect. Both tires failed within a few hundred miles. Had tires on that bike for thousands of miles before and after with ZERO problems riding the same roads.


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## rooksmith (Jul 4, 2005)

What do you think caused this?


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## Lombard (May 8, 2014)

@rooksmith , why are you posting the same question in multiple threads? You know that is bad forum etiquette, mmmkay?

To answer your question, hard to say. Manufacturing defect is my best guess.


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## MDM (Jun 10, 2020)

rooksmith said:


> What do you think caused this?
> View attachment 479905


I see two problems, one is the cut above the bead, the other is the bead itself is exposed. The later can be caused by using the tire lever to strip the bead from the rim instead of levering it off. Don't do the former with Conti tires. I ruined a Conti Ultra Race tire like that. 

A rim with a sharp edge around the hook can cause a tire cut just above the bead like that. Check your rims and use fine sandpaper to correct.

On the other hand, the sidewall cut and the exposed bead is at the same area in the tire. Maybe the tire blew off the rim because of the exposed bead and the cut was from riding on the rim right after that.


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