Michelin Pro 3 sidewall tear... now what?

You could ask, but that's life. New tire time.

I've done the same.

IMHO: Michelins have this inherent problem. I've shredded their mountain bike tire sidewalls riding in single track where you glance the sides all the time. Although, I have Pro Race 2's on my tri bike: They're still OK after 3000 miles.

I would think very few tire warranties include road hazard coverage. Still, it doesn't hurt to ask...

Haven't you answered your own question?

Shane

How does glass cause a 1/4 inch sidewall tear?  I could see it causing a tear on the tire...and that WOULD be "just life" but something HAS to be wrong if it caused a rip on the sidewall?

I posted this a few weeks ago.

Pro 3's came on my bike when I purchased it last year. I put about 2000 miles on them before I replaced them and never had a single flat. I purchased a new set two weeks ago and got a flat 19 miles into my first ride. I change the tube and carefully inspected the rim and tire on the side of the road yet it still popped 1 mile after the change. I then patched the tube (rechecked the rim) and filled the tire (using 1 Co2), it popped before I could even get the wheel back on the bike (I'm sure I pinched the tube putting it on).

This time when it popped the force of the air coming out put a 3mm rip in the sidewall of the tire. I was pissed! I could feel the air hit my leg when it popped so I'm sure that's what caused it.
I called Michelin and they tried to blame the tube and told me I had to take it up with the tube manufacturer. I finally said to them "I don't care about a refund or an exchange, I just want to know if it's Michelin's stance that the air from a blown tube is strong enough to rip through a brand new tire". After that question, they immediately offered to replace the tire.


Fast forward:

I got the new tire two days before Mooseman HIM and put maybe 25 miles on it. They day before the race I did a safety check and noticed a 3-4mm slice in the tread itself all the way down to the core. The core wasn't damaged though so I filled in the slice with rubber cement and then super glued it back together. I now have 200 or so miles on it and it's hanging tough.

Next tires will not be Pro 3's.

Yeah, this sounds like a manufacturing issue.  I've had zero problems with my PR2s and know people who've had none with their PR3s.  But hoping the ones I just ordered are from a 'new' batch without this problem...

X2, I'm one who got >5K miles out of two sets of P2Rs and have had no problems in about 500 miles on a set of P3Rs. However, a couple reports here and another in the gear review forum indicates there is a problem.

Ya I got the same thing on a tire with less than 400 miles on it.  I bought 3 in case 1 went bad and am hoping that the next 2 hold for a few months.  They show tremendous wear and tear for low miles.  I think I will not get these again.  For $50 or so one would think you could ride them without fear of them falling appart in the first 500-1000 miles without any obvious glass or road hazzard issues. 

I've got to jump in here as well. I heard nothing but good things about P3Rs so I got a set. I do not believe I had a single bike ride of over 10 miles that I did not get a flat on them. Every. Single. Time.

The last straw was when I flatted about 1/2 mile away from my house. I put the original tires back on my bike and went to Grand Prix 4000 tires and have been very happy ever since. I tend to use Gator Skins for training now and the GP4000 for races. Not a single problem with either of them.

Lots of people have used them without issue.  The sidewall problem seems to clearly be a mfr. issue and (most likely) only affects a limited production of the tires.  They are not the first to experience that.

I started another thread w/out realizing this one existed. So, does anyone think that we at a point where the milk duds are off the market or is it even worth bothering w/the Pro3's? (Damn! I still have a red Pro2 left over. If anyone has one left over, I'd be happy to purchase it.)

As I said earlier, I know in ~2004 they had issues with their MTB tires and I did get a warrantee replacement. Wound up selling that bike with those tires on there and didn't ride them but 2-3 times.

IIWY and buying new tires: I LOVE the Vredestein Fortezza Tricomps for all around performance and durability. 5000miles is NP. If you're looking for sheer performance, the Vittoria Open Corsa CX are fantastic, but fragile as china. Love the way they handle, but they flat and wear out super fast.

I had a set of PR2's with less than 100 miles. JRA and tube blows, check inside tire, clean go back to check for glass or debris in road, nothing, a gash in the sidewall and a $50 tire in the trash

If you change tires a possible alternative is to go the Krylion Carbons... great training tire, ride smoothly to me, and pretty strong performance too..... supposedly they're bomb-proof. I have several hundred miles on mine..... I'll probably flat now though.

It will be interesting to see from here out if this was just a bad run or something else.

Edited by tri42 2009-06-20 8:07 AM

hmm, I have them on my road bike, TT bike and my wifes bike and no problems yet with well over 1k on some of the tires, less on others.

My original 2 were from e-bay and the other 4 were from pbk.com

Just a note; if you hit some debris (rock, glass, metal, etc) on the road that ripped open your sidewall, it is unlikely that you will find it retracing your steps.  The contact force between the tire and the object is going to (more often than not) send the object flying.

The couple of times I've seen someone flat due to a gash in the sidewall, it has been because they have run over an object that they haven't seen/couldn't avoid.  Especially with performance tires (be they PR2/3's, Vittoria Evo's, GP4000, etc) you are going to find that the sidewall will be thinner and you need to be more aware of what is on the road in front of you.

While it seems there are some issues with the PR3's (fortunately I haven't had any issues with my new ones yet), ripping out a sidewall isn't necessarily going to be due to manufacturing defect.

Shane

I have the Pro3's on my road bike. It's the only tire I have had since I just bought my first road bike a few months ago.

I have a slow leak in my rear tire. Just after 2 or 3 days of storage the rear tire is completely flat. I can pump it up and it "lasts" for a good 20 or 30 mile ride, but 2 days later it's completely flat. I don't see any damage when I inspect the tire. Anyone know what could be causing this?

Also, this may be a stupid question, but are the tires supposed to have visible tread? I guess I never really looked before but when I inspected the tire I noticed there is absolutely zero "tread". I have maybe 400 miles on these tires.

What type of tubes are you running (more than likely butyl unless you replaced them with latex).  If you are running butyl tubes, you more than likely have a slow leak in your tube.  This is a great opportunity for you to practice changing a tube (I believe there is a video on this site if you search the articles).

As for the tread, that is normal 

Shane

Thanks Shane. I have no idea what tubes I have. What is better? (Butyl or Latex) So I know what to get.

Thanks again!

I use butyl for training and will switch them out for latex for races.  You have to be a little more careful with latex tubes and for most, they will not bother with latex (even though there test faster ).

Shane

Great! Thanks for the info. Obviously, I'm pretty clueless when it comes to bike parts. And I will check out the video you mentioned.