I now hate Conti Gators

[beanzontoast]

... or do I now hate Spesh 'thin tubes? Or both? The story so far...

Puncture at home (fortunately).
1.
Change Spesh tube for brand new spesh tube, ensuring tyre is seated correctly during partial inflation. (Same every time below, by the way).
Inflate fully...
There's a dip in the tyre as it rotates. (tyre is 2 months old).

2.
Remove tyre, noting where dip was before on tyre and rim, move tyre round the rim, reinflate as before...
There's a dip in the tyre as it rotates, but not in same place on tyre or rim as before.

3.
Remove tube (thinking maybe it's dodgy), replace with another new Spesh tube, replace tyre, reinflate in stages as before...
There's a dip in the tyre as it rotates.

4.
Change rim tape. Check integrity of rim and 'roundness' - all ok.
Remove tyre, noting where dip was before on tyre and rim, move tyre round the rim, reinflate in stages, working the trye all round as before...
There's a dip in the tyre as it rotates, not in same place on tyre or rim.

5.
Remove tyre and replace with a brand new Conti Gatorskin, reinflate as before... so we now have a different tyre and different tube from when we started.
There's a dip in the tyre as it rotates, not in same place on tyre or rim.

6.
Give up.

Ideas welcome!

P.S. I've only encountered this once before with a Spesh Armadillo that had gone out of shape.

 

[Alves]

Is this because the tyre is not seated into the rim properly at one point. You need to check the outside edge of the tyre against the edge of the rim and make sure it is fully and equally sitting inside the rim.
If there is a high or low point when the wheel is rotated, it can be due to the tyre not being fully inside the rim and the bead on the tyre at one point is too high or too low against the clinching part of the edge of the rim.

 

[beanzontoast]

Is this because the tyre is not seated into the rim properly at one point. You need to check the outside edge of the tyre against the edge of the rim and make sure it is fully and equally sitting inside the rim.
If there is a high or low point when the wheel is rotated, it can be due to the tyre not being fully inside the rim and the bead on the tyre at one point is too high or too low against the clinching part of the edge of the rim.

That's pretty much what I thought, but I checked as best I could. Spent 2 hours on it.

I'm beginning to think it's the tyres. They're so blooming hard to get on and off. (Someone's going to suggest working the bead round in slow, steady steps, using thumbs rathert than tyre levers as much as poss - yep, done that. No difference, trust me!). I reckon tyre 1 was already going out of shape when the puncture happened and tyre 2 has gone just through being put on. Can't think what else it might be.

 

[Mr Pig]

Someone on here told me to rub a little fairy liquid onto the bead of the tyre/wheel rim and pump the tyre up as hard as I could. Leave overnight and let the tyre down to normal pressure and should have seated itself onto the rim correctly.

I tried this and it worked pretty well, certainly better than my efforts to centre the tyre myself. Give it a go.

Also, sometimes new tyres are a bit buckled from being in storage but after a few miles straighten out. My commuting tyres did that. Hope this helps :0)

 

[beanzontoast]

Thanks Mr P. The washing up liquid is a new one on me. Worth a go. I'm seriously fed up with wrestling with Conti's though. Tyres shouldn't be such a pain to take off / put on. Just asking for seating problems to happen.

 

[beanzontoast]

Pump the tyre up to about 20psi. Then go around the tyre with your hands pulling the tyre away from the rim. Then inflate to normal pressure.

This is what I already do, Lee. Partly why I feel so peeved about the whole thing! If I'd rushed it, I could maybe understand. If I took any more care doing it, I'd still be there tomorrow morning!

 

[Mortiroloboy]

Sunday...I had 4 visits, my virtually new Conti ultra sports sold by GB Cylcles as 'training' tyres, well yes if you want to train to repair p^nt>res I suppose, upon putting the tyres back on I too noticed a noticeable 'bump' in both tyres, not the side wall but the tread.

Sort of like the tyre was eliptical, anyway they were £15 a pair, so they are now languishing in the recycling (no pun intended)bin, seconds? who knows.

I only got them cos they were cheap, had previously avoided contis due to lots of bad press on here.

on close inspection the actual outer 'tread' depth is minimal to say the least which obviously was a contributory factor in the amount of visits I had.

Since buying them I have had 6 visits, so my annual puncture rate went up by 600% in the last month.

 

[Baggy]

Yup, a tiny drop of fairy Liquid on the bead where it's not seated and then pump it up as hard as you can. You should hear it pop on.

It was Steve Austin who suggested leaving overnight - with the fairy method I didn't need to.

Annoying, isn't it

 

[John the Monkey]

I only got them cos they were cheap, had previously avoided contis due to lots of bad press on here.

To be fair to Conti, my experience of their GP4000 has been entirely positive (see my review in the reviews forum) a really nice tyre.

 

[fossyant]

TALC the Lot................ inside of tyre and tube...... easy peasy, but messy, when just wash tyre/wheel..... when inflated......

Any new tube, talc it if you can......

 

[Mr Pig]

This is what I already do

Me too, that's what I usually do with tyres. However, after hours trying to get my Continental Mountain King tyres to sit straight on my new Mavic rims I was getting really pee'd off! The fairy trick saved my sanity ;0)

I like the talc idea too, I must remember that. Makes good sense.

Tyres shouldn't be such a pain to take off / put on.

I guess it depends on a lot of things. Tyre and wheel size variations, rim width etc. My Specialized Nimbus are a pain to fit too. You can get them on to the rim by hand but it's not easy. For someone who has less strength in their fingers than me I think it would be impossible, I can see a lot of people not being able to do it. I don't think the current fashion for narrow rims helps.

 

[beanzontoast]

Well, overnight with a lot of pressure in (115psi) it seems to have settled. Not as good as it should be, but improved on what it was. I will def try the washing up liquid thing in future.

Actually, I will also be trying a different make of tyre in future for the other reasons mentioned in my original post!

 

[Mortiroloboy]

To be fair to Conti, my experience of their GP4000 has been entirely positive (see my review in the reviews forum) a really nice tyre.

That'll be the Aksiums then!:?:

 

[gbb]

It's not just you beanz...
Just cleaning up and servicing my old Raleigh Chimera, ready to sell on....
So, i've just fitted a pair of Ultra Sports...same problem.

I had two pairs of Ultra Gators on in the past, no problem...but these Ultra Sports are freekin tight to get on.

I can only assume the circumference of some wheels is minutely bigger, or these tyres are minutely smaller...causing the bead to stretch tight.

I had these tyres on Ambrosio rims originally, cant remember them being a problem (apart from being puncture prone..which is why i took them off when they were very new).

I guess its a tyre / rim compatability thing.