Cracks on center line of tyre

[NorthWestern]

Has anyone seen this before?







Little cracks on the center of the tyre.  Its not been on long, a couple of months - maybe 4k commuting miles, its a Michelin PR4 GT.  I have seen old ones with cracks but not new...


Feels fine.

[flakey]

ive never seen that before and certainly wouldnt expect that of michelin, id go back to your tyre supplier and complain, i would have said that needs exchanging

[dazza]

I had a similar thing with a set of PR3's except the cracks were in the tread recesses. I had to buy another set of tyres(Bridgestone's) then got Watling tyres to send them back to Michelin for examination.
Result was Michelin never admitted any liability but did reimburse me half the value, after suggesting I had used them on a track day.
The Pr's are a good tyre but I haven't bought them since. Once you lose confidence in something so critical to keeping you alive, I tend to shop elsewhere.

[noggythenog]

That's well dodgy...function aside you shouldnt expect that on a top quality tyre i reckon......look at the bottom crack...it has a circular halo all around it as if theres a larger affected area or it has endured some kind of shock......unless youve particularly ridden quick over something particularly sinister on the road id be wanting replacements.

[joebloggs]

Lorenzo, you still a little pissed over Sundays tyre issue?

[NorthWestern]

I only noticed it today when my misted visor cleared!

[NorthWestern]

Will keep an eye on them tomorrow..  Pressures are fine etc

[celticdog]

Interesting, are they nitrogen or air filled?

[joebloggs]

I had a rear tyre crack, but was due to heavy load and high speed, lost several chunks off rubber from the centre but stayed inflated. If you start getting unusual vibration I'd be stopping pretty quickly

[NorthWestern]

Dried exhaled pixie breath... Hopefully they won't get worse.

[limax2]

:eek  I'll be getting the magnifying glass on my PR3's tomorrow! Apart from the regular centre line crack there seems to be lots of little cracks on either side of the big one.
A couple of years ago I had a rear Avon Storm break-up on me for no apparent reason and as Dazza said you then loose confidence in them.

[NorthWestern]

I've had a few pr3's on in the last year and they have been fine. Same route, time, speeds etc. 

[celticdog]

Mr Spock thinks your tyres might not be properly vulcanised . . . seriously depending on where you get your tyres-small dealer etc, they may have been stored for a year before they're sold, rubber will degrade with time.

[NorthWestern]

I get them from oponeo. I had a poke about and they look like cold tears. They are all angled (from surface inward) at around 45 degrees rather that straight to the center of the tyre and don't go the full depth of the tread.

[NorthWestern]

They were made the 13th week of 2015 so nice and fresh when I put them on

[stevierst]

Just thought about cold tearing too, now the temps have dropped a bit.
Had a continental contimotion go the same way when I first fitted it. As it was only the very surface that was splitting I just kept an eye on it, and manged to wear the tyre out without it getting worse.

[Punkstig]

I'd point towards cold tearing but looks like you got there before I could post!
Check your pressures and give it five minutes before giving it a handful!

[NorthWestern]

yeah will keep an eye on it but I think it will be fine.  On the plus side I did notice my rear wheel bearings need replacing.  These things never happen in the summer months.  Joy.

[dazza]

Just a thought but I as I understood it the GT version was more suited to a dedicated tourer type bike like the FJR. Something to do with a stiffer carcass or something, not that it is the reason for the cracks.  Just an obversation.

[NorthWestern]

Yeah, I ordered a regular one but they sent a GT.  I only noticed after fitting so didn't bother sending back etc  To be honest it feels the same but then again I have only commuted on it.