I have recently fitted a pair of Continental S TR,s and have a similar problem, my rear tyre looks to be perfect but the front tyre is cracking and the general appearance of the rubber looks to be failing .
So far I have emailed Continental who have referred me back to the dealer Westbrooks Cycles for a quality inspection.
I had two pair of mine destroyed by similar premature cracking. They were made about 1.5 years old (as seen from week and year marked on tire) and were cream sidewalls, so I though maybe it was because of that? @Kevin_Robb could you check when were your pair manufactured? There should be a 4 digit code marked on them like this one-
Thanks for the heads up. I’m on STR 28mm black walls, running tubeless with regular orange sealant since January. Haven’t seen any cracking but will certainly keep an eye out for it!
I do recall my old GP4000s having some cracks. But I just continued using it until it was worn through the middle.
Did Conti ever acknowledge it as an issue?
The cracked tyre has just been replaced by Westbrook’s cycles I have just looked at the other tyre and cannot see any manufacturer date that you have pictured the only four digit number on this tyre is on the inside 3223 sorry if this is incorrect, both tyres were purchased earlier this year.
3223 would mean 32nd week of 2023, so the first week of August, 2023, about an year old tires.
Its great that the shop replaced them. I, unfortunately don’t have that options as I get my tires from USA and I live in India. High end tires here in India cost double of what they do in USA. Currently I’m on Pirelli P Zero Race 4S, and have a pair of Conti GP5000 AS in spares, lets see how long each of them last.
I have only seen similar cracking tyres in bikes that are stored outside in sun, rain and snow for year around. You know, the bikes that people use for their daily shopping etc.rides. I wonder if the cracking of road/race tyres is caused by storing them in very bad conditions before someone purchased them.
Man, I had SLIGHT cracking on mine and just had a complete sidewall failure mid descent right along the “crack line” almost like the sidewall tore off of the tread. My tires looked better than most of the ones posted here too.
If anyone is finding this thread looking for advice seeing people saying to just ride it out, don’t, I left half a buttcheek and most of my left ankle skin on the road with the same thoughts.
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Thats looks consistent with what happened with my tires. Can you check the date code on your tires? It should be a 4 digit number on the side of tire itself.
BTW I switched to Pirelli P Zero race all season and they are going super smooth.
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